LAKEWOOD, OHIO — Vice President Joe Biden wasn’t the only big name gracing the stage at Lakewood High School on Sunday morning. Singer Jason Mraz played a set before the Vice President arrived, much to the delight of young people in the audience and self-described “cougars.”
The Lakewood High School band opened for Mraz. Several of the high school band members were avid Mraz fans, including 17-year-old Devon Caskey. “I like died,” she said with a laugh. “I took so many pictures.”
When asked if they were as excited about Biden, the students were silent for a few seconds before shrugging and making noncommittal noises. “Sure?” one boy said hesitantly. “It’s definitely an experience,” one girl added.
And while the students could not yet vote — something Caskey described as “senior problems” — they made up a large portion of the crowd at the event. Meanwhile, Obama-Biden voters outside the event were turned away and told that the rally was at “max capacity.”
As Red Alert Politics waited outside the press entrance to be let into the rally following Mraz’s set, Mraz’s band members exited the high school and began loading equipment into their vans. Two local women walked up and began asking the men, “Are you Jason Mraz? Are you Jason Mraz?” The band members said no, before turning to reenter the building, at which point the women wanted to accompany them.
“We’re cougars!” they shouted, before implying the band members should make up an excuse to get them into the building. “Aren’t we your cougar girlfriends?” The women walked away after the band went back inside. About a minute later, the band — including Mraz — walked out of the high school.
Not everyone in Lakewood was as enthused to see the famous singer and his entourage, though. As Mraz and his band members stood by their vehicles, a silver Dodge Challenger stopped on the road next to the high school. “You goddamn hippies!” the driver yelled out his open window before pulling away.
About five minutes later, a middle-aged man walked up to the press entrance and excitedly asked if Mraz had already left. After being informed that he had, the man said, “I already voted. I just wanted to see Jason!”
