Indie Rockers Join Forces For Obama (Again)

Tonight Barack Obama cements his nomination as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America while Radiohead cement their position as a band that really likes to do webcasts. Last night's portion of the DNC had a different soundtrack: Rage Against The Machine played a protest show at the Denver Coliseum in support of Iraq Veterans Against the War then led a protest march of thousands to the Pepsi Center to present a list of demands that, as MTV reports, included "an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and reparations for the Iraqi people" to Obama's camp. No word on how that went, but this is what the performance looked and sounded like. Oddly, not as impassioned as this. Likely more meaningful for the meaningful-core fans out there was Unconventional '08, an Obama-themed show that took place at Manifest Hope Gallery, also in Denver, hosted by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. Early in the evening there were performances by Silversun Pickups, Nada Surf, DJ Z-Trip, and Democratic blog favorites Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Cold War Kids, but it was the late-night set that birthed an indie rock supergroup:

Right, that's not M. Ward with Zooey. Instead, it's Ben Gibbard, who took the stage with Zooey, Jenny Lewis, Johnathan Rice, and Nada Surfer Matthew Caws to perform tracks like Z & M's "This Is Not A Test," Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris's "Love Hurts," which Lewis and Rice reportedly dedicated to Barack and Hillary, and Nada Surf's "Weightless." I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has the rest of the photos and more of a partially real/partially imagined set list. Please note that Gibbard is wearing the same outfit when he stopped by Jenny Lewis's place to hear "Acid Tongue."