Bright Eyes and M. Ward will headline a free rally concert at the Saddle Creek Records-owned Slowdown on Feb. 7 to raise awareness for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
To recruit voters for the Nebraska Democratic caucus on Feb. 9, Obama’s camp set up shop yesterday (Feb. 5) at the 625-capacity club to give away free concert tickets to those who will either register to vote or sign a pledge card to support Obama. A maximum of two tickets will be given to people who are 18 and older, according to the Slowdown’s Web site.
“There were about 75 people here by 4 p.m. and the line was out the door by 4:30,” Saddle Creek label manager and Slowdown co-owner Jason Kulbel tells Billboard.com. “All of the tickets are gone now.”
Rounding out the bill for the concert are Jim Ward (Sparta) and Secret Life of Sparrows. Additional tickets will be given away to assure the concert reaches full capacity.
“We don’t want people picking up free tickets and then not coming,” read a statement on the venue’s Web site. “I’ll say that if you get a ticket you have a pretty good chance of getting in.”
The Slowdown doesn’t currently have any additional election-related events planned, but “it’s safe to say that we would like to see as many people as possible get out and vote in November,” Kulbel says. “We will definitely be looking for some ways to make that happen.”
Conor Oberst, who fronts Bright Eyes, performed in support of Obama last month at a rally in Iowa.
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