Graham Nash: 'Please come to Denver'

by Mark Silva

After the riotous Democratic National Convention in Chicago 40 years ago, Graham Nash's song, Chicago, became a rallying call for an anti-war generation: "Won't you please come to Chicago?'' Nash first sang in 1971. "We can change the world, rearrange the world.''

On the 40th anniversary, with the Democrats staging a mile-high presidential nominating convention in Denver this summer, and anti-war fervor in the air again, Nash has licensed the song anew to a Colorado band singing the anthem with one key word changed:

"Won't you please come up to Denver?''

On a recent tour-stop in Denver, on June 26, those troubadors of the 60's, Crosby, Stills and Nash, played the "Denver'' version to a packed house and dedicated the song to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, who was, as they say, in the house.

Colorada activists saw in this performance "an opportunity to use this song as a rallying cry for the 2008 DNC in Denver,'' a spokeswoman for a group organizing a "Counter-Convention'' in Denver reports.

"With Graham Nash's permission, a local Colorado band called Freedom Kage was enlisted to re-record the song. They changed only the words from "Won't you please come to Chicago?" to "Won't you please come up to Denver?"

The governor's office has had no comment on its feelings about the suggestion implicit in this revision - that somehow Denver could become the staging ground for a renewed anti-war demonstration reminiscent of Chicago '68 -- organizers of the counter-event say.

"Even though all the protest groups involved have pledged to act in a non-violent manner,'' notes Laura Kriho, a Chicago native living in Colorado and serving as spokeswoman for a "Come up to Denver'' campaign, "the city is spending up to $18 million on security equipment and non-lethal weapons for the DNC, raising fears that the law enforcement is looking for trouble, as they were at the 1968 DNC.''

"I hope that activists around the country respond to the song and come up to Denver in August," Kriho says. "As in 1968, we need massive numbers of participants to make an impact."

The "Come Up to Denver" campaign is encouraging "progressive social change groups'' to come to Denver for the Aug. 24-28 party convention and take part in a "DNC Counter-Convention. "There will be music, art, speakers, workshops, marches, rallies and networking opportunities for activists from around the country to plan "what's next" after the 2008 general election,'' Kriho notes. "Environmental, peace, social justice, immigrant rights, human rights and the economy are just some of the issues that will be discussed at the Denver Counter-Convention.

Oh, and by the way, that Crosby, Stills and Nash tour runs through August 9, with stops July 14 at the Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, Ill., on July 16 at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend, Ind., and July 19, at the Meadow Brook Music Festival in Detroit.