Vote for Change

Vote for Change Tour

Tour by MoveOn.org
The tour poster, which shared characteristics with Captain America's shield.
Location	United States
Start date	September 27, 2004
End date	October 13, 2004
Legs	1
No. of shows	40
Bruce Springsteen tour chronology The Rising Tour (2002–03) Vote for Change (2004) Devils & Dust Tour (2005) Dixie Chicks tour chronology Top of the World Tour (2003) Vote for Change (2004) Accidents & Accusations Tour (2006) Pearl Jam tour chronology Riot Act Tour (2003) Vote for Change (2004) 2005 North American/Latin American Tour (2005)

The Vote for Change tour was a political American popular music concert tour that took place in October 2004. ^[1] The tour was presented by MoveOn.org to benefit America Coming Together. ^[2] The tour was held in swing states and was designed to encourage people to register and vote. Though the tour and the organization were officially non-partisan, many of the performers urged people to vote against then-President George W. Bush and for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election campaign. ^{[1] [3] [4] [5]} Bush would defeat Kerry in November 2004.

Itinerary

Every region had a specific night during which the concerts would be held in that region. ^[6] When concerts were held in the same city, they were at different venues.

Results

The tour was generally successful in attracting audiences,^{[ according to whom? ]} generating media attention and raising approximately $10 million for America Coming Together. ^{[7] [ better source needed ]}

In terms of the tour's effect on the 2004 election, none of the visited states went differently from what had been predicted in pre-election polls.^{[ according to whom? ]} Four of the eight ended up voting in favor of Kerry (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) while the other four went to Bush (Missouri, Iowa, Florida, and Ohio).^{[ citation needed ]} The states that had the heaviest tour presence (five or six shows) also split evenly. The result in Ohio was the most critical, as it decided the election in Bush's favor^{[ citation needed ]} (despite six shows there).

The shows

The Springsteen and E Street Band performances were compressed to two hours in length due to the multi-act nature of the concerts. ^[8] Especially at the beginning of his sets, Springsteen accomplished this by stripping down the songs, ^[8] removing elongated outros and false endings from the likes of "Born in the U.S.A." and "Badlands". In doing so, the style of the Vote for Change shows foreshadowed the next E Street outing,^{[ according to whom? ]} the 2007 Magic Tour, when Springsteen adopted a similar approach.^{[ citation needed ]}

Originals

Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey "Lost in the Flood" Born to Run "Born to Run" w/ Mike Mills and Peter Buck Darkness on the Edge of Town "Badlands" "Darkness on the Edge of Town" "The Promised Land" w/ John Fogerty "Prove It All Night" "Racing in the Street" w/ Jackson Browne The River "The River" "The Ties That Bind"

Nebraska "Johnny 99" Born in the U.S.A. "Born in the U.S.A." "No Surrender" "My Hometown" w/ Tracy Chapman Live/1975–85 "Because the Night" w/ Michael Stipe Lucky Town "Souls of the Departed" w/ Neil Young The Ghost of Tom Joad "Youngstown" The Rising "Lonesome Day" "Mary's Place" "The Rising"

Cover songs

"All Along the Watchtower" w/ Neil Young "As Long As I (Can Be With You) w/ Patti Scialfa "Bad Day" w/ R.E.M. "Bad Moon Rising" w/ John Fogerty "Better Man" w/ Eddie Vedder "Centerfield" w/ John Fogerty "Deja Vu (All Over Again) w/ John Fogerty "Fortunate Son" w/ John Fogerty "Love (Stand Up)" w/ Patti Scialfa

"Man on the Moon w/ R.E.M. "People Have the Power" w/ entire group of performers "Permanent Vacation" w/ R.E.M. "Proud Mary" w/ John Fogerty "Rockin' in the Free World" w/ Neil Young, R.E.M., John Fogerty, and Pegi Young "Running on Empty" w/ Jackson Browne "The Star Spangled Banner" "Travelin' Band" w/ John Fogerty "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" w/ R.E.M, John Fogerty, Bright Eyes, Dixie Chicks, Neil Young and Pegi Young

Source: ^{[8] [9]}

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance	Revenue
North America [10]
September 27, 2004	Seattle	United States	McCaw Hall
September 29, 2004	Phoenix		Cricket Pavilion
October 1, 2004	Reading		Sovereign Center
	Philadelphia		Wachovia Center	19,353 / 19,353	$1,552,750
	University Park		Bryce Jordan Center	14,596 / 14,596	$716,562
	Pittsburgh		Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts
	Wilkes-Barre		F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
October 2, 2004	Cincinnati		Taft Theatre
	Toledo		Toledo Sports Arena
	Cleveland		Gund Arena
			State Theatre
	Fairborn		Nutter Center
	Columbus		Promowest Pavilion
October 3, 2004	East Lansing		Wharton Center for Performing Arts
	Walker		DeltaPlex Arena
	Detroit		Cobo Arena
			Fox Theatre
	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills	13,181 / 13,181	$607,118
	Kalamazoo		Wings Stadium
October 5, 2004	Kansas City		Midland Theatre
	Saint Paul		Xcel Energy Center
	Madison		Kohl Center
	Iowa City		Hancher Auditorium
	Milwaukee		Riverside Theater
	St.Louis		Fox Theatre
October 6, 2004
	Des Moines		Civic Center of Greater Des Moines
	Asheville		Asheville Civic Center
	Ames		Hilton Coliseum
October 8, 2004	Jacksonville		Moran Theater
	Kissimmee		Silver Spurs Arena
	Orlando		TD Waterhouse Centre
	Gainesville		O'Connell Center
	Clearwater		Ruth Eckerd Hall
	Miami Beach		Jackie Gleason Theater
October 11, 2004	Washington, D.C.		MCI Center	16,769 / 16,769	$1,714,865
October 13, 2004	East Rutherford		Continental Airlines Arena	19,800 / 19,800	$1,687,750

Performers

Performer	Seattle	Phoenix	Reading	Philadelphia	University Park	Pittsburgh	Wilkes-Barre	Cincinnati	Toledo	Cleveland
Babyface
Ben Harper
Bonnie Raitt
Bright Eyes
Bruce Springsteen
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Dave Matthews Band
Death Cab for Cutie
Dixie Chicks
Gob Roberts
Jack Johnson
Jackson Browne
James Taylor
John Fogerty
John Mellencamp
Jurassic 5
Keb' Mo'
My Morning Jacket
Neil Young
Pearl Jam
Peter Frampton
R.E.M.

Performer	Fairborn	Cleveland (Theater)	Columbus	East Lansing	Walker	Detroit (Cobo)	Detroit (Fox)	Auburn Hills	Kalamazoo	Kansas City
Babyface
Ben Harper
Bonnie Raitt
Bright Eyes
Bruce Springsteen
Dave Matthews Band
Death Cab for Cutie
Dixie Chicks
Gob Roberts
Jackson Browne
James Taylor
John Fogerty
John Mellencamp
Jurassic 5
Keb' Mo'
My Morning Jacket
Neil Young
Pearl Jam
R.E.M.

Performer	St. Louis (October 5)	St. Louis (October 6)	Saint Paul	Madison	Iowa City	Milwaukee	Des Moines	Asheville	Ames	Jacksonville
Babyface
Ben Harper
Bonnie Raitt
Bright Eyes
Bruce Springsteen
Dave Matthews Band
Death Cab for Cutie
Dixie Chicks
Gob Roberts
James Taylor
John Fogerty
John Mellencamp
John Prine
Jurassic 5
Keb' Mo'
My Morning Jacket
Neil Young
Pearl Jam
R.E.M.
Sheryl Crow

Performer	Kissimmee	Orlando	Gainesville	Clearwater	Miami Beach	Washington, D.C.	East Rutherford
Babyface
Ben Harper
Bonnie Raitt
Bruce Springsteen
Dave Matthews Band
Death Cab for Cutie
Dixie Chicks
Eddie Vedder
Gob Roberts
Jackson Browne
James Taylor
John Fogerty
John Mellencamp
Jurassic 5
Keb' Mo'
Neil Young
Patti Scialfa
Pearl Jam
Peter Frampton
R.E.M.
Tracy Chapman

References

1. "Voices for Change". Rolling Stone . 2004-10-14. Archived from the original on March 16, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
2. Tyrangiel, Josh (2004-10-11). "Born to Stump". Time . Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
3. Gardner, Elysa. "Springsteen, R.E.M., Other Big Acts Embark on Tour". USA Today . August 4, 2004.
4. Springsteen, Bruce. "Chords for Change". The New York Times . August 5, 2004.
5. Kay, Jennifer. "Springsteen, R.E.M. Kick off "Vote for Change" Concerts Across Swing States" Archived 2007-08-24 at the Wayback Machine . Common Dreams NewsCenter. October 2, 2004.
6. Evans, Rob. "Bruce Springsteen takes Vote for Change Tour home" Archived 2004-10-10 at the Wayback Machine . LiveDaily. October 4, 2004.
7. Fricke, David. "Taking It to the Streets" ^{[ dead link ]}. Rolling Stone . August 11, 2004.
8. "2004 Setlists". Backstreets.com. October 2004. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
9. "Bruce Springsteen Setlists | Greasy Lake". Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
10. Evans, Rob (October 4, 2004). "Bruce Springsteen takes Vote for Change Tour home". LiveDaily . Archived from the original on October 10, 2004. Retrieved November 18, 2013.

External links

• Backstreets.com set lists and descriptions for the shows that Springsteen was involved in