By Alex Shapiro

Through many decades, countless concerts in all different musical genres have had at least one thing linking them together: that jerk who yells "Free Bird!"

Anyone who's been to a rock show in the past 30 years knows exactly who I'm talking about (hey, it might even have been you!). The dork who waits for a relatively quiet moment in between songs and then yells out the words — so innocently written by late Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zandt, long before the band became famous — that have become rock's F-bomb, apparently thinking it's the most original, clever, spontaneous concert-going stunt since the invention of crowd surfing.

Yelling "Free Bird" at a gig has never been funny. Ever. Until last night. And here's why ...

Just hours after Barack Obama's historic nomination, the crowd at the Youth Ball (where Kanye West, Fall Out Boy and Kid Rock performed) was poised, almost silent with excitement, waiting for the new president to make his appearance. The energy in the room was palpable.

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By Conor Bezane

It was complete and utter chaos as Bow Wow brought his Walk Across America tour to New York City on Friday. MTV News hung out with the rapper for seven hours (most of it on foot) to cover the event, designed to encourage young people to vote.

Our day with Bow Wow started at Long Island University in downtown Brooklyn, where he spoke to students about why it's more important than ever to vote. In a short interview on campus, he told us that the economy is the number-one issue because the recession is affecting young peoples' daily lives. "I want [students] to feel comfortable when they go to class and not have to worry about no student loans, no credit, no high gas prices," he said.
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