Update: Item in the Huffington Post, with advice on avoiding the traffic snarls. Tickets sold out shortly after the event was announced.
Ben Folds will be one of the musical guests at a special gala reception for the President of the United States, Barack Obama, in New York on Thursday, March 1. The event, sponsored by Obama for America, is being organized by Deepak Chopra, Paulette Cole, Phil Suarez, Russell Simmons and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and is to be held at ABC Carpet and Home in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. Joining Ben will be the Philadelphia-based neo-soul band The Roots and actor Aziz Ansari of NBC’s Parks & Recreation. Tickets to the event are $1,000 per person; an event host designation is $10,000 and includes a photo reception with the President; and you can be an event chair for $35,800. The majority of the funds, of course, go to support the President’s re-election bid and the Democratic National Committee. Ben has played within a stone’s throw of the White House a number of times, but as far as I know, this is the first time he will have performed for the chief executive.
