Live 8

[monkey]

I have a little digital box thing, and spent most of my time watching the show at the Eden project. Such a pity that the organisers didn't have the imagination to get these guys to play between the Hyde Park acts. The musicianship and energy were outstanding. Frankly the London show left me flat, although the Who moved me, and seeing Floyd was great (I saw them doing money last in 1973!!) And if this has been mentioned then I apologies but what in gods name was that VIP area all about. The real audience looked like it was in Shepherds Bush, while a bunch of c list celebs, politicians and chums of St Bob swaggered around in the front of the stage providing less atmosphere than I would expect to find on the moon. A bloody disgrace, the real supporters of the event, the sentiment, and the music were treated like third class citizens...........a four king disgrace in my humble (sorry)

[Fax]

Was only able to catch the highlights on VH1 & MTV but the highlight for me was easy...Seeing Roger and David togther onstage again (and not wanting to kill each other)  Roger looked genuinely moved to be playing with his old bandmates again.  Here's hoping they had a few cold ones backstage and realized they're getting too old to be bickering like little kids.  The wall was released my senior year in high school and that WAS the soundtrack for our final year.
Fax

[tink]

whilst the hyde park event has been criticised for not really having any african acts on the line up the point of the concert was to raise awareness of the issues. there is no way that a concert featuring unknown, traditional african artists would have recieved as much press coverage. im not saying that its right, but having bands like coldplay, madonna, u2 and the like will attract more media attention and therefore the issues will more likely be dragged into the limelight.

i dont see anyone discussing the concert at the eden project...

raising the issues was the important thing here and i dont think it really matters how they were raised

[monkey]

I mentioned the Eden project above, and will repeat, it would have been good if they had slotted the African bands between the 'bums on seats' acts that you name. You are right, they would not have drawn the audiences required, but I am sure, having watched several hours from Eden, they would have lifted the audience................  just a thought.

[Andy Zarse]

I mentioned the Eden project above, and will repeat, it would have been good if they had slotted the African bands between the 'bums on seats' acts that you name. You are right, they would not have drawn the audiences required, but I am sure, having watched several hours from Eden, they would have lifted the audience................  just a thought.

Absolutely agree Monkey, they could have at least given a platform to some of the great African acts; who knows, hearing it on the big stage could just have popularised it a bit more. Then the message about good things coming out of Africa would be in the main arena more than just for one day. Exiling it to the depths of Cornwall to be marginalised was precisely not what was needed, and to my mind, was a scandal. And all just so Macca and his other pals sporting melted crisp packet face-lifts could fan the flames of their vanity.

And where was the call for free and fair trade? This should be being stuffed down Chirac and Bush's throats by the demonstrators in Scotland. However, the protagonists all seem too busy shouting out to end poverty and smashing up quiet villages, to apply a bit of brain power to work out exactly how to do it. Let's hope the politicians manage to do something constructive. Ending the wretched distorting CAP and opening our markets to more African goods would be a good start.

[Black Granny]

Missed it on TV as I was out working. Managed to listen to some of it on the radio. Over in Toronto they had a real "Old School" Rock band on Deep Puple. Would have gone down well with the other oldtimers at Hyde Park.
I'll try and get some info on the cost of the overrun as one of the Tarquins works for Westminster Council.

Spoke to Westminster tarquin today. The organisers will probably be let off any fine as it was seen as instumental in London getting the Olympics.
also I suspect that several councillors whose seats will be up for grabs at the next election will not want to be seen to be "Heavy Handed"

Cynical-Moi?

[tink]

monkey, i did see your earlier post re: the eden project. and i completely agree with you, slotting some of the african acts in between the 'popular' acts would not have been such a bad thing. the whole event was let down by the fact that it focused merely on the fact that africa is supposedly a poor continent that cannoot help itself. there are a lot of positives that could have been presented but the whole event seemed to concentrate on the negatives which was a shame.

and yes, andy, the focus on poverty was also disappointing. promoting fair trade should definitely be a priority as this is something which would actually go a long way towards helping african nations, rather than simply giving them pity

[monkey]

I agree with you tink.

[Andy Zarse]

I agree with you tink.

Well said Tink.