The White House????

That was pretty much my reaction when i recieved the phone call asking if i was available to fly in for another of The Killers now seemingly regular one offs. Needless to say this wasn't going to be any ordinary show. The band were invited to play at the 4th of July Celebrations at the White House by the USO and President Obama. After a quick 12 hours travel to DC via London we checked into the hotel which was nicely within walking distance of the WH itself. After an evening off to relax and recover from the travel we were off to the site for what was one of the most unusual places i've ever done a show.

After the to be expected rigorous security and safety checks we were given our passes and allowed onto the grounds. As it was nighttime we were escorted everywhere by armed personnel and were always within view of our escorts. We were on the grounds when the President came back in his motorcade and it was an impressive site, we thought that would be the closest we would get to him while we were there, what did we know eh?

After i got all the lights set up it was back to the hotel before heading back in the morning to get the rest of the gear set up and get ready for soundcheck. As it was daytime now, things were a little more relaxed in terms of being able to move more freely on foot. So of course we took the opportunity to snap a few shots.





We got to have a little game of fetch with Bo, the presidents dog, too.


After the soundcheck we were back to the hotel and a wander around town whilst we waited to go for the show. We wandered back with a few hours to spare so we could join in the festivities on the south lawns. On the 2 previous occasions we had entered via the grounds but this time we were brought in through the House itself which was pretty cool, there are some amazing pictures on the walls of the ground floor, after a quick walk past the famed "West Wing" and the Oval Office we were back outside where we had some Barbeque and watched Pres. Obama give his address to the people in attendance.





After the speech, he made his way down the steps and walked along meeting and saying hi to people, it was pretty chaotic but a couple of us took our chances and stood on the opposite side of the garden from where he was and surely enough he made his way over and said hello and shook hands. To be honest, working in this business as long as i have, you used to unusual situations etc etc but even for a cynic like me, meeting a US President at the White House on 4th of July is pretty cool. Even for a non US citizen but someone who spends a lot of time in the US for work it was a great day and i can only imagine what it meant to the US citizens present. Im not informed enough to comment on Obama's policies or whatever as they really don't affect me as a foreign national but the brief meeting i had with him, he seemed like a personable and quite down to earth guy.

Unfortunately, secret service were not keen on letting him pose for individual photos, makes sense i guess he would have been there all day, but i did manage to get him in the background of a shot at least




But anyway back to the show, first up was the MC for the evening, Cedric The Entertainer



Before opening act Brandi Carlile, then The Killers took to the stage. To be honest i was surprised that the audience were as into it as they were as sometimes these private shows can be a little reserved because
you get people who may not necessarily be fans of the band etc etc



















After the fireworks were over we loaded out and it was back to to hotel for a quick drink before bed and flying home again the next day. Though i did spot from the rooftop bar that the whole Whitehouse complex was now in darkness and people had gone to bed, Except for one light that was on, the light from the oval office window, the rest of the world doesn't stop for 4th of July i guess!!