Live8
So, did anything happen in the world, today? I must've missed it.
No, Live8 happened today, and man, was it glorious. A few things about Live8 (the gig in London, mainly) - if nothing of what I'm about to say makes any sense, try to keep in mind that I a) am an idiot, b) have no idea what I'm talking about, c) missed about two thirds of the entire gig, or d) all of the above.
○ ○ ○
First of all, someone, anyone who's actually been there, please, tell me it sucked ass. Tell me the sound was bad, the weather was nippy, the atmosphere was messed up, anything! Just tell me that is wasn't as fucking magnificent as it looked on the telly. Please. I need this.
○ ○ ○
Green Day played in Berlin, of all places. I can just imagine how that meeting went:
Announcer: Sir Paul McCartney will play in London ... U2 will play in London ... The Who will play in London ...
[Billy Joe Armstong takes another sip of his beer]
Announcer: Pink Floyd will play in London ... Coldplay will play in London ... Keane will play in London ...
[Billy Joe Armstong gets slightly, but only slightly, nervous]
Announcer: Madonna will play in London ... Elton John will play in London ... Mariah Carey will play in London ...
[Billy Joe Armstong swallows hard]
Announcer: REM will play in London ... Robbie Williams will play in London ... Sting will play in London ...
[Billy Joe Armstong starts sweating profusely]
Announcer: The Stereophonics will play in London ... Annie Lennox will play in London ... Dido will play in London ...
Billy Joe Armstrong to anonymous person sitting next to him: What the fuck? Dido!? That talentless cunt!?
Announcer: Ahem ... Green Day ...
Billy Joe Armstrong: Ah, here we go.
Announcer: ... will play in Berlin.
Billy Joe Armstrong: Oh.
○ ○ ○
I happened to catch Laura Pausini at the Live8 concert in Rome, and she is still looking every bit as beautiful as she did some ten years ago, when I had a huge crush on her. Ne'er before have I seen jeans that tight, and it was magnificent. An emotional moment. Tissues were obligatory.
○ ○ ○
Despite their obvious talents, and their charitable willingness to participate in such an event, Mariah ("Get me a glass of water on stage, I need water") Carey and George ("I'm used to these kinda gigs, I do 'em all the time") Michael are, and always will be, huge asses. Huge.
○ ○ ○
I have a new found respect for (brace yourselves) Robbie Williams. Legendary bands and artists such as The Who, Sir Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd are fantastic on the basis of their songs alone - all they have to do is sing their songs, and they give a classic performance. But that's all they do - get on stage, sing the songs, and get off stage. What makes Robbie Williams so damn good is everything else - the man is, from his shoelaces to his plucked eyebrows, an all-round entertainer, a genuine showmaster. He ate the crowd up, and he loved every bloody second of it.
○ ○ ○
Comic relief:
○ ○ ○
Ah, fuck Robbie Williams - Pink Floyd owned Hyde Park, tonight.
○ ○ ○
I can only tip my hat to Bob Geldof - this has genuinely been the biggest global event in the history of history. He made it happen, not only once, but twice. This will make a difference; this simply cannot not make a difference.
You have my utmost respect, mr. Geldof.
○ ○ ○
Glorious. Simply glorious.
Cheers
No, Live8 happened today, and man, was it glorious. A few things about Live8 (the gig in London, mainly) - if nothing of what I'm about to say makes any sense, try to keep in mind that I a) am an idiot, b) have no idea what I'm talking about, c) missed about two thirds of the entire gig, or d) all of the above.
First of all, someone, anyone who's actually been there, please, tell me it sucked ass. Tell me the sound was bad, the weather was nippy, the atmosphere was messed up, anything! Just tell me that is wasn't as fucking magnificent as it looked on the telly. Please. I need this.
Green Day played in Berlin, of all places. I can just imagine how that meeting went:
Announcer: Sir Paul McCartney will play in London ... U2 will play in London ... The Who will play in London ...
[Billy Joe Armstong takes another sip of his beer]
Announcer: Pink Floyd will play in London ... Coldplay will play in London ... Keane will play in London ...
[Billy Joe Armstong gets slightly, but only slightly, nervous]
Announcer: Madonna will play in London ... Elton John will play in London ... Mariah Carey will play in London ...
[Billy Joe Armstong swallows hard]
Announcer: REM will play in London ... Robbie Williams will play in London ... Sting will play in London ...
[Billy Joe Armstong starts sweating profusely]
Announcer: The Stereophonics will play in London ... Annie Lennox will play in London ... Dido will play in London ...
Billy Joe Armstrong to anonymous person sitting next to him: What the fuck? Dido!? That talentless cunt!?
Announcer: Ahem ... Green Day ...
Billy Joe Armstrong: Ah, here we go.
Announcer: ... will play in Berlin.
Billy Joe Armstrong: Oh.
I happened to catch Laura Pausini at the Live8 concert in Rome, and she is still looking every bit as beautiful as she did some ten years ago, when I had a huge crush on her. Ne'er before have I seen jeans that tight, and it was magnificent. An emotional moment. Tissues were obligatory.Despite their obvious talents, and their charitable willingness to participate in such an event, Mariah ("Get me a glass of water on stage, I need water") Carey and George ("I'm used to these kinda gigs, I do 'em all the time") Michael are, and always will be, huge asses. Huge.
I have a new found respect for (brace yourselves) Robbie Williams. Legendary bands and artists such as The Who, Sir Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd are fantastic on the basis of their songs alone - all they have to do is sing their songs, and they give a classic performance. But that's all they do - get on stage, sing the songs, and get off stage. What makes Robbie Williams so damn good is everything else - the man is, from his shoelaces to his plucked eyebrows, an all-round entertainer, a genuine showmaster. He ate the crowd up, and he loved every bloody second of it.
Comic relief:
- The flying pig on the videowall behind Pink Floyd as the first notes of their first performance together in 24 years (or so I hear) blast out of the speakers.
- The blonde keyboard-chick from Roxy Music, at the Berlin gig, suddenly pulling out of nowhere a big-ass cowbell and beating it with a stick.
- Michael Stipe. Nothing in particular, just Michael Stipe.
Ah, fuck Robbie Williams - Pink Floyd owned Hyde Park, tonight.
I can only tip my hat to Bob Geldof - this has genuinely been the biggest global event in the history of history. He made it happen, not only once, but twice. This will make a difference; this simply cannot not make a difference.
You have my utmost respect, mr. Geldof.
Glorious. Simply glorious.
Cheers
8 Comments:
Robbie Williams is awesome, although I don't hear much about him here in California. Americans are so conceited.
So, you're a Londoner. That explains the "Cheers".
Wendy - Galapagos is an amazing book, but then, so are all of Vonnegut's books. I'm a huge fan of his.
Snake - Not a Londoner, so that does not explain the 'Cheers'. If I'd've been a Londoner, I'd've been there, in Hyde park. Guess again.
And to the both of you - yes, Robbie is excellent. And that for an ex-boy bander.
Cheers
I hate the whole thing! I don't have a TV so could not watch it but if I had a TV I would have made sure it was turned off :-D
I'm sick of hearing about live8, I'm sick of rich morons jumping at a chance to boost their careers, and I'm sick of Bob Geldof!
Live8 is a total failure! I have yet to meet on single person that knows it's about raising awareness of third world debt and the G8 summit ( hence the name live8 ).
Let's all get together have a huge concert with lots of bands make a whole load of noise and blah blah help poor Africans.
No, let's just quietly give some money out of our pockets or take some action that needs taking.
Me cynical? NAH :-D
Full of sound and fury yet signifying nothing...
First of all, the original BandAid (or LiveAid) was the single biggest fundraiser ever. Ever, you hear. Ever. And that was 20 years ago.
How can you hate Bob Geldof for attempting this? Millions upon millions of people (including me) signed the online petition yesterday, which they will be presenting to the G8 on July 6th.
Everybody I know, knew that this was intended to raise awareness. Everybody. And if you watched the gig, you couldn't not know, because every single artist said something about it, and there were banners all over the place.
Be cynical all you want, and we'll have to wait and see if this'll make a difference, but you can't hate these people for trying. Trying something like this is never ever a bad thing.
Cheers
I can't help be cynical. Do you really think Mr Bush sitting at the G8 eating venison and drinking wine that costs $300 dollars a bottle is going to say something like
"Gee, did you see that live8 yesterday? You know there are millions of Africans starving? Who knew! Dang, I'm gonna stop raping the environment and spending billions per month on weapons and researching new ways to kill people and give lots of money to the third world right now!"
Yeah... right.
I CAN hate them for trying because it's pointless. If they really REALLY want to help they can give some of their vast fortunes. If they REALLY want to help they can go to a poor country and build a hospital. If they REALLY want to help they can do something like start a sustained political movement.
What we don't need is a bunch of huge egos prancing around on stage patting each other ( us included ) on the back at how good people we are.
Take your comments, all of it was about the concert itself and who played. To most people it's simply a free concert EVEN if they are aware of what it's about.
Most people will remember the music and not the message. George B and all the rest of the fat cats certainly wont give a shit.
Am I really cynical or just realistic? :-)
You're being cynical.
Why do you think the G8 cancelled the debt of (what?) 18 third-world countries, a month or two back? Don't you think the pressure put on them by Geldof and his mates had anything to do with that?
And what if the G8 don't believe in it, or don't act on it. Go to Edinborough July 6th, and you'll see just how many people do believe in it.
All the complaints you have seem to be directed at the G8, but you take your anger out on Geldof - not completely fair, is it? What are you trrying to do to end world poverty? All he did was organise the biggest global event in the history of the world.
And my comments are about the concert itself, because a) it was one hell of a show, and b) I consciously try not to make this a political blog.
Stop dissing the people out there trying to make a difference, and start dissing the people out there who can make a difference, but won't.
Cheers
Hear hear, my feathery friend.
Tell me, did you have a good view, being only (what?) 10 or 12 inches high?
Cheers
I just couldn't work out why Michael Stipe appeared to have dressed as a ninja turtle. Leonardo?
Post a Comment
<< Home