Music and Protest at Columbia: Grateful Dead

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donbosco

donbosco

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On May 3, 1968 The Grateful Dead gave an impromptu concert on the Library steps on the Columbia University campus. The SDS had smuggled them in inside a bread truck. The object was to defuse tension after a month of tumult and protest against the Vietnam War. Police presence was high and The Administration cut the power but students reconnected it and the show went on. Ultimately tensions were indeed reduced by The Dead’s performance.

Here’s the question: What band or performer could pull something like that off today?

Here’s video:
 
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Given the current crisis in democracy, today's musicians need to be playing/covering protest songs.
 
My wife suggested that perhaps Ed Sheerin might be able to reduce tension? I have no idea. All that I know about him is that he kind of looks like a mini-Conan O'Brien.
 
Is there a subset of music popular with 16 to 28 years olds that is both peaceful and anti-establishmentarian at present?
 
Rock music is basically dead, and to the extent it's not, the "band" is actually one or two guys and synths.

They just don't make enough to money to feed four mouths. The Dead, IIRC, had six members. That's increasingly impossible. Some metal outfits pull it off but they aren't going to be what you're looking for.

Public Enemy could do it, but I don't think they are active. I don't know if there is political/socially conscious hip hop anymore -- I mean, really anti-establishment, as opposed to lip service paid on a multiplatinum record.
 
If you're looking for current protest music, you should go down the Jesse Welles rabbit hole on Youtube.

Here's a good place to start:

 
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