Conventionist: Highlights From DNC Day 1

One day down and three more to go here in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. Below are some of the top moments of Day 1 for DCist (and a couple lowlights for good measure).

• Sen. Ted Kennedy's speech, obvs. The expectations going in were that this would be the senator's final public speech -- but Kennedy walked out on stage and continued standing during his entire speech, defying expectations that he would look different, appear to be very weak and need to sit on the stool that had been brought out for him due to his cancer treatment. Several delegates we were near had already started to get teary during the video tribute to Kennedy, so the emotional impact of the incredibly popular senator promising that he would "be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate" packed a real wallop. Kennedy was the hit of the night on the convention floor.
• Michelle Obama's speech was a close second. We had to head out of the Pepsi Center while she was still talking, but the entire house was rapt as she described what she and her husband have in common: "He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did," she said. Mrs. Obama did a good job convincing the crowd that she is a working mother who can identify with the struggles of ordinary Americans, proving herself a real asset to the campaign.
• At a party co-hosted by the Distilled Spirits Council of America and The Hill newspaper, Hill Editor-in-Chief Hugo Gurdon told DCist that he had hired some local band he couldn't remember the name of for the entertainment, largely because he couldn't justify spending $250,000 to hire someone like Tom Petty. That "local band" turned out to Denver's own DeVotchKa, who are certainly in our top 10 favorite bands, if not top five. We happily rocked out after being surprised when strains to "Queen of the Surface Streets" started spilling out of the club.

  Lowlights of Day 1 after the jump.