Live 8 – Concert for Africa
Twenty years ago, Bob Geldoff threw a bi-continental concert called Live Aid. All my memories of that day aren’t so clear anymore. What I do recall was that the day had some eventful performances ranging from The Who and Led Zeppelin to George Michael bringing down the house singing “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” and Freddie Mercury and Queen rocking Wembley Stadium. Did I mention Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, David Bowie, Tom Petty, and U2?! And how about the closing song in England of “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time at All.”
Now 20 years later we have Live 8, designed to continue the education and support of trying to end poverty in Africa by asking the major leaders of the world to work towards finding a solution.
As for the concert: the music and performances, in one word, for the most part, awful! First, and most importantly, MTV/VH1 did not allow you to see the complete performances! We were allowed to see a portion of a song before we were subjected to another shot of the young, punk VJ’s yapping away or another ad for poverty. The most awaited act was the reunion of Pink Floyd after 25 years. And what happened? During one of their most memorable songs, “Comfortably Numb,” MTV/VH1 cuts away and we are left with another shot of the VJ’s talking! Same thing happened with The Who and Stevie Wonder’s performances. At least 20 years ago we saw most of the whole sets performed to completion outside of the still obnoxious VJ’s. The only highlights were the couple of Pink Floyd songs we were able to view/hear and they sounded great, and that of George Michael joining Paul McCartney on The Beatles’ classic “Drive My Car.” Otherwise, it was a train wreck!
As for the political message, as sad and devastating as the poverty situation is in Africa, what about all the poor and homeless in our own country and the starving vets that line our streets in the good old USA?! You feed and take care of your own FIRST before you can help anybody else. The G8 have many concerns to worry about to focus only on just Africa ($40 billion in debt is already expected to be pardoned.) And how about an account of all the relief funds that have already been provided over decades, including the Live Aid $100 million dollars? How about all these celebs like Brad Pitt, Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Green Day and the Bono’s of the world put their own money where their mouths are and contribute heftily to the cause instead of boring us with mediocre performances and their giant egos and finger snapping every 3 seconds?
Enough, Mr. Geldoff!
Now 20 years later we have Live 8, designed to continue the education and support of trying to end poverty in Africa by asking the major leaders of the world to work towards finding a solution.
As for the concert: the music and performances, in one word, for the most part, awful! First, and most importantly, MTV/VH1 did not allow you to see the complete performances! We were allowed to see a portion of a song before we were subjected to another shot of the young, punk VJ’s yapping away or another ad for poverty. The most awaited act was the reunion of Pink Floyd after 25 years. And what happened? During one of their most memorable songs, “Comfortably Numb,” MTV/VH1 cuts away and we are left with another shot of the VJ’s talking! Same thing happened with The Who and Stevie Wonder’s performances. At least 20 years ago we saw most of the whole sets performed to completion outside of the still obnoxious VJ’s. The only highlights were the couple of Pink Floyd songs we were able to view/hear and they sounded great, and that of George Michael joining Paul McCartney on The Beatles’ classic “Drive My Car.” Otherwise, it was a train wreck!
As for the political message, as sad and devastating as the poverty situation is in Africa, what about all the poor and homeless in our own country and the starving vets that line our streets in the good old USA?! You feed and take care of your own FIRST before you can help anybody else. The G8 have many concerns to worry about to focus only on just Africa ($40 billion in debt is already expected to be pardoned.) And how about an account of all the relief funds that have already been provided over decades, including the Live Aid $100 million dollars? How about all these celebs like Brad Pitt, Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Green Day and the Bono’s of the world put their own money where their mouths are and contribute heftily to the cause instead of boring us with mediocre performances and their giant egos and finger snapping every 3 seconds?
Enough, Mr. Geldoff!
posted by New England Magazine at 10:51 AM
1 Comments:
Hello. Nice piece about Live 8 – Concert for Africa. I have a music blog that I'm trying to get going myself - just looking for a little inspiration! All I seem to have done so far is declare my undying love for Radiohead, the Killers and a rather large article on Live 8. The live 8 concert dvd is out today which should be fantastic. It's set to become the biggest selling DVD ever - not surprising really. Anyway, like I said, great blog and I'll be back again soon.
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