If you were one of the tens of thousands of people at the Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear on Oct. 30, we hear it was pretty fun. But you probably didn’t see much of what was going on onstage. So here is a photographic summation:
Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. Watch video of Stewart’s opening.
Newscom/Sipa
The rally opened with a performance by The Roots, with surprise guest John Legend.
Newscom/Zuma
Colbert arrived on stage from a “bunker” via a rescue capsule like the one used to save the Chilean miners. Video here.
Newscom/MCT
He then engaged the crowd in a chant of “Chi, Chi, Le, Le!”
Newscom/Sipa
Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow performed.
Newscom/WENN
Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, performed “Peace Train.” His appearance prompted right-wingers to balk. Even Colbert interrupted…
Newscom/WENN
And brought Ozzy Osbourne onstage to sing “Crazy Train.” Then Stewart objected …
Newscom/Sipa
And the two agreed “Love Train,” performed by The O’Jays, would be the perfect compromise. Pictured: Eddie Levert.
Newscom/Zuma
Stewart and Colbert handed out medals to citizens who best represented sanity and fear. (Example: Stewart gave a medal to the “Dude you have no Koran” guy and Colbert gave one to the black T-shirt Anderson Cooper wears when reporting from disaster areas.) Pictured: Mike Foley, the professional wrestler Stewart had on last year to threaten bullies of a 10-year-old.
Newscom/WENN
Colbert performed a song with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
Newscom/Sipa
Sam Waterston, the actor who plays District Attorney Jack McCoy on Law & Order and “the most reasonable-seeming man in America,” read a poem for sanity.
Newscom/Sipa
Colbert and a giant papier-mâché puppet version of himself.
Newscom/Sipa
Tony Bennett sang “America the Beautiful.”
Newscom/WENN
Toward the end of the rally, Stewart made an earnest plea for reason and moderation in the political sphere — specifically, from cable news and other media.
Newscom/Sipa
The rally closed with an ensemble performance.
We have lots more photos from the rally: Professional pix here and reader pix here.
Newscom/Sipa
