With last night's "We Are One" concert at the Lincoln Memorial, inaugural festivities are officially under way. Here are some of the most interesting bits of news emerging from this weekend's parties and the ones on tap for tonight and tomorrow:
- Washington streets and mass transit are already hemorrhaging out-of-towners, and security has things moving even slower, but Gayle King notes that everyone doing crowd control has been "exceptionally nice." [NYMag]
- Estimates have put attendance at yesterday's "We Are One" concert at the Lincoln Memorial at more than 400,000. [USA Today]
- Glimpses of the inaugural stages and dance floors are still more than a day away, but this look back at "awkward inaugural dance moves" gives a brief history of the type of staging seen in years past. [HuffPo]
- Tomorrow's inaugural luncheon, while a fitting tribute to Abraham Lincoln, doesn't appear to be the healthiest. One nutritionist notes the calorie count is around 3,048. [Washington Post]
- Not many inauguration-goers are bothering to decline any invitations. Nearly all of the 400 invitees showed up to Maureen Dowd's party at her D.C. home last night. [DC Examiner]
- Anyone planning to attend Luke Russert's inaugural party should probably think again—it was canceled. [Wonkette]
- Kanye West will perform at Tuesday's Youth Ball, along with Kid Rock and Fall Out Boy. [DCist]
- The Commander-in-Chief's Ball will air on Pentagon TV, broadcasting to military bases all over the world. [PIC2009]
- Forty Coast Guard vessels will be patrolling the Potomac River to stop anyone considering beating traffic by boating. [WTOP]
