Indeed, Stewart and Colbert’s message was muddled in a more literal sense: If you were packed Saturday like a canned sardine onto the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with the estimated crowd of 215,000, you probably didn’t actually hear the show.

That’s not to say people didn’t have a good time. In the Wired.com video above, several left-leaning attendees talk about how they considered the show worth the packed airports and I-95 traffic they endured, since they got to vent their frustrations with the impending Republican gains in Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections.

Still, the show was undeniably a sound engineer’s nightmare, since the giant speakers projecting the concert to the concertgoers weren’t powerful enough. People standing near the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, not half a mile away from the stage, chanted “Louder! Louder!” Some of their biggest cheers came when a few attendees climbed the trees lining the mall to get a better view.

The volume problem wasn’t due to any lack of enthusiasm from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report comedians.

When it was possible to catch a JumboTron-enabled glimpse of them from their stage near the mall’s eastern edge, both comedians gallivanted around like they’re used to playing to huge crowds — especially Colbert, who emerged from beneath the stage in a sort-of-too-soon nod to the trapped Chilean miners.

Musical performances by Ozzy Osbourne, Jeff Tweedy, the Roots and Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock — with the volume cranked much louder than the spoken-word comedy — got people’s blood pumping.

Still, many people grew frustrated with the inadequate sound system, peeling off to find a bar where they could watch the livecast, hear the jokes and get inspired.

A rally that sent people racing for the TVs: How’s that for irony?

See Also:

• Stewart and Colbert's D.C. Rally Skewers Politics as Usual
• Decoder Ring: Stephen Colbert Encounters Some Real Gridlock
• Photos: See Jon Stewart Stormtrooper Action Figure

Authors: Spencer Ackerman

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