Ending on a high noteKerry visit caps off thank-you concertJohn F. Kerry and John Edwards, fresh from their rousing sendoff at the FleetCenter, arrived at the UMass-Boston campus shortly after midnight for the tail end of a free concert that Kerry adamantly wanted to stage to thank the people of Boston for the inconveniences of the four-day convention.
The two Democrats strode onstage to fireworks and the strains of the 1812 Overture, cheered by the crowd, estimated to be at least 20,000 strong. Kerry and Edwards were joined by their families. The appearance, to the crowd's shouts of ''Kerry, Kerry," capped a four-hour concert event featuring the Boston Pops, singer James Taylor, and the 1970s soul group Tavares at the UMass campus. ''I myself was born in Boston and raised in North Carolina, so this ticket is right down my alley," Taylor told the crowd as he dedicated the song ''Carolina in My Mind" to Edwards, the vice presidential nominee from North Carolina. Before Kerry's arrival, thousands of people at the concert watched Kerry accept the Democratic nomination on two huge video screens, cheering as the Massachusetts senator thanked his FleetCenter crowd ''for a welcome home I will never forget." The speech was shown under a nearly full moon and a clear night sky. ''It was amazing. It felt like he was right here. What a powerful speech," said Sue Kelly of Jamaica Plain. Organizers distributed 20,000 free tickets for the event. By about 8 p.m., ticket holders had formed a line about 200 yards long leading to a security entrance checkpoint, where they were forced to pass through metal detectors and wands and their bags were searched. Police patrolled from the rooftops, as well as on foot, horseback, and mountain bikes. Most of the crowd arrived by a shuttle bus from the JFK-UMass MBTA station. Hundreds spilled outside the tight security perimeter, some expressing frustration that they were left to listen from the asphalt parking lot. ''The security doesn't bother me, but they don't have enough for the crowds," said Peg Durkee, from Beacon Hill, who arrived at 6:45 p.m. and waited in line until 8:05, when she was told that the area inside the security perimeter was too crowded to accommodate more people. She had a ticket, but was forced to listen from the parking lot with a huge crowd. ''It's nice to do things like this, but logistics are so important. Something went wrong," Durkee added. A VIP reception inside the new UMass-Boston campus center included former UMass president William Bulger, Senate President Robert Travaglini and Senate Ways and Means Committee chair Therese Murray, said Robert Connolly, a UMass spokesman. For a while, it looked as though the concert and fireworks show would never take place. Kerry initially planned to stage the event at the Charles River Esplanade, but state officials earlier this month rejected that idea, citing security concerns. Then, organizers sought to stage the concert at UMass-Boston. But Wednesday night, a combination of threatened thunderstorms and confusion over transportation planning forced the event's postponement. Michael H. Mulhern, general manager of the MBTA, said he had not been given any details about the concert until Wednesday morning, when it was too late to devise a plan for keeping the transit system open late enough to accommodate the event, which was slated to end around midnight. Because of all the chaos, dozens of would-be concertgoers showed up on Wednesday night for the show, only to learn it was put off. ''I was a little frustrated," said Erin Klein, 22, of Boston, who learned about the postponement only after already making the trip to the concert venue. Still, she showed up for yesterday's rain date. ''I really had to go," she said. Security for yesterday's event was coordinated by the Secret Service, and thus extremely tight. By midafternoon, the UMass student services building, the waterside foot path, and parking facilities were closed down, university spokesmen said. Audience members were also warned ahead of time that the concert was a strictly nonpartisan affair, and were advised that no signs or placards would be allowed on campus. Concert organizers planned to interrupt the show to display Kerry's convention-capping acceptance speech live on two massive video screens. Many in the crowd shrugged their shoulders upon learning that Kerry's speech would be piped into the concert, saying there's nothing surprising about an event in Boston being tinged by something partisan. ''Since this huge event is happening in Boston and Kerry is from Boston, maybe it has a place," Klein said. The concert was only one aspect of the big give-back to Bostonians, many of whom have protested that the convention, initially billed as a boon to the city's economy, was a bust.
On Tuesday, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that the city would open its doors to residents between today and Sunday, offering deep discounts on museum, theater, and movie tickets, as well as parking, sightseeing trolley tours, free concerts, and an open house at Fenway Park. For specific information on the mayor's ''thank you" program, go online to www.cityofboston.gov. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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