The Best And Worst Of President Obama’s Fundraiser At The Apollo

I went to President Obama’s fundraiser at the Apollo Theater in Harlem last night.

1. Best

This guy. I’m not sure if he was a volunteer or worked for the Obama campaign. Either way, he was the press escort. He had to bring us to the bathroom. What you can’t see in this picture is that he was chewing on a toothpick and had a pretty badass Batman belt buckle.

2. Worst

The Obama administration. I couldn’t take any pictures. That’s why all of my pics are horrible cellphone pictures.

All of my pictures may/may not be illegal.

3. Best

This radio guy. He took pictures anyways.

4. Best

Ticket prices. Tickets were between $100 and $5,000 per ticket. Pretty affordable for a Presidential fundraiser. According to the NY Times, last March the President held a $38,800-a-person fundraiser at celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson’s popular Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem.

5. Worst

The security. The security messed up. I overheard a volunteer say someone from TMZ snuck in. They also accidentally let half of the media leave when they weren’t supposed to.

6. Best

The Sign Language Lady. She nailed it. So entertaining to watch her sign President Obama’s speech.

Source:  Getty Images

7. Best

BOOZE. There was a bar and my escort (see #1) took me there where I got a tanqueray and tonic. Fancy.

8. Worst

The bar. It was only open for the pre-show. My drink was also $10, which isn’t too bad, but still.

9. Best

Al Green singing “Lets Stay Together.” This was the best performance of the night. His stage was also GREEN.

10. Worst

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=GN1iI-DaJNw.

Brooks & Dunn playing during every break. Major buzzkill. After every performance they played this song. I heard it at least 3 times. We were at the Apollo!! C’mon.

11. Worst

The comedian between sets. He was wearing those ridiculous $3,000 Back To The Future shoes.

12. Best

They were on time! All concerts and shows are usually late, but this was pretty much right on time.

13. Best

The audience. Every time a Republican was mentioned the audience laughed. It was pretty funny. At one point, Obama acknowledged it by asking: “Why are you laughing?!”

14. Worst

The stage. It needed more American flags.

Source: Getty Images

15. Best

This joke. “When you support someone named Barack Hussein Obama you know you’re in for a fight.” This was one of the first things he said after singing Al Green.

16. Best

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=T-hDt2E8MoE.

Obama singing “Let’s Stay Together.” He opened with this. The crowd loved it.

The crowd also loved whenever he talked about education.

17. Worst

The second half of his speech. Obama totally nailed the first half of his speech, but it seemed like the crowd got a little tired midway through.

He spoke for about 30 minutes. Longer than I expected.

Source:  Getty Images

18. Best

India Arie’s seat. India Arie opened the show and then sat in this balcony during the speech. She had arguably the best seat in the house.

19. Worst

This face.

Source:  Getty Images

20. Best

This face.

Source:  Getty Images