Vote for Change

The Vote for Change tour was a political American popular music concert tour that took place in October 2004. The tour was presented by MoveOn.org to benefit America Coming Together. 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. Bush would defeat Kerry in November 2004.

Itinerary

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

Results

The tour was generally successful in attracting audiences, generating media attention and raising approximately $10 million for America Coming Together.

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. 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). 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 (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. Especially at the beginning of his sets, Springsteen accomplished this by stripping down the songs,

Tour dates

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!scope="col" style="width:12em;"|Date

!scope="col" style="width:12em;"|City

!scope="col" style="width:12em;"|Country

!scope="col" style="width:20em;"|Venue

!scope="col" style="width:10em;"|Attendance

!scope="col" style="width:10em;"|Revenue

! colspan="6" |North America

|September 27, 2004

|Seattle

|rowspan="37"|United States

|McCaw Hall

|September 29, 2004

|Phoenix

|Cricket Pavilion

|rowspan="5"|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

|rowspan="6"|October 2, 2004

|Cincinnati

|Taft Theatre

|Toledo

|Toledo Sports Arena

| rowspan="2" |Cleveland

|Gund Arena

|State Theatre

|Fairborn

|Nutter Center

|Columbus

|Promowest Pavilion

|rowspan="6"|October 3, 2004

|East Lansing

|Wharton Center for Performing Arts

|Walker

|DeltaPlex Arena

|rowspan="2"|Detroit

|Cobo Arena

|Fox Theatre

|Auburn Hills

|The Palace of Auburn Hills

|13,181 / 13,181

|$607,118

|Kalamazoo

|Wings Stadium

|rowspan="6"|October 5, 2004

|Kansas City

|Midland Theatre

|Saint Paul

|Xcel Energy Center

|Madison

|Kohl Center

|Iowa City

|Hancher Auditorium

|Milwaukee

|Riverside Theater

| rowspan="2" |St.Louis

| rowspan="2" |Fox Theatre

| rowspan="4" |October 6, 2004

|Des Moines

|Civic Center of Greater Des Moines

|Asheville

|Asheville Civic Center

|Ames

|Hilton Coliseum

|rowspan="6"|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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:99%;"

! style="text-align:center; width:20%;"|Performer

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Seattle

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Phoenix

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Reading

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Philadelphia

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|University Park

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Pittsburgh

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Wilkes-Barre

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Cincinnati

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Toledo

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|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.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:99%;"

! style="text-align:center; width:20%;"|Performer

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Fairborn

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Cleveland (Theater)

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Columbus

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|East Lansing

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Walker

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Detroit (Cobo)

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Detroit (Fox)

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Auburn Hills

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Kalamazoo

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|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.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:99%;"

! style="text-align:center; width:20%;"|Performer

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|St. Louis (October 5)

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|St. Louis (October 6)

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Saint Paul

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Madison

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Iowa City

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Milwaukee

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Des Moines

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Asheville

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Ames

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|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

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:99%;"

! style="text-align:center; width:20%;"|Performer

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Kissimmee

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Orlando

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Gainesville

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Clearwater

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Miami Beach

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|Washington, D.C.

! style="text-align:center; width:8%;"|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

External links

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