Speaker Mike Johnson's mad dash from the Republican National Committee stage Monday triggered an "absolutely bonkers" musical review that had social media rolling in the proverbial aisles.
The void, created by Johnson's sudden flight from a broken teleprompter, was filled by 6 Wire, a corporate cover band based in Nashville, and a rendition of "I Want You To Want Me" that appeared to last more than 10 minutes.
"The band at the #RNC has been playing Cheap Trick's 'I Want You to Want Me" for close to 13 minutes now because the teleprompter broke," reported Rob Theakston. "This is absolutely bonkers."
Theakston commiserated with the band as it tried to entertain an audience he described as "catatonic." But he was not impressed by the band's seemingly desperate attempt to keep the crowd lively with covers of "China Grove" and "Takin' It To The Streets."
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"They are butchering your art right now," he tweeted to Michael McDonald. "This is unreal. I've been watching conventions for as long as I can remember and I've never seen anything like this."
Asked to identify the band, Theakston replied, "Some dad jam band who wouldn't be out of place in a Cialis commercial. Or Wisconsin's finest Guitar Center employees."
Courthouse News' congressional reporter Benjamin S. Weiss likened the vibe at the Milwaukee convention, where the Grand Old Party will likely nominate a convicted felon as its presidential nominee, to a VH1 video.
"Waiting for the prompter to come back up and they’re doing close ups of the band on the jumbotron," he reported.
"Who's picking these songs?" Scott Kelly asked. "CHINA grove? Takin it to to the streets? Not great messaging."
One local newsroom described it as "filler music."
Conservative Steve Stumsen opined it would be nice for the band to play music that was "newer than 1978."
When the band began to play "We're an American Band" — the Grand Funk Railroad song about enjoying "booze and ladies" whilst on tour — one viewer raised an eyebrow.
"Do they not know the lyrics?" asked X user Jen. "Are they just playing songs with the word 'American' in it?"
