Bruce Springsteen looked very cold when he opened Wednesday night’s inauguration show, Celebrating America. ‘I’m proud to be here in cold Washington DC tonight,’ said the New Jersey singer, staring at his guitar, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, ‘offering a small prayer for our country,’ before make an acoustic version of Land of Hopes and Dreams.
He didn’t seem to struggle with the temperature as badly, however, as Tom Hanks, the show’s guest who was fit but without a coat, who was already making his glorious hands in his fists.
Most consecration nights, of course, would be spent indoors, safely out of the bitter conditions of January, and would usually be in a more traditional form – a dozen or so of official blackballs, and getting more unofficial scores, with tickets ranging from $ 75 to $ 10,000.
This year, however, with the U.S. passing the hard milestone of 400,000 coronavirus deaths, and with rates still going up, the Biden-Harris team had to be creative.
An inaugural ‘feast’ had the potential to be a cringe-fest, a clunky, awkward, disappointing choice for live, personal festivals.