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Omaha's indie music icon — used to playing venues in New York City and London to crowds of thousands — will play a block party in the Benson neighborhood this summer.
And Conor Oberst, long an activist for progressive politics — will donate proceeds from the event to fight the new immigration law in Fremont.
Oberst and Omaha promoters have organized the Concert For Equality to be held July 31 in downtown Benson. The concert will benefit the American Civil Liberties Union's fight against the Fremont ordinance that assesses fines against employers and landlords who employ and rent to illegal immigrants.
After 57 percent of the voters supported the restrictions on June 21, State Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont warned of people from outside using the issue to make “a name for themselves and pushing their own political agenda.”
Janssen has called the vote “a victory in the enduring fight against illegal immigration.”
Nebraska Gov. David Heineman has said the Fremont vote represents growing sentiment toward illegal immigrants. “I understand the frustration in Fremont,” Heineman has said. “I think you're seeing it all across our state, you're seeing it in Arizona, you're seeing it all across America.”
John J. Wiegert, an organizer of the petition drive to place the measure on the ballot, refused to comment about the concert on Tuesday. But he noted that “anything the ACLU supports is probably something that I oppose.”
Tickets for the concert, $20, go on sale Saturday. The venue can accommodate around a thousand people, planners say, so it's expected to sell out quickly. The event caused buzz on Facebook shortly after it was announced Tuesday among fans from as far away as Los Angeles and Paris. One fan remarked that he will come from New York City for the concert.
Oberst has been a leader among musicians fighting a similar law in Arizona. He joined the Sound Strike, a nonprofit group made up of artists boycotting performances in that state, and has mentioned Fremont, a town of 25,000 about 30 miles west of Omaha, in recent writings and videos.
“I was outraged, saddened and embarrassed for their town and my state,” Oberst wrote in an open letter to an Arizona concert promoter. “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.”
The concert already has attracted attention from national music publications such as Pitchfork.com and New York Magazine, not only for the cause but for the fact that Oberst is reuniting his former punk band, Desaparecidos. The much-praised group was together in 2001 and 2002.
Oberst's band Bright Eyes and popular Saddle Creek bands Cursive and Lullaby for the Working Class are on the bill. Oberst also has invited other big-name musical friends to participate in the concert, but the full lineup has not yet been confirmed. His friends include M. Ward, Jenny Lewis, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Britt Daniel of Spoon and many others, so expect some surprises.
A concert industry watcher likened what's happening with the immigration issue to Arizona's refusal to honor Martin Luther King Day in the 1970s. At that time, there was blowback against the state from musicians and others, said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of concert industry publication Pollstar.
“The amount of money he's going to raise with a benefit like that is going to be modest,” Bongiovanni said. “It's going to raise awareness. He's going to have some success, but I wouldn't expect it to reverberate beyond the borders.”
It's not the first time Oberst has used his music to support his politics. He was part of the Vote For Change Tour with Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Neil Young. The 2004 tour railed against then-president George W. Bush and urged fans to cast votes for Sen. John Kerry.
In 2008, Oberst performed with James and Ward at a pair of Barack Obama rallies.
The ACLU is happy to have a vocal, famous personality helping its cause.
“Not only am I a fan personally, it's always great when someone who has a really wide audience can bring a message about social justice to people's attention,” said Amy Miller with the Nebraska chapter of the ACLU. “So many people will listen to Conor that would never listen to what the ACLU has to say.”
Oberst has written “Coyote Song” and will donate the proceeds to Sound Strike. Weeks ago, Oberst said it's a love song about two people separated by the U.S.-Mexico border.
“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.
Maple Street and side streets in Benson will be blocked off for the concert. Tickets will be available at www.onepercentproductions.com. A deluxe ticket will go for $50, which allows entry into special performances inside the Waiting Room Lounge.
Contact the writer:
444-1557, kevin.coffey@owh.com
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