Live 8
- OnTheMoor
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I think that the one in Hyde park was about 10 times the size of any of the others.
We had a bit of a chuckle at ours. Held in Barrie, which is not exactly up there with London, Berlin, Rome or even Philadelphia. But it was good fun from what I saw. Media roasted it, but I'll take Barenaked Ladies, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Daimond, Our Lady Peace and Great Big Sea over Beyonce and Will Smith anyday.
We had a bit of a chuckle at ours. Held in Barrie, which is not exactly up there with London, Berlin, Rome or even Philadelphia. But it was good fun from what I saw. Media roasted it, but I'll take Barenaked Ladies, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Daimond, Our Lady Peace and Great Big Sea over Beyonce and Will Smith anyday.
- SteveShaw
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I was at the one at the Eden Project in Cornwall. All the acts were African. It was a fabulous day. There was no sidelining of the politics at all. Africa's problems, within and without, were to the fore but equally the day was a celebration of the continent's wonderful diversity and vibrancy of its peoples and cultures. It was about as far removed as you could imagine from being a tawdry pop concert more concerned with the self-aggrandizement of a few ageing rock bands than with helping the world's poor. Well, that's what I thought and I was there!
Steve
Steve
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
- OutOfBreath
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From what little I bothered to watch of it you described the US version perfectly!SteveShaw wrote:...It was about as far removed as you could imagine from being a tawdry pop concert more concerned with the self-aggrandizement of a few ageing rock bands than with helping the world's poor...
John
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The Internet is wonderful. Surely there have always been thousands of people deeply concerned about my sex life and the quality of my septic tank but before the Internet I never heard from any of them.
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The Internet is wonderful. Surely there have always been thousands of people deeply concerned about my sex life and the quality of my septic tank but before the Internet I never heard from any of them.
I watched a bit of the the net broadcast, which was a surprisingly steady stream.
I think the concert showed there a has been a shift in musical tastes since the first Live Aid. Back then, it was the rock bands such as Queen who played the crowd. From what I saw and read, the biggest crowd pleaser in London was rapper Snoop Dog.
I think the complaints about there not being enough black artists included in the original lineup were justified.
Mukade
I think the concert showed there a has been a shift in musical tastes since the first Live Aid. Back then, it was the rock bands such as Queen who played the crowd. From what I saw and read, the biggest crowd pleaser in London was rapper Snoop Dog.
I think the complaints about there not being enough black artists included in the original lineup were justified.
Mukade
'The people who play the flat pipes usually have more peace of mind. I like that.'
- Tony Mcmahon
- Tony Mcmahon
- SteveShaw
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You can see a collection of photos from the Eden Project event ("Africa Calling") on the BBC website (my daughter's in photo 21 - bottom right, pink bag-strap on shoulder!) http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/thelive8event/pics/eden/?1 or watch videos of a lot of the performers http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/live8/ (click Africa Calling). The line-up was all-African, all day, from 1pm to 11pm (except for Dido who did two songs with Youssou N'Dour ). Geldof didn't want "unknown" Africans at Hyde Park in case it put people off watching, and Andy Kershaw accused Eden of ghettoising African performers. I've never heard such twaddle in my life. The fact is, Cornwall did it right (proper job, as we say around here!). As Peter Gabriel (who helped to organise the Eden gig) said, Geldof shot himself in the foot this time. The Eden concert was superb musically and the cause in question was appropriately to the fore all day (whatever your views of it). Unforgettable.
Steve
Steve
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
- djm
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Steve, this is just a guess, and not intended to be inflamatory or anything, but is it possible that there is a bigger influx of Africans to GB and parts of Europe, or that they may not be a significant enough presence in other parts of the world to have "recognized" African musicians available for the concerts? This may explain why organizers went for what would be more popular in certain countries.
djm
djm
I'd rather be atop the foothills than beneath them.
- GaryKelly
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It certainly didn't harm sales for some of the has-beens:
LIVE 8 STARS' ALBUMS BOOST
1 Pink Floyd - Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd - 1343%
2 The Who - Then and Now - 863%
3 Annie Lennox - Eurythmics Greatest Hits - 500%
4 Dido - Life For Rent - 412%
5 Razorlight - Up All Night - 335%
6 Robbie Williams - Greatest Hits - 320%
7 Joss Stone - Mind, Body and Soul - 309%
8 Sting - The Very Best of Sting & The Police - 300%
9 Travis - Singles - 268%
10 Madonna - Immaculate Collection - 200%
Source: HMV
From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen ... 651309.stm
LIVE 8 STARS' ALBUMS BOOST
1 Pink Floyd - Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd - 1343%
2 The Who - Then and Now - 863%
3 Annie Lennox - Eurythmics Greatest Hits - 500%
4 Dido - Life For Rent - 412%
5 Razorlight - Up All Night - 335%
6 Robbie Williams - Greatest Hits - 320%
7 Joss Stone - Mind, Body and Soul - 309%
8 Sting - The Very Best of Sting & The Police - 300%
9 Travis - Singles - 268%
10 Madonna - Immaculate Collection - 200%
Source: HMV
From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen ... 651309.stm
"It might be a bit better to tune to one of my fiddle's open strings, like A, rather than asking me for an F#." - Martin Milner
- SteveShaw
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You can't help feeling a bit queasy when you read that. I wonder whether the "stars" in question will donate their extra profits (along with the record companies, retail outlets, etc. etc.) to appropriate causes. Call me Mr Cynic but I doubt it somehow. The African acts I saw at Eden were livelier, more accomplished (more PROFESSIONAL) and a damn sight more dynamic than anything I saw on the telly from Hyde Park (we recorded it). Geldof may even have suspected that some - MOST - of them would have upstaged some of the owld lags on offer in the park. The most exciting thing Madonna did was to swear (my mum went mad!) - and did we have to have Hey bloody Jude again....arrrgh!GaryKelly wrote:It certainly didn't harm sales for some of the has-beens:
LIVE 8 STARS' ALBUMS BOOST
1 Pink Floyd - Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd - 1343%
2 The Who - Then and Now - 863%
3 Annie Lennox - Eurythmics Greatest Hits - 500%
4 Dido - Life For Rent - 412%
5 Razorlight - Up All Night - 335%
6 Robbie Williams - Greatest Hits - 320%
7 Joss Stone - Mind, Body and Soul - 309%
8 Sting - The Very Best of Sting & The Police - 300%
9 Travis - Singles - 268%
10 Madonna - Immaculate Collection - 200%
Source: HMV
From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen ... 651309.stm
Steve
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
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- Wombat
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Forgive me for interrupting some thoroughly well-deserved cynicism by pointing out that the exercise, as I understood it, was not to alert an indifferent world to the wonders of African music but rather to alert people in the developed world, many of whom couldn't find Africa on a map, to the connection between the behaviour of developed nations and poverty in Africa.
My experience of playing so-called world music to people who are interested in pop is that they soon go into the next room and put on the music they wanted to listen to all along. It isn't African music.
You could easily have found a couple of dozen African acts who'd have put on a fantastic show and who are well-known to largish niche markets in the west. But I suspect the people who watched would have been people who already understood the political situation, more or less. It wouldn't have been a massive audience.
My experience of playing so-called world music to people who are interested in pop is that they soon go into the next room and put on the music they wanted to listen to all along. It isn't African music.
You could easily have found a couple of dozen African acts who'd have put on a fantastic show and who are well-known to largish niche markets in the west. But I suspect the people who watched would have been people who already understood the political situation, more or less. It wouldn't have been a massive audience.
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