Ahhh, you gotta go to one at least in your youth. "Ain't no power like the power of people - cause the power of people - DON'T STOP!" *claps* And yes, all of those people were real. The whole story was real, which made it rather sad to endure as it unfolded.
The biggest rally that I went to was in November when I went to Toronto to support the Coalition Government. There was at least 1,000 people there - and I made it onto national news - on the CBC.
With the candles? Dunno. Memorial marches are less of a rush, dear. It's probably real. They have those "Take Back the Night" vigil marches for women against male violence and such, so it wouldn't surprise me that the neighbourhood and gay rights activists went out for a silent march by candlelight when they found out the first openly gay politician was brutally executed.
Hahaha. Good one. I met David Amram at a music folk festival, he was a fantastic human being, and we ended up jamming together in a drumming circle. He was good friends with Jack Kerouac, and here he is with Willie Nelson: