The Milli Vanilli Inauguration
posted at 7:50 am on January 23, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Can this inauguration get any more embarrassing? First, our Chief Justice flubs the oath of office — the entire reason for the event — and then the President delivers a downer speech that even his adoring throngs can’t cheer. Now it turns out that the musicians pulled a Milli Vanilli and synchronized themselves to recorded music:
The somber, elegiac tones before President Obama’s oath of office at the inauguration on Tuesday came from the instruments of Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two colleagues. But what the millions on the Mall and watching on television heard was in fact a recording, made two days earlier by the quartet and matched tone for tone by the musicians playing along.
The players and the inauguration organizing committee said the arrangement was necessary because of the extreme cold and wind during Tuesday’s ceremony. The conditions raised the possibility of broken piano strings, cracked instruments and wacky intonation minutes before the president’s swearing in (which had problems of its own).
“Truly, weather just made it impossible,” Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said on Thursday. “No one’s trying to fool anybody. This isn’t a matter of Milli Vanilli,” Ms. Florman added, referring to the pop band that was stripped of a 1989 Grammy because of its lip-synching, making it synonymous with the practice.
Well, if it’s not Milli Vanilli, it’s at least Ashlee Simpson. Either way, they faked a live performance. No one doubts that Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma can perform the piece, but it shouldn’t have been presented as a live performance if it wasn’t. It’s dishonest. Doesn’t anyone on the CCIC know that, or does the word Congressional automatically disable that knowledge?
That brings us to another question about the music. If they were going to finger-synch to music, why not pick something a little more upbeat? “Somber and elegiac” belongs at events like funerals, not celebrations like inaugurations.
Update: We should note that the Marine Corps band played live, and the choir sang live as well. If the weather didn’t allow for certainty with stringed instruments, then the CCIC should have just stuck with the Marines.
Also, I find it interesting that NBC knew about the synching and didn’t bother to report it to their viewers. What other fakery from this administration will NBC knowingly omit from their coverage?
Update II: And the Navy’s Sea Chanters performed live as well.
Update III: Just to clarify, there are good reasons not to play stringed instruments in 30-degree weather. Having a recording as a contingency makes some sense, if one insists on scheduling a string ensemble for an outdoor performance in January in DC, when that kind of weather is the norm rather than the exception. If you play the recording instead of performing live, though, be honest about it. Don’t pretend it’s live when it’s not and make everyone look dishonest, including the performers, who had no control over how the performance was presented.
How difficult is that?
Blowback
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Losers!
Mercy4Me on January 23, 2009 at 7:56 AM
That’s OK…the president’s performance is pre-recorded, too.
flipflop on January 23, 2009 at 7:57 AM
In the musicians defense, it would be impossible to keep those instruments in tune at those temperatures.
loudmouth883 on January 23, 2009 at 7:59 AM
Get used to plastic, fake, and preformed product. There won’t be anything new coming out of this administration. From failed socialist policies to tax-payer funded baby murders, this administration is going to do the same ol’, same ol’ for the next four years.
Wino on January 23, 2009 at 7:59 AM
As Instapundit has been saying:
These are the people we just hired to run the war and the economy. They can’t even get enough toilets for a crowd that was, at best, 1/5th of expectations.
You’re right of course. If it was too cold to play, they should have just pumped the music through the speakers. No need to be dishonest.
jimmy the notable on January 23, 2009 at 7:59 AM
It was a funeral. No, maybe worse. At least at a funeral, there’s the knowledge that the suffering has ended. Ours is just beginning.
mr.blacksheep on January 23, 2009 at 8:01 AM
I saw this on the news last night. Fox11 L.A. And the anchor made sure everybody knew that the Marines played in the same weather, Live, then he gave them a Hoorah.
multiuseless on January 23, 2009 at 8:01 AM
Well he did admire the job the Chicoms did with their Olympics, and that included lip-synching.
reaganaut on January 23, 2009 at 8:02 AM
Yes, I can understand their dilemma. My fiance is a vocalist and singing while exposed to weather extremes can be dangerous to the vocal chords, so this with instruments doesn’t suprise me.
Perhaps somemone should have decided to diminish the worshipful experience and moved it inside?
aikidoka on January 23, 2009 at 8:03 AM
Girl you know its true.
Bicyea on January 23, 2009 at 8:08 AM
Well, the problem with faking something is that there is always the possibility that the recording will fail, and then you have a real problem indeed.
They should have just played the recording and allowed the musicians to be present somehow.
Having said that, let me recommend to everyone anything in the RCA Master-series recordings featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax and Jaime Laredo playing quartets by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms (quintets, I think) and Schumann.
BigD on January 23, 2009 at 8:08 AM
Victims of global warming.
jgapinoy on January 23, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Yeah anyone who hates on Perlman, Ma and the other musicians onstage doesn’t get classical music. For one thing these guys play on instruments that are often hundreds of years old. Perlman no doubt plays on a violin made by Stradivarius or some other spectacular violinmaker long gone, the same for Mr Ma’s Cello. You don’t put those kinds of delicate tools to the elements. And these two players do not have a single thing to prove, they are two of the most amazing musicians in the world, period. But I guess if we have to hate on something about the inauguration, might as well hate on this.
DeathToMediaHacks on January 23, 2009 at 8:09 AM
So why not cancel it rather than fake it?
jgapinoy on January 23, 2009 at 8:09 AM
blame it on the rain.
patriette on January 23, 2009 at 8:10 AM
I think we will discover many things like this from the Osama administration. concerning much more serious topics. On the other hand, there are those inherently worse ones that we may never know about until they have their teeth firmly implanted in our butts.
genso on January 23, 2009 at 8:11 AM
I thought it fitting that Garth Brooks sang “Bye-Bye American Pie” at the inauguration concert.
Bicyea on January 23, 2009 at 8:11 AM
Every time someone emails me a photo of polar bears looking for “missing” ice, I’ll email back a photo of the fake symphony.
jgapinoy on January 23, 2009 at 8:11 AM
After all the noise ROnaldus Magnus still drew more viewers then ‘The One’ during his 81′ Pomp.
Dritanian on January 23, 2009 at 8:13 AM
I think the dirge was entirely appropriate – especially because it was faked.
forest on January 23, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Let’s save the indignation for a real issue, not a fake one.
thuja on January 23, 2009 at 8:16 AM
That’s not really the issue here. If it was too cold to play, then say so. Don’t lie.
jimmy the notable on January 23, 2009 at 8:19 AM
A fake one? It’s the fakery that we are mocking. I’m not indignant, I’m laughing.
jgapinoy on January 23, 2009 at 8:19 AM
Am I the only one who has heard of a marching band? Oh well, with Democrats fraud is always a reflex.
TMK on January 23, 2009 at 8:19 AM
Let’s save the indignation for a real issue, not a fake one.
thuja on January 23, 2009 at 8:16 AM
The “real” issues are coming soon enough, may we have your permission to poke some fun and ridicule the little things before the shiite hits the fan?
Bishop on January 23, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Had the musicians said, look it’s too cold to play outside because we may damage our $1M violins, I don’t think anyone would have make a stink about it. Why not just be honest? Is is that frikin hard to be honest about anything in this country anymore?
angryed on January 23, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Is it me or has this week been an incredible metaphor?
From the post Barackalyptic Mad Max like scene post inauguration, to Obama getting irratated by a question, even my president is black by Jay-Z. No we have a faked performance at his inauguration. It is going to a bumpy four years.
Theworldisnotenough on January 23, 2009 at 8:25 AM
As a musician, I can tell you that this practice is extremely common, for a variety of reasons. I’ve been a part of many orchestras and choirs that were “augmented” with recordings. In most cases both the recording and the live music are heard together, the recording giving fullness and the live music giving “presence”; but I can certainly understand why they would have done things the way they did this time (no WAY would they take their $multi-million instruments out in that cold). It makes me chafe to play over a track, but it comes down to this: a performance is an experience provided to the audience. The only valid measure of how good the perfomance is, is what the audience experiences. I don’t consider it particularly “dishonest” when the performers on stage were the same folks that made the recording, though unfortunately that’s not always the case.
In this instance, there were three choices: hear the recorded music over the loudspeakers without seeing the performers; hear crappy music and see the performers; or hear recorded music and see the (actual) performers “string-sync”. If someone hadn’t opened their big yap, the audience would have come away thinking they had seen & heard a (single) performance — and that experience, though not 100% authentic, would have left them feeling very satisfied.
I should hasten to add that a musical performance is all about the experience of the moment. Phony political rhetoric and promises not meant to be kept are another matter. I’ll defend the one, but not the other.
RegularJoe on January 23, 2009 at 8:25 AM
For one thing these guys play on instruments that are often hundreds of years old. Perlman no doubt plays on a violin made by Stradivarius or some other spectacular violinmaker long gone, the same for Mr Ma’s Cello.
And as we all know, instruments stopped being made the day Stradivarius died.
Perlman and Yo Yo didn’t have lesser instruments to use?
Keep reaching for the stars there, Hack.
Bishop on January 23, 2009 at 8:25 AM
The salient point is that a false image was created to fool the masses. They intended to create the impression that it was live when it wasn’t. There was no need to create such an impression.
What we will find is that this was a harbinger of things to come.
keep the change on January 23, 2009 at 8:26 AM
Must have been Perlman, because Yo Yo Ma brought a state of the art carbon fibre Cello to the event because of the elements.
All John Williams music sounds like Star Wars at this point, anyway.
Krydor on January 23, 2009 at 8:27 AM
I’ve never seen steel melt before, dammit, and I sure as hell haven’t heard a cello string snap in cold weather, have you? any of you?
There’s more to this than meets the eye.
jeff_from_mpls on January 23, 2009 at 8:27 AM
They shrink in the cold. So it changes the pitch. What was your point?
keep the change on January 23, 2009 at 8:31 AM
with Democrats fraud is always a reflex.
TMK on January 23, 2009 at 8:19 AM
’nuff said.
tru2tx on January 23, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Of course they did. They’re United States By-God Marines.
Professor Blather on January 23, 2009 at 8:33 AM
One more comment from my experience: I play brass instruments (trombone, trumpet, and tuba), and they can be very difficult to play well in very cold temps; but they are brass, and they are played by constantly blowing warm air through them. Thus they are neither AS AFFECTED by cold as wooden instruments, nor are they AS COLD. Put simply, band and orchestra instruments simply are not the same.
Everyone seems to be taking their contempt for Obama and pouring it out on these guys. I’m not sure I understand why that is.
RegularJoe on January 23, 2009 at 8:35 AM
I have to be fair, even though I am not happy with the election results to say the least.
The event was planned way ahead. They didn’t know it was going to be that cold [below freezing]. I’ll bet the string musicians didn’t bring their instruments [costing at least tens of thousands of dollars], and most likely rented cheapos.
Cancel the music specifically written for the event? Please Ed, stop being ridiculous.
This is not a valid avenue to go down. It’s petty.
toliver on January 23, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Seriously?
So when a “vocalist” (note the quotes) like, say, Britney Spears, lip synchs to her music specifically because she can’t come close to sounding like what she does in the studio – after the sound guys work their magic – you don’t think its dishonest?
Just curious. Obviously, in this case, the performers obviously have the chops. It’s not the same. But in a lot of cases, the performance is, by definition, dishonest, because the performer could never actually sound like that.
Professor Blather on January 23, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Marching bands do not play stringed instruments.
Probably. They could’ve used a cheap rental but it still wouldn’t stay in tune in cold weather.
Geez. We’re getting worse than the KO’s kids here.
BacaDog on January 23, 2009 at 8:40 AM
faked olympics are good enough for NBC.. what is one more produced bit entertainment?
gatorboy on January 23, 2009 at 8:40 AM
The hidden message is…don’t believe everything you see or hear from the Obama team is authentic.
mindhacker on January 23, 2009 at 8:41 AM
That what it is!
grapeknutz on January 23, 2009 at 8:42 AM
I’m not sure how the Marines even played their horns for any length of time. [I didn't watch/listen to the event, so I don't know how long they performed.] The moisture from the musicians breath will freeze the moving parts of wind instruments w/in ~15-20 minutes in that kind of temperature.
toliver on January 23, 2009 at 8:42 AM
The committee knew it was going to be January. Cold happens. This was poor planning, and poor execution if they had to rely on a recording. This is no reflection on the musicians who no doubt were delighted with their invitation to a command performance. However, it was a bad idea to pretend it was a live event.
If this is the kind of planning we will get with our nationalized banks and auto industry, look for this kind of car in the future coming to a dealer near you.
Sloan Morganstern on January 23, 2009 at 8:44 AM
Yep. Old, cold wooden instruments playing prefab music while Hell freezes over.
BigD on January 23, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Somehow this comment doesn’t overwhelm me with confidence in the Obamessiah’s hopenchange. It’s dishonest socialist sleight of hand. For the masses: Bread and circuses.
marybel on January 23, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Its all style over substance. Take the Gitmo closing. They have no idea what to do with those detainees, but it was important for Barry’s image to be the one who closed it down.
genso on January 23, 2009 at 8:47 AM
How about some love for the Navy as well?
LastRick on January 23, 2009 at 8:47 AM
When you are a world class musician, those changes really affect your performance and therefore your reputation. Perlman and Ma aren’t your HS student musicians performing for the President….errrr…..Comrade Obama, they are truly the best there is. TO listen to a violin play out of tune, a cello slowly get more sharp and impossible to play reasonably well. I am a graduate of America’s finest conservatory, the Eastman School of Music. I know what those type of people want when they play in that type of setting and they couldn’t pull it off, but wanted to appear so the reasonable thing to do was play and sync and let me tell you, it wasn’t easy to do with a violin. I’ll give them a pass because they are great musicians and aren’t todays latest flavor of the month in pop music that likely sucks live.
I’d pay serious bucks to see Ma and Perlman live anyday.
JP1986UM on January 23, 2009 at 8:47 AM
It is tough. I used to keep my mouthpiece in my hand to keep it warm and used a light silicon grease instead of valve oil for really cold days.
They still get a little sticky until they warm up from constant play.
BacaDog on January 23, 2009 at 8:47 AM
I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I’ll assume many an inauguration has taken place at above [below] freezing temps. The planners were not being unrealistic in thinking the day might be warmer.
This is really not a big deal. It’s not worth a post here at Hot Air. It’s ODS.
toliver on January 23, 2009 at 8:48 AM
It’s called ‘lowering the bar’ (aka hope and change).
The USA is phoning it in.
Hening on January 23, 2009 at 8:50 AM
For starters, you can use a plastic mouthpiece. And remember that it’ll play a little flat.
LastRick on January 23, 2009 at 8:50 AM
The news coverage of the string quartet’s LIVE performance lauded YoYo for BEAMING to the crowd as he played; that this was the LARGEST AUDIENCE EVER FOR A STRING QUARTET!!!!
LOL. Was this the Washington Post’s great idea rebuttal for their previous Joshua Bell experiment, Bell having been snubbed by subway crowds in Wash.DC as he DID play live for 45 minutes to an audience comprised of some children being dragged off by their mothers, one day-job mall employee guitarist-at-heart, and one executive named Mortensen who took 3 minutes before work to listen.
Beauty. The quartet just proved their aesthetic judgment, that live performances become meaningless as they thrive instead within their recorded sound. Musician, weave thy doom cocoon.
maverick muse on January 23, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Since when did the word “hate” become a verb?
Oh I know, when it became a crime to criticize anything associated with Obama.
CarolynM on January 23, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Yes, but the moving parts can and will get “sticky” and eventually freeze due to the accumulation of moisture.
toliver on January 23, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Oops, incomplete post.
CarolynM on January 23, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Who’d have thunk it; a phony inauguration that cost the American taxpayer 170M…
On second thought, these are the same ass-wipes that tried to stuff a complete scam ” Man Made Global Warming” down the tax payers throats.
I will always remember that famous image; you know the one. Al Gore was at the podium, having just received his Oscar for his phony movie; the camera’s scrolled out over the star studded crowd, showing several Hollywood stars trembling with joy as they watched their “then” messiah deliver a message of “hopenchange” for a better world, once again blaming mankind (especially American’s) for destroying the world.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126921.500-one-last-chance-to-save-mankind.html?full=true&print=true
Keemo on January 23, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Geez. We’re getting worse than the KO’s kids here.
BacaDog on January 23, 2009 at 8:40 AM
No one is saying that YoYo is the mother of Ogabe’s children.
Allow a little room for fun, will ya, we’re just making light of the plasticated image we have been given from the day Ogabe announced his candidacy.
Bishop on January 23, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Yes.
I can understand not playing the cello and other stringed instruments when it is that cold. The thing is, inaugurations are held in DC, in January. There’s a real darn good chance it’ll be that cold. So don’t schedule such a thing. Especially if it’s going to be such an unimpressive piece of music.
And you can never go wrong sticking simply with the United States Marine Corp.
rbj on January 23, 2009 at 8:59 AM
You know how this whole problem could have been solved? Global Warming!
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on January 23, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Fake music on fake media covering a fake President
faraway on January 23, 2009 at 9:01 AM
That’s just what the man wants you to think. You just go right on thinking that, mister.
jeff_from_mpls on January 23, 2009 at 9:01 AM
I’m surprised they didn’t introduce Yo-Yo Ma as “Yo Ma Ma.”
BigD on January 23, 2009 at 9:02 AM
Like I said, if all you have to hate on are two of the most amazing and accomplished musicians on this planet, then go right ahead. It’s a little bit desperate and a little bit sad and a little bit Kossy. But you guys made that turn towards Kostasticness circa November 5
DeathToMediaHacks on January 23, 2009 at 9:03 AM
On the positive side, all those sorry blokes with tickets who got turned away from the inauguration really didn’t miss anything.
So thanks to Yo-Yo, it’s a win-win.
jeff_from_mpls on January 23, 2009 at 9:03 AM
CHAMBER MUSIC on the mall. If the quartet had integrity, they would have been up front with the concept of their play-along-with-Mitch all along for the public to follow the bouncing ball.
Not to criticize the recording, but the arrangement by Williams of the Shaker Hymn “‘Tis a Gift to be Simple” hacked the piano. The ensemble effect played on virtuosity for virtuosity’s sake that “true beauty” forbids, ignoring the message of this hymn.
Three strikes.
maverick muse on January 23, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Ed, for the last time…Obama blew the oath first…he stepped over Roberts and threw the CJ’s timing off.
Rogue on January 23, 2009 at 9:04 AM
I didn’t see it, and don’t know just what the temps were; but the moving parts (other than trombone) are under the fingers, so they get some warmth there; and valve oil is kerosene (okay, there are synthetics, also, but I’ve never used them), so it has a low freezing point. And, of course, that warm breath flowing through the tubing helps.
The new lexan mouthpieces are also fantastic, especially compared to the pvc mps we had when I was in high school, back in the (*shudder*) Carter era.
A general comment to others: can you guys REALLY not understand that the inauguration was a PERFORMANCE designed by PERFORMERS. It was not meant to be anything “real” or “substantial”, any more than any performance. Style over substance? Other than the 30-odd flubbed seconds of the oath of office, it WAS and ALWAYS IS ENTIRELY about style! It is meant to give an experience. In any performance, a certain amount of trickery is used — whether it’s stage makeup, lighting, amplification — that’s show business, folks. I’d bet similar “deceptions” took place in Republican inaugurations, too.
But I’m sure THIS time Obama sat in his inauguration planning booth with a maniacal grin on his face. “Bwa-ha-ha”, he said, “I will fool them! I will fool them ALL!! BWA-HA-HA-HA”.
He said one thing in his speech worth listening to (and plagiarized, of course, since he failed to credit Paul the evangelist): “It’s time to put away childish things.” The KOS kids were childish. Now a bunch of you are acting childish.
And you’ve got me answering your silly rantings, which I will rectify starting right … NOW.
RegularJoe on January 23, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Someone criticized having the string quartet at all, as it reminded them of the musicians doomed on the Titanic, playing in the cold before plunging into the icy waters of death.
maverick muse on January 23, 2009 at 9:06 AM
I love Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. They’re incredible. And I definitely understand WHY they needed to instrument sync this performance. But yeah, pretending they played live in weather like that is like pretending that Britney Spears or Madonna actually sing live. Ever.
And I agree the Marine Corps choir and band are awesome and could thus have been the greatest replacement ever.
mjk on January 23, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Ok, I can appreciate the musicians not wanting to damage instruments as spectacular as someone mentioned above. I don’t know about the singing. But I have one question…
Did any of them NOT know the Inauguration would be Jan 20th and that cold weather was
a possibilityinevitable??????What IDIOT thought… it can’t possibly be cold. And… let’s go through with it anyways!
What we’re laughing at (for all you apologizers) is that the Democrats pushed for an impossible solution to enhance the emotional appeal, refused to back down when confronted with logic, and ended up faking the whole thing with the complicity of the media! This is a perfect example of how they handle ALL scenarios! Damn the logic, full steam ahead! Four years of fiascoes to go…
dominigan on January 23, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Honey, pretty soon anyone who DARES to speak against Obama will become a jail bird.
newton on January 23, 2009 at 9:09 AM
DeathToMediaHacks on January 23, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Where did I say I was hating on the musicians specifically? It’s the premise of this thread that I’m laughing with, the Milli Vanilli image presented to the crowd.
I don’t disrespect the skill of Yo and Perl, I know they are incredible talents, but let’s face it, the mental image of two great classical musicians being reduced to the level of Milli Vanilli IS funny. And all for the expediency of portraying Ogabe is a superstar.
Bishop on January 23, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Irony so rich, your soaking in it right now!
Jaibones on January 23, 2009 at 9:12 AM
you’re – ugh
Jaibones on January 23, 2009 at 9:12 AM
OMG I just realized, Peter Falk’s prediction from the movie The In-Laws has come true!
jeff_from_mpls on January 23, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Stick to partisanship and Marxist quackery; you don’t know shit about Perlman or Ma.
Jaibones on January 23, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Agreed. It’s the deception that they were playing live that bothers me. Not a good way to present the “transparency” our dear leader promised.
Rovin on January 23, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Do you honestly think that guy is going to be any fair to us? He’s throwing a word like “hate” the same way many Leftists do against us in many other occasions. No surprise there.
The best thing to do is to stop him. Cold. In his tracks. We all know that criticism is not hate. Any mature adult knows that. But a Leftist cares not about those things, but only about the words that give the most “Bang!” for the buck. Stomp on it as soon as he says it. Make sure he squeals as soon as you do it.
He will have to leave with his tail between his legs.
newton on January 23, 2009 at 9:17 AM
Wait a minute! I meant that comment to go to
newton on January 23, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Typical. All style no substance. Appearance is more important than reality.
I’ve seen nothing to this point to inspire anything other than fear for the nation.
Mr Purple on January 23, 2009 at 9:18 AM
I like(d) Yanni.
Yanni has performed in several venues, all historic, all very powerful. But what has been the lowest temp. Yanni has performed?
I went to a Yanni concert in a coliseum (indoors) and there are tons of DVD’s of his events worldwide. Magnificent just doesn’t cut it! He could’ve pulled off this one. Kinda disappointing that it was sync’d, and some ppl here brought up the poor Chinese girl that was “not pretty enough” to perform at the Olympics. My heart sunk with that one.
ProudPalinFan on January 23, 2009 at 9:19 AM
That’s why you take it out early, let it come to equilibrium temperature, and re-tune it. This is not rocket science, but, of course, the arguments put forward for faking it certainly do fit the intent of an administration that wants to return science to it’s rightful place in … making things up.
Dusty on January 23, 2009 at 9:21 AM
Nothing to see here, folks. Just move along. Oh, and don’t look at the trash surrounding your feet as you leave.
BoomJunkie on January 23, 2009 at 9:22 AM
I think its only fitting that a mockery administration have mockery in their band. Also that the pattern of lying by omission and when caught, making excuses. This type of behavior just stays right on course for those who worship and serve the one.
canditaylor68 on January 23, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Hmmmmmm…who’s opinion do I take? A world class Cello player who has dedicated his life to the instrument, or a random poster on HotAir.com?
Don’t be a moron.
You-Eh-Vee on January 23, 2009 at 9:34 AM
as much as they can..
DaveC on January 23, 2009 at 9:36 AM
I’ll take solace in the fact that the 30,000 people in Tunnel B were not fooled by this fake performance.
Dusty on January 23, 2009 at 9:38 AM
Did you notice that the ensemble consisted of one jew, one latina, one asian and one black? Was that a conscious bid to “look like America?” Why not the token WASP?
NNtrancer on January 23, 2009 at 9:39 AM
The music director and organist at our church (a husband wife team) have a son who plays saxaphone in the US Army Band “Pershing’s Own” which leads each Inaugural Parade as part of the official escort to the president.
He told them it was so cold that, by the time they got halfway or so through the route, the regular condensation that forms from warm breath through the instrument had frozen up most of his keys/pads. He jokingly said that was the reason the band had 99 members so that hopefully at least some of them would make it through the parade still being able to play. :)
Kirin on January 23, 2009 at 9:43 AM
DTMH – are you honestly going to do the “blah blah you guys are Kos blah blah” comment EVERY time there’s a discussion thread critical of anything Obama does?
It’s already broken record-ish and were just 2 months in. At least mix it up and tell us how were just like the DU or HuffPo or one of the myriad other unhinged lefty sites to keep the comment a bit fresh. It’s also tiring that you sieze on a few posts in any topic that are one POV and act as if there aren’t people here arguing the other pov.
You also might want to reconsider the comment altogether as it is inaccurate. Sites like Kos don’t allow for dissenting opinions. If we were anything like them, your posts would be deleted and you’d be banned for nothing more than saying, “Hey guys…,Obama’s not pure evil.”
JadeNYU on January 23, 2009 at 9:44 AM
I think the bolded statement says it all. There will be many, many more instances of things this administration will choose not to reveal, unless under pressure.
cs89 on January 23, 2009 at 9:46 AM
Yeah anyone who hates on Perlman, Ma and the other musicians onstage doesn’t get classical music. For one thing these guys play on instruments that are often hundreds of years old. Perlman no doubt plays on a violin made by Stradivarius or some other spectacular violinmaker long gone, the same for Mr Ma’s Cello. You don’t put those kinds of delicate tools to the elements. And these two players do not have a single thing to prove, they are two of the most amazing musicians in the world, period. But I guess if we have to hate on something about the inauguration, might as well hate on this.
DeathToMediaHacks on January 23, 2009 at 8:09 AM
You just don’t or won’t get it do you? We all agree they are fine musicians, we don’t like being led to believe they were braving the elements.
For the love of O!, uh, God…
max1 on January 23, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Hey guys, Obama’s not pure evil. =)
Also, I agree with the other posters here who are defending this action. Much as I think it’s not exactly “correct”, it was “necessary”. People who keep saying that the Marine Corps Band played are total idiots. As it has been pointed out, marching bands don’t play stringed instruments. It isn’t the same thing at all.
And I think some of the comments lately have gone over the edge into the deep end. Again, I am not an Obama fan at all, but this is getting ludicrous. Criticizing some of the best musicians in the world simply because of Obama hate is definitely going over into the deep end. You guys should chill and see what the hell he does first. Let’s wait and watch and not sound like total fucking loons before he actually gets to do anything?
How about it? A little patience and graciousness might be in order, right?
Summer on January 23, 2009 at 9:56 AM
I was going to make the same point. Still, it was a charade. They could have played live within the capitol building with it being displayed on the Jumbotron.
Quite fitting actually. Obama’s whole campaign is going to be Milli Vanilli.
shick on January 23, 2009 at 9:58 AM
You’re looking for something here that isn’t. The charade is bad enough that we don’t need to create conspiracy theories. Each of these musicians are awesome in their own right.
shick on January 23, 2009 at 10:02 AM
The event was planned way ahead. They didn’t know it was going to be that cold [below freezing]. I’ll bet the string musicians didn’t bring their instruments [costing at least tens of thousands of dollars], and most likely rented cheapos.
Cancel the music specifically written for the event? Please Ed, stop being ridiculous.
This is not a valid avenue to go down. It’s petty.
The average temperature in D.C. in January is 30.2 F. You say they didn’t know it was going to be below freezing… what incompetent group of fools did you mean by they?
And you’re missing the point.
Fish on January 23, 2009 at 10:05 AM
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