The last Democratic National Convention now seems like hallucination—a socially distanced, virtual event during a moment of high anxiety and deep grief. Back in 2020, many of the speakers talked to us from their own homes, a weirdly comforting touch at a time when Dems craved solace from the dual threats of Covid and Donald Trump. The first night of the 2024 DNC felt like a return to business as usual—a glossily-produced, tightly-choreographed political pep rally in a packed Chicago arena.

See All the Highlights From the Democratic National Convention

Except there’s nothing normal about this year.

A sitting president has voluntarily handed the baton to his Black-Indian-American female vice president, Kamala Harris, a historic turn of events on multiple levels. The opening night of the convention had to dramatize the handover, delicately but firmly ushering President Joe Biden offstage while applauding his achievements and honoring his service. It had to seamlessly—and painlessly—blend ovation and adieu.

The extended homage also served as a farewell to a certain flavor of old, white father-figure politician, now eclipsed by a raft of multicultural speakers, whose diversity was matched by that of the delegates, as we saw in the sweeping pans of the audience.

All through the night, during boilerplate tributes and fiery testifying alike, you couldn’t help worrying about what Biden’s speech would be like. His devastatingly blank debate performance gave us reason to be anxious. Each barnstormer performance—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s wonderfully expressive hand gestures, Jasmine Crockett’s alliterations and accusations, Raphael Warnock’s preacherly blend of oratory and plainspokeness—only increased the concern: how on Earth would Joe be able to follow that?

By the time Biden’s daughter Ashley introduced him, the audience was ready for a weepy catharsis. The camera lingered over father and daughter as they embraced and he dabbed a tear from his eye. The ovation lasted nearly five minutes, the arena bobbing with “We Love Joe” signs. And then the President launched into his speech, touting the achievements of his term (graciously making a point of sharing the credit with Harris) while emphasizing the apocalyptic threat posed by Trump. Fears about his energy and stamina proved unfounded: if anything the delivery was a little too forceful and ferocious, making even his boasts seem cantankerous. Biden can’t do “happy warrior” like VP Harris and Governor Tim Walz, and the speech—rousing as it was—underlined exactly why he is not the man for this moment.

Democratic Conventions have traditionally added razzle dazzle to keep TV audiences glued to the screen: superstar hosts, pop singers, even cringe-inducing musical routines like the notorious 1996 Macarena dance-along. Amidst the wild speculation about potential performances later in the week by Taylor Swift or Beyonce, the Dems kept things pretty low-key for this first night, with country singers Jason Isbell and Mickey Guyton appealing to enlightened Red State voters. Overall, it was a sensible, substance-oriented convention, in contrast to the RNC’s hypermacho Wrestlemania vibe, complete with Hulk Hogan shirt-shredding.

The DNC 2024 host—actor and activist Tony Goldwyn— was an odd choice for opening night, seeing as the president he played in the Shonda Rhimes drama Scandal was a terrible president who gained his office by rigging voting booths, murdered a supreme court justice, cheated on his wife while in the White House, and started a war to save his girlfriend.

Unexpectedly, one of the highlights of this over-long opening night was Hillary Clinton. Maybe she was relaxed because she wasn’t pursuing her own career ambitions, but her speech had a rhythmic fluency I don't remember from her own 2016 run. Clinton twinkled onscreen as the convention audience roared their affection. It must have been almost as poignant and painful for her to anoint someone else as the (please, God) first female President as it was for Biden to forego his own chance at reelection. But she was gracious and she got in some good jabs at her one time adversary. Noting Harris’s prosecutorial past, Clinton said: “She will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety. Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial and when he woke up, he made his own kind of history—the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions." The crowd chanted “Lock him up!” Clinton couldn’t hide her grin. You almost wanted her to do a Fleabag-style fourth wall-breaking wink at the audience as she said, “We have him on the run now.”