"The Boss" is coming to Ohio State

"The Boss" is coming to the Ohio State campus. Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to give an acoustic concert on The Oval Sunday in support of Barack Obama and early voting in Ohio.

Olivia Alair, the regional communications director for Ohio for Change, said the concert's goal is to mobilize the youth vote and make residents aware of the Oct. 6 voter registration deadline in Ohio.

The rally "will also encourage attendees to register to vote for the first time, or update their registration," according to a press release from the Obama Web site.

The gates will open at 3 p.m.; the program begins at 4:30.

Admission is free, but tickets for priority seating are available at Obama campaign offices. The OSU office is at 1902 N. High Street.

Tickets became available Thursday and will be available 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Saturday.

The concert was announced on short notice, which Alair said is not unusual for an event like this.

Springsteen is a vocal supporter of Barack Obama, Alair said. In April, a letter on Springsteen's Web site said that "He (Obama) has the depth, the reflectiveness and the resilience to be our next president." Springsteen's song "Born in the USA" was used at the Democratic National Convention this year.

"Sen. Obama is a great fan of Bruce Springsteen and is honored to have his support," said Aaron Pickrell, the Ohio State director of the Obama-Biden campaign, in a press release.

In 2004 Springsteen performed for more than 40,000 people on The Oval in support of John Kerry, and Kerry spoke at the event. Given Kerry's appearance and the importance of Ohio in the election, there has been widespread speculation that Obama will be at the event, but sources will not verify the speculation.

"Obama is not currently scheduled to be at Sunday's concert," Alair said.

This is the second concert this week to raise awareness of early voting. John Legend performed near the Recreation and Physical Activity Center on Monday.

Until Nov. 3, Ohio voters can cast ballots early, but because of the Oct. 6 voter registration deadline, Monday is the last day Ohio voters can register and vote at the same time. There is one early voting location in every Ohio county. The Columbus location is Veterans Memorial at 300 W. Broad Street.

The Obama campaign will use vans to transport students to Veterans Memorial to vote all week. "The vans will run every half an hour and make stops at 17th and High, the RPAC loop and The Gateway on campus - even through this weekend's hours."

Donnie Clark can be reached at clark.1292@osu.edu.

AP