had the huge task of playing in the house band for the the Inaugural concert for President Obama at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday 18 January and he has sent us some fantastic pictures from the event, taken by himself and bass player Nathan East.
During the show Kenny played with the likes of Stevie Wonder, John Mellencamp (“that was pretty cool, I actually hung with him for 45 minutes before the show”, Kenny told us), Jon Bon Jovi, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, James Taylor, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Bettye LaVette, Jennifer Nettles, Usher, Shakira, and Will.I.Am.
“We were rehearsing 15 to 16 hours a day for five days”, comments Kenny on the run up to the show. “Two days were spent in Ft. Myers Army Base where it was warm and then we were at the Lincoln Memorial where it was 11 degrees... We rehearsed in a tent where I had to wear Winter cloths to stay warm, then we went to the stage outside and froze our asses off. The night we rehearsed with Bon Jovi on stage it was -2!”
Kenny tells us he met President Obama after the show and describes it as “the biggest gig of my life.”
Just check out these pictures!
Kenny at sound check on stage with John Mellencamp.
"We hadn't played together for 15 years," says Kenny
Hanging in the warmth of the backstage tent, with The Boss!
The view from the front
Kenny spends time with Nathan East, Herbie Hancock
(and Abe Lincoln, background) after the show
Bono, and Kenny's head, during the show
