Justin Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack

Justin Pierre of Minneapolis' Motion City Soundtrack performed a 45 minute acoustic set on the UofM campus to support Senatorial candidate Al Franken. St. Paul Representative John Lesch was on hand, as well as plenty of Franken supporters, all who encouraged the students in attendance to make sure they register to vote - as tomorrow is the deadline. Minnesota is, however, a same-day registration state, and one could just register at the polls. I can tell you from experience, however, that it's much quicker to just get it over with and do it before election day.

Lesch talked a bit with students about Obama and his views on Iraq. He stressed the need for Obama, if elected, to have support in Congress in order to accomplish stated goals, and "Franken is the man to help make that happen." He also talked about things like student loan rates, grant programs (things the cost of the war is taking away), and health insurance. When asked who actually had health insurance, only about half of those in attendance were able to raise their hands. Change is painfully needed.

Once Pierre came in front of the small crowd, he began his set with Attractive Today, a hit off the "Commit This to Memory" release.
Things moved along swiftly with plenty of joking and laid-back attitude. Pierre did stop and talk about seeing Franken on SNL growing up, but said that he's also read some of the candidate's books, and done some research on his own. The singer said it was Franken's intelligence in this forum that's really impressed him. Sick of career politicians, Pierre said that Franken doesn't seem like the kind of guy who will be "owned" by lobbyists or another Washington group. Instead, Franken wants to do something with our current political system to make a difference. After these quick statements, Pierre went back to doing what he does best, entertaining a crowd and playing some sweet tracks from MCS's discography.

Video, more photos, and the set list after the jump

Here's some slightly less than completely terrible video I took with my Blackberry phone of the event (set list below):

Fell In Love Without You


The Future Freaks Me Out


Set List:
Attractive Today
Fell In Love Without You
The Future Freaks Me Out
Better Open the Door
My Favorite Accident
Modern Chemistry
Broken Heart
Everything is Alright

Full photo set here.