When I received the phone call that President Bush was coming to Central Florida and I was chosen to sing for him, my heart leapt in excitement. The Bush Campaign representative swore me to secrecy and said I would receive details, date, time and location later.  I had to give the representative my date of birth, social security number and address.

A week later, the President’s visit and my rare opportunity was in the news. Friends were calling with congratulations and best wishes.  Hilariously, a few almost insisted that I hand deliver items to the President. After experiencing the extremely intense and heighten levels of security surrounding President Bush, I smiled at the naivety of their requests.

A friend proclaimed how lucky I was to score such a coveted gig. Luck had very little to do with my being selected. For 5 years, I’ve performed at many, many republican events, always giving 100%. The state representative, Jim Coffield said that he could not think of a more appropriate choice of a singer to represent Central Florida at the Bush rally than Lloyd Marcus.

I didn’t get much sleep the night before, too excited. I was scheduled to perform at the Daytona Beach Bush Re-election Rally at 2pm.  However, we, my band (N Friends, Mary Parker, Frank Starchak and Sonny Gebo) and I were instructed to arrive at 8am to set up our equipment before the Secret Service began their sweep of the area at 9am.

I was surprised at how every minuet detail was controlled. Even our sound check was controlled by an anonymous voice in the headset of the head sound engineer. After a brief sound check, the sound engineer apologetically instructed us to exit the stage.

It was only about 9:30am and our scheduled performance was 2:05 – 2:25pm. Home was an hour away and we decided not to risk getting caught in traffic. So, we went to a restaurant for breakfast and visited the home of a friend in the area.

Following instructions to a designated entrance, we arrived back at the rally site at 1:15pm.

We had to pass through two security check points and a third which included a metal detector. Thousands were already in the audience and many more were flowing in like a river. 

A Secret Service agent checked our names on a list, and then escorted us to a VIP holding tent. At 1:55pm, we were on stage before a crowd of at least 10,000 and growing.

Still receiving instructions from the voice in his headset, the sound engineer gave us a three minute warning.  At first he was going to introduce us. Then, he was instructed to have us intro ourselves.  With his final, “OK”, I began my show. My band began playing God Bless The USA, I yelled, “Hello, my fellow Americans! We are Lloyd Marcus N Friends. I’ve heard a rumor that George W Bush is going to be here today. Is that true?” The audience responded with roaring cheers and laughter.

My repertoire included my original patriotic anthems, United We Stand and Celebrate America. The crowd enjoyed our parody of Queen’s classic, We Will Rock You, which we changed to Re-elect George Dub-U. We also performed our original renditions of America The Beautiful and God Bless America. Using my God given gift, I further united the already on one accord crowd. We were a huge hit!

After our performance, we were escorted to the VIP stands and seated on the second row behind the podium were President Bush would soon speak. There were speeches, ceremony and more entertainment for about another hour. Now, able to relax a bit, I visually scanned the 14,000 plus audience. Disappointed, I noticed that, once again, I was one of the few Black Americans in attendance. I thought, “When will more black folks, get it?”

Suddenly, the Secret Service agents began politely, but sternly ordering all in the VIP area to take their seats and to clear all walkways. Air Force-One was seen flying in the distance. About 30 minutes later, the president’s motorcade arrived greeted by thunderous cheers. The press, who fly with the president, were first to entered the area. Then an announcer introduced Governor Jeb Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and President George W. Bush.

The audience went crazy.  While it could not be seen on TV, there was an approximate four foot separation between the VIP stand and the platform for the president. His platform was surrounded by Secret Service agents.

President Bush’s thirty minute or so speech was powerful and moving.  Afterwards, he came down and shook hands with those in the front of the cheering audience. I noticed a young girl about 15 years old who was moved to tears as President Bush past by.

Finally, the rally was over. My wife took the VIP seating name tags which bore our names as souvenirs. We arrived back home at 7:30pm, totally exhausted after putting in a 14 hour day.

And yet, we were still excited and full of pleasant  memories to tell our grand kids some day, how grandpa Lloyd once sang for the president.