Live 8 Concert megathread

[Lickszz 10]

Originally posted by Ditz

stereophonics and paul macca were absolutely brill!!

Incidentally, I saw a picture of Paul McCartney in the paper... you'd think with all that money he could find a more convincing wig

[Happy_Guy 10]

I thought Pink Floyd and The Who were great

[foo_fighter 10]

Originally posted by Mathom

...Graham Norton also said Def Leppard were "Leeds' Finest"...

Yeh, I noticed that too...

 

...eejit!

 

 

 

 

 

I had to agree with Fern (of the telly) that for me Velvet Revolver stole the show...

 

 

...but looking at the audience at Hyde Park, I was obviously in the minority.

 

[nez75 10]

Originally posted by antics

The whole thing is a big bag of ****e, more fool anyone who allowed themselves to be brainwashed.

 

Too right, well said mate. Saturday was just about ego's. And i'm not being cynical. How much did the back stage free buffet and free bar cost? How much left over food was there left? Where was it sent? How many tons of rubbish and other crap did the thousands of spectator's leave? How many half eaten burger's and hot dog's were discarded?

 

Why did Madonna have a 60 square foot dressing room and her African backing band have to cram into a trailer between all of them?

 

Why did "Sir" Paul McCartney also have a 60 foot square dressing room? Why did Elton John throw a backstage party with free drinks and a buffet?

 

Why was there an alcohol ban for the spectator's? What a load of rubbish it all was. Why can't Bono and Geldoff give up there millions for Africa instead of preaching to all the hard working people of this country who probably can't afford to do there weekly shopping or afford new clothes for there kids?

 

Why can't Bono donate some of his 5 star hotels that he owns to all the starving Africans instead of the capitalist businessmen who stay in them who he supposedly despises?

 

What a load of rubbish it all is. I'll never be brainwashed by egocentric rock stars who are only after their own ego building self centred selves.

 

Rant over.

[uncleheed 10]

Originally posted by nez75

Too right, well said mate. Saturday was just about ego's. And i'm not being cynical. How much did the back stage free buffet and free bar cost? How much left over food was there left? Where was it sent? How many tons of rubbish and other crap did the thousands of spectator's leave? How many half eaten burger's and hot dog's were discarded?

 

Why did Madonna have a 60 square foot dressing room and her African backing band have to cram into a trailer between all of them?

 

Why did "Sir" Paul McCartney also have a 60 foot square dressing room? Why did Elton John throw a backstage party with free drinks and a buffet?

 

Why was there an alcohol ban for the spectator's? What a load of rubbish it all was. Why can't Bono and Geldoff give up there millions for Africa instead of preaching to all the hard working people of this country who probably can't afford to do there weekly shopping or afford new clothes for there kids?

 

Why can't Bono donate some of his 5 star hotels that he owns to all the starving Africans instead of the capitalist businessmen who stay in them who he supposedly despises?

 

What a load of rubbish it all is. I'll never be brainwashed by egocentric rock stars who are only after their own ego building self centred selves.

 

Rant over.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

 

Post of the year so far

[mojoworking 10]

According to some of the newspapers this morning, several of the acts who played at Live8 on Sunday have seen their CD sales increase by over 1000% (that's ONE THOUSAND per cent).

 

Is that fair enough reward for donating their valuable time to a good cause, or was it all just a cynical publicity stunt on the back of what many feel is virtually a lost cause?

[LordChaverly 10]

Originally posted by mojoworking

According to some of the newspapers this morning, several of the acts who played at Live8 on Sunday have seen their CD sales increase by over 1000% (that's ONE THOUSAND per cent).

 

Is that fair enough reward for donating their valuable time to a good cause, or was it all just a cynical publicity stunt on the back of what many feel is virtually a lost cause?

 

Its worth remembering also that U2 only cracked America, and became a so-called 'supergroup', after their performance at the Band Aid concert in 1984. Giving a free concert in return for enoromous free publicity doesn't seem such a bad deal. There is also something rather unseemly about these multi millionare rock stars lecturing the rest of us about inequalities in global wealth and also something rather absurd about their efforts to educate us about the intricacies of international finance and development economics.

[Lea1979 10]

just a question to all those who say Live8 was a waste of time, money, etc etc

 

what would you do to Make Poverty History ?

[mojoworking 10]

Originally posted by LordChaverly

Its worth remembering also that U2 only cracked America, and became a so-called 'supergroup', after their performance at the Band Aid concert in 1984. Giving a free concert in return for enoromous free publicity doesn't seem such a bad deal. There is also something rather unseemly about these multi millionare rock stars lecturing the rest of us about inequalities in global wealth and also something rather absurd about their efforts to educate us about the intricacies of international finance and development economics.

 

To his credit Pink Floyd's David Gilmour has just announced that he will donate any money from CDs sold since Live8 to charity. Dunno how they will work it out, though

[Greenback 10]

Originally posted by LordChaverly

There is also something rather unseemly about these multi millionare rock stars lecturing the rest of us about inequalities in global wealth and also something rather absurd about their efforts to educate us about the intricacies of international finance and development economics.

 

Why is it absurd? These musicians may not hold Professorships or have a comprehensive knowledge of the role of the IMF as opposed to the World Bank, but they've certainly stimulated a more learned discussion over Africa in the quality media.

 

Or perhaps these issues should only be discussed in closed circles by people who have a vast knowledge of arcane economic terminology?

 

Sneer all you like, but Live 8 has put Africa firmly on the world agenda.

[LordChaverly 10]

Originally posted by Greenback

Why is it absurd? These musicians may not hold Professorships or have a comprehensive knowledge of the role of the IMF as opposed to the World Bank, but they've certainly stimulated a more learned discussion over Africa in the quality media.

 

Or perhaps these issues should only be discussed in closed circles by people who have a vast knowledge of arcane economic terminology?

 

Sneer all you like, but Live 8 has put Africa firmly on the world agenda.

 

I am not saying that these rock megastars should not have views on these issues. What I am saying is that we should not take them any more seriously than the views of anyone else. We certainly should not take their pronouncements at face value.

 

To give one example, Geldoff announced to the world on the Jonathan Ross programme a couple of weeks ago that the bodies of thousands of Africans were being washed up daily on the Italian island of Lampedusa and that there was no room left to bury them, so cargo ships were being sent to fill up with these corpses. A journalist was so suspicious of this claim that he decided to investigate (see the Times report for June 24). The Mayor of Lampedusa was contacted and he said the story was absolute nonsense. In the words of the Times article by Mick Hume, 'there are not bodies washing up daily, no overflowing cemeteries or burial fields and no cargo ships'.

 

This of course is but one example, which might be dismissed as an aberration. However, most of the pronouncements of the megastars in my opinion consist of superficial diagnoses and 'solutions', underpinned by 'killer' facts (many of which are highly dubious and at the very least need to be subject to scrutiny).

 

The argument often used to justify and legitimise the role of rock stars in world affairs is that they have a platform because of their celebrity and therefore have a moral obligation to use it as a force for good. Well, if they have something to say, I will listen to them. But don't expect me to give their views any more credence than those of anyone else. The fact that these (usually poorly educated) megastars are fawned on and pampered by their underlings as they move from one five star hotel to another, and that they are able to meet and converse with world leaders (entirely because of their celebrity may I add - the world's leaders may even secretly despise them) probably gives them an inflated opinion of their own importance - even delusions of moral grandeur.

 

As for the argument about 'awareness raising' by celebrities, well this may have some credence, but probably a lot less than its proponents maintain. Live8 was actually caused by growing awareness of Africa's plight rather than the other way round. There was already a lot of coverage about African maldevelopment, and certainly a lot of awareness about it within governmental circles, international institutions and NGOs before Live8. It might be argued of course that, if Live8 was jumping on an already rolling bandwagon, then it succeeeded in making the bandwagon bigger. Well, time will tell. We will see if Live8 is any more successful than Band Aid. I personally doubt it very much, not only because of the 'solutions' being proferred by Geldoff and Bono are superficial and deeply flawed, but also because of the superficial impact which the Live8 bandwagon is likely to have in the longer term on public opinion and world leaders (in contrast, the impact on the CD sales of the celebrity consciences is likely to be anything but superficial or intangible. I am not arguing that their motives are cynical. We are deluding ourselves though if we think that charitable events such as Live8 involve even a modicum of self-sacrifice on the part of the artists involved).

[madowl 10]

I cant belive that there are people who are not affected by this whole "live8" concert, if people can be happy while others starve to death, and not want to help, then your not human, everyday thousands of kids die from hunger...... its pathetic, as a human i cant watch these people die without, feeling hurt that more should be done...people die from aids everyday all over the world, but in africa its out of control, these people need our help....from helping run "their" goverment to make things fair for everone, stop the wars, help the poor and feed the starving millions, How can we sit back and just watch them die??

No matter where we are born we all have a right to life, and we can all help each other, but some of us find helping ourselves to be more important.....

The world is a small place and no matter of race, colour, religion, beliefs, or place of birth, we are all human and should all be treated like one.

Does it matter who puts this in the publics eye? i say well done B/G at least he stands up for what he belives is right!!