Dave Matthews Band, O.A.R., and former members of Phish and the Grateful Dead are among the artists participating in the “Midterms Matter Tour,” a multi-city voter registration campaign staged this summer by the non-profit, nonpartisan organization HeadCount.
HeadCount registered nearly 50,000 voters in 2004, more than any all-volunteer group in the United States. This year, the organization aims to bring voter participation back to the forefront by reminding young people that “Midterms Matter,” referring to the midterm elections in which one-third of the Senate and all seats in the House of Representatives are up for re-election.
More than 30 major concerts and events will be part of the tour, including the giant Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee in June as well as a two-day festival in August on New York City’s Randall’s Island headlined by Dave Matthews Band. The first event with a Headcount presence will be Summercamp, a three day festival from May 26 – May 28 in Chillicothe, Illinois featuring headliners Umphrey’s McGee, moe. and The Disco Biscuits.
Other artists participating include veteran Southern rockers The Allman Brothers Band, Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon (formerly of Phish) featuring the Benevento-Russo Duo, Gov’t Mule, moe. and String Cheese Incident. Ratdog, fronted by former Grateful Dead guitar player Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh and Friends, starring the Dead’s former bass player, are also part of the Midterms Matter Tour.
“Democracy seems to be slipping away from us year by year,” said Weir, a member of HeadCount’s board of directors. “The only true way to fight against that is with our votes, while we still have a chance.”
At each event, teams of volunteers will register voters while major concert acts will encourage all their fans to vote in November. The artist activities will range from stage announcements to special branding of concerts to media interviews. Sometimes, they’ll even go into the crowd to register voters themselves.
Marc Brownstein, bass player for the popular electronic rock band The Disco Biscuits, serves as the organization’s co-chair. “Two years ago, everyone was talking about voting, and we set out to make sure our audience was well represented at the polls,” said Brownstein, whose band will appear at five Midterms Matter Tour events. “This year, our mission goes beyond that. We want to be the sparkplug that gets all of America talking about voting again.”
The complete schedule of the Midterms Matter Tour events is listed below. For more information on HeadCount, please visit the newly re-designed site headcount.org .
May 26-28 SummerCamp 3 Sisters Park, Chillicothe, IL
June 3-4 Mountain Jam Hunter Mountain, Hunter, NY
June 9 moe. Festival Pier, Penn’s Landing, PA
June 8-11 Wakarusa Festival Clinton Lake, Lawrence, KS
June 16-18 Bonnaroo Festival Manchester, TN
June 27 Allman Brothers and Derek Trucks Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY
June 30 Phil Lesh and Friends Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ
June 29- July 2 High Sierra Festival Quincy, CA
July 1 Phil Lesh and Friends PNC Banks Art Center, Holmdel, NJ
July 1 – 2 Dave Matthews Band Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI
July 7 Phil Lesh and Friends Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY
July 11 String Cheese Incident Penn’s Landing, PA
July 15 O.A.R. Charter One Pavillion, Chicago, IL
July 14-16 All Good Festival Marvin’s Mountain Top, Masontown, WV
July 19-22 10,000 Lakes Festival Soo Pass Ranch, Detroit Lakes, MN
July 28 Dave Matthews Band / Soulive Dodge Center, Hartford, CT
July 29 Dave Matthews Band / Gov’t Mule Dodge Center, Hartford, CT
August 5-6 Randall’s Island New York, NY
Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Gov’t Mule, YMSB, TLG
August 10 O.A.R. Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ
August 11 O.A.R. PNC Banks Art Center, Holmdel, NJ
August 17-20 Gathering of the Vibes Indian Lookout CC, Mariaville, NY
August 25-26 Camp Bisco V Hunter Mountain, Hunter, NY
September 1-3 Dave Matthews Band / O.A.R. The Gorge, George, WA
September 1-3 moe.Down 7 Snow Ridge, Turin, NY
September 8-9 DMB / Robert Randolph Family Band Shoreline Amp, Mountain View, CA
September 15 Dave Matthews Band First Midwest Amp, Tinley Park, IL
George Clinton and Parliament Funk
