Oct. 30, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a rally at Alliant Energy Center to encourage Wisconsinites to swing the vote her way — but, Harris didn’t come to Madison alone.
Musicians Remi Wolf, Gracie Abrams, Mumford & Sons, The National’s Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner took the stage in support of Harris, proving the energizing and unifying effect music can have on a movement.
Wolf was the first to perform, looking like she might’ve been going to a funeral in her all-black attire — but when she sang, it wasn’t the requiem one might expect. Vivacious and animated, Wolf warmed up the crowd with the delightfully funky “Cinderella,” followed by a crowd-pleasing cover of “Piece of My Heart.” The subsequent “Disco Man,” infectiously energetic and incessantly catchy, was the perfect prelude to all the excitement to come.
The National members Berninger and Dessner delivered a mellow, moving performance accentuated with Berninger’s hauntingly deep vocals and Dessner’s complex yet clean guitar riffs. The band’s set included “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” “I Need My Girl” — which Berninger said he wrote about his daughter but tonight is about Kamala — and “Fake Empire” which featured a touching piano outro.
Next, indie pop upstart Gracie Abrams emerged to considerable fanfare. Abrams commanded the crowd with ease, entire sections exploding with screams of excitement whenever she glanced their way, teenage girls bouncing up and down in jubilation. Some have dubbed her Taylor Swift’s heir apparent, and her performance offered compelling evidence for that claim.
Abrams opened her set with the poignant, wistful “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” followed by the more upbeat “Risk.” She chose to end on a note of optimism with “Free Now,” uttering its final lyric with a soft smile, “Never been less empty, all I feel is free now” — a hopeful message for Harris’s campaign as it approaches the finish line.
The final performance of the night was by Grammy award-winning folk-rock band Mumford & Sons. From their first strum of the banjo, the crowd’s energy was electrified. The band opened with “The Cave,” a striking ballad about overcoming adversity. Their charged, welcoming stage presence invited the audience to instinctively clap along.
After performing “Little Lion Man,” lead singer Marcus Mumford vocalized his support of Harris, encouraging the crowd to join him in voting for her. The band then returned to their upright bass, guitar, keys and banjo for “Awake My Soul” and “I Will Wait.” Each song contained the theme of rising above hardship, a fitting motif for the evening.
As the array of instruments soulfully melded with Mumford’s distinctive voice and lights on the crowd’s wristbands flashed red white and blue, there was a palpable sense of unity and hope in the crowd — especially knowing the vice president was speaking next.
Thanks to her star-studded supporting cast, Harris’s Madison visit was the perfect mélange of traditional rally and thrilling concert. It’s true that we vote for a candidate, not the artists who support them — but if the latter was true, Harris might just have it in the bag.
