Concert to oppose Fremont law

The biggest names in Omaha music are lending their songs, guitars and instruments to oppose the immigration law in Fremont.

Conor Oberst and Omaha promoters have organized the Concert For Equality on July 31 in downtown Benson featuring Saddle Creek Records acts Bright Eyes, Cursive, Lullaby for the Working Class and a reunited Desaparecidos. The concert will benefit the ACLU's fight against Fremont's new law.

Oberst recently has been at the forefront of musicians opposing the new immigration law in Arizona. He joined Sound Strike, a non-profit group that includes artists boycotting performances in Arizona.

Last week, Oberst penned an open letter to Arizona concert promoter Charlie Levy, who has argued that bands shouldn't boycott performances in the state. In the letter, Oberst mentioned his distaste for the Fremont law approved by voters last month.

"I was outraged, saddened and embarrassed for their town and my state," Oberst wrote. "This way of thinking and legislating is so dangerous, and such a threat to our basic ideals as Americans and humans, that we cannot stand by and do nothing. We cannot play on as if nothing is wrong."

Residents in Fremont, a town of 25,000 just west of Omaha, voted 57 percent to 43 percent in favor of the ordinance that aims to cut off housing and jobs to illegal immigrants by punishing landlords and employers who house or hire them.

After the vote, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, who is from Fremont, said he thought the message voters sent mirrored a frustration across the U.S. — that the federal government had not secured U.S. borders or found a “speedy, technological way” to legal immigration.

In addition to the significance of fighting the immigration law, the concert will mark the return of the Desaparecidos, who are headlining the show. Music fans as far away as Los Angeles and even Europe were praising the group's return on Facebook.

Oberst has penned a song, "Coyote Song," for Sound Strike. Proceeds will benefit the non-profit.

In a video interview, Oberst said the song is "a love song about two lovers separated by conditions that are out of their control, namely this right here," as he gestured to the USA-Mexico border behind him.

"In my view, it's state-sanctioned racism. If we let it slide in one place in the country, it's like dominoes. That way of thinking will start to erode everywhere, and I think it's important that we take a stand now," Oberst said.

Tickets for the Omaha concert, $20, go on sale Saturday at www.onepercentproductions.com. A deluxe ticket is also available for $50, which allows entry into a special performance at the Waiting Room Lounge after the outdoor concert wraps up.

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