A photo from a rock concert at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on November 12 because everyone knows cameras are not allowed. Cell phones are ubiquitous, though.Let me say just one thing here. If you ever, ever sit behind me at a concert or a play, or even at a church service, you have hit the lottery, my friend. Unless you happen to be a five-year-old child, you are pretty much guaranteed a clear view of whatever is in front of you. That is because I am 4 feet 11 inches tall, a height I have proudly maintained since I was in 6th grade.
On Monday night when I went to the Bruce Springsteen/E Street Band concert at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC, my scratch ticket came up empty. Sort of. I had the double whammy of a really tall guy with a really big head right in front of me (no offense to those of you out there with large noggins).
It was such a fun concert, though. I had never seen Springsteen on stage before, nor the E Streeters and I was excited to see both, especially since earlier in the day I met Steven "Little Steven" Van Zandt of E Street and Little Steven's Underground Garage fame. He is now our new MENC friend and on Monday along with our own Dr. M. he spoke at MENC's mega super duper, standing room only press conference as EWL reported on Tuesday. More on that later. Seeing Little Steven up on stage with his guitar was pretty cool after having chatted with him about kids' views of and rock and roll and music programs earlier in the day.
And actually back to my tall friend, we were oddly in sync, when I popped up to dance, he was often sitting down. When he was standing, I craned my neck toward the video screen, so it worked.
As I am sure you know, Springsteen concerts usually draw people (like my sister-in-law C out in California) who has seen Springsteen and E Street in concert more than 50 times. I did my best to play my part like any good citizen of the Back Streets Nation. fist pumps at the right time. dancing, waving my arms. Alas, I felt a bit out of it, though, when people started singing songs like "Badlands" and "Born to Run." The only song I knew by heart was "Dancing in the Dark" so I did sing that at the top of my lungs.
And I felt like we were in a cell phone commercial when everyone held up lighted cell phones to signal, yes, we knew the encore of several songs was coming. I really don't miss the lighters with their tiny flames.
But back to the press conference, which was held at the National Press Club in the National Press Building in DC. As a newspaper reporter and magazine writer I have covered a lot of press conferences, but not so much since I have been at MENC.
It was interesting to see how press conferences have evolved over the years though. Back in my olden days, print journalists, armed with pen and notebooks were the rule, but now even the print folks are writing, as well as recording audio and video so everyone comes equipped with laptops and digital recorders and video cameras. The room was filled with people and stuff, but EWL, who watched from the control room said it made for one slick, high definition television feed. In fact, EWL just gave us a link here that you can use to view the press conference and photos of the event.
Plus we were savvy enough to schedule a press conference on the Veterans Day holiday when there wasn't a lot of other news going on. We got a lot of local media, newspapers like The Washington Post as well as national magazines like Mother Jones as well as local radio and television stations and NPR. Nice to be the only game in town. The press conference here generated local coverage in other parts of the country as well, as this story in The Kansas City Star demonstrates. Immediate Past MENC President David E. Circle shared the story with Monday MENC blogger ML. Thanks David.
The main part of the press conference was the release of a new Harris Poll about music education and its lifelong career benefits whether you pursue a music career or not. You can read the survey findings here if you like. SR covers this issue in great detail in yesterday's post, how music education is being "left behind" in the No Child Left Behind legislative debate. Scroll down for more on that.
Well, gotta go. I am finishing up January Music Educators Journal and not surprisingly the Harris poll, press conference and visits to Capitol Hill this week by Van Zandt and MENC staff to discuss the No Child Left Behind and its implications for music education are my lead stories. Look for MEJ in late December.
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving ahead of time. MENC is closed next Thursday and Friday, so I will not be posting . I will be wrist deep in turkey giblets and stuffing next Thursday (and I mean cooking of course) Hope you have a great holiday and a little break from the everyday.
Til Next Time
RF
