Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been holding “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies in cities across the U.S., and, perhaps not surprisingly, they are pulling in a bit more musical firepower at an upcoming stop in Los Angeles than at the appearances scheduled for Boise or Tempe. At a tour stop at L.A.’s Grand Park on April 12, the senators will be joined by a potent lineup of musicians that includes Neil Young, Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers.
Admission for the event is free with sign-up on Sanders’ website. Doors will open at 9 a.m. at Grand Park, with a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. for the first speakers.
Also adding musical support are Indigo de Souza, Jeff Rosenstock, the Red Pears and Raise Gospel Choir.
Rosenstack was the most immediately obviously stoked of all the performers, posting on his social media: “ME BERNIE AOC & NEIL YOUNG CHOPPIN IT UP.” After calling it a “DREAM BLUNT ROTATION,” Rosenstack added, “All weed jokes aside, it has been easy to feel powerless and alone since the election and seeing the massive crowds of people who are also tired of this bullshit attending these events (cornball alert) has filled my heart with hope. I woulda been here anyway so like I said in CAPS LOCK above I am beyond honored to be a part of this playing some songs. SHOW UP EARLY AND WATCH ME TRY MY BEST LOL.”
The Gloria Molina Grand Park tour stop for Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” follows similar, if less star-powered, rallies held recently in Las Vegas, Tucson, Denver, Tempe and other Western cities. Upcoming stops have just been scheduled in April for the California cities of Bakersfield and Auburn, plus Salt Lake City; Nampa, Idaho; and Missoula, Montana.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are scheduled to speak in L.A. as well.
The “Fighting Oligarchy” tour is mostly scheduled for predominantly Republican areas — but, obviously, a decision was made to make an exception for deep-blue L.A.
In explaining the purpose for the tour, Sanders said, “The American people, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents, do not want billionaires to control our government or buy our elections. They do not want Republicans to decimate Social Security and the Veterans Administration. They do not want huge tax breaks for the wealthiest people in the country paid for by massive cuts to Medicaid and other programs that working families rely on. That is why I will be visiting Republican-held districts all over the Western United States. When we are organized and fight back, we can defeat oligarchy.”
Sanders’ website says the tour has been attended by 107,981 people across seven states so far, and that livestreams of the tour have been watched more than 5 million times.