Live 8

I was at home, then a pals place for a BBQ.
It was meant to be as big as live aid tho I feel 'charity/awareness' things these days have a formula that dont always live up to the hype.
Im sure it was enjoyed by millions, I dont mean to put it down.
Personally I didnt think the opening number with Paul Mcartney and U2 was anything special, it took a while to get the crowd going.
Pete Doherty was a complete waste of space!!What is the appeal of him??!

I thought Elton John was great, U2 when they sang Beautiful Day,Madonna was magnificent, she really made an effort with musical quality and entertained the crowds with those amazing dancers.

The most talk Ive heard about it since was complaints about the swearing.I heard Bono say the f word about half an hour into the concert,Green day swore, snoop doggy dog mother f***ing left right and centre yet they seemed to focus ion Madonna saying it once!!!
What a shame people cant focus on why they were doing the concert, raising awareness for Africa's debt/aid/trade.

I cant really remember live aid but I think in time live 8 will be seen as live aid is.

Overall I think it was very well done, linking to all the other venues.I dont know if people overseas were aware of why it was happening tho.

We will find out soon if its had any effect.God knows how people will react if they dont sign a deal.

I thought that the day went very well, apart from the Amateurish coverage by the BBC. Jonathan Ross was far too glib, and it would have been better, IMO, to have left out his stuff altogether, and just keep the cameras on either the stage, or the crowd as the next band prepared to play.

As far as the performances were concerned, one shouldnt really judge them too harshly, as MOST of them were there for the right reason, and turned in a good performance, considering the "live" aspect, and the huge stress of playing to an audience numbering over a billion.

Two exceptions to this would be A) Mariah Carey, who was so much up her own arse it was unbelievable. She was there to promote HERSELF and nothing more.
And B) Snoop Dog, who in my opinion, was totally lacking in talent, and was the most boring thing I'd seen in ages.

Highlights:-

1. The Who. Although getting on a bit, they simply rocked the place.

2. Pink Floyd. It was great to see them together on stage again. Although they didnt leap about and whip the crowd up, the quality of their music shone through.

3. Madge. Wasnt she great....and that bodypopper of a dancer that did the head spin on stage was fantastic.

4. Velvet revolver. Great stuff. Really got the crowd going.

....and.....after switching over to the Philadelphia concert when our one had finished, I was immensely proud of our very own Kaiserchiefs.
They were announced to the crowd, and you could see everyone thinking "who are they?" and they immediately launched into their own chaotic "semi punk" style of fast rock, and everyone went wild.
They, to me, are a mix of the Sex Pistols, Stranglers and the Jam, with a strange sixties style Beatles/Stones thing going on as well.
Brilliant.

A very good day, all in all. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Seeing Pink Floyd has renewed my dads interest in them and Im gonna be looking for The Who albums in the future.

Hmm, I liked Jonathan Ross, tho it was a bit jumpy at times, i think they needed those links, it would have been too dull just watching the crowds all day whilst they changed the stage.

Madonnas dancers were out of this world.I couldnt believe what they could do.Hope to see more of that on tv at other events.Strange to think an 80's dance would be so impressive now.

Mariah-What was the poor loony wearing, was it 'dress like a hooker, even tho Ive earned millions' day?!

it was alreet, wasn't impressed with madonna parading that african girl around like a prize though, unless it's just me who thought that.

I think the african woman was on stage, Madonna was introduced and met the african lady then she was just left there so Mads had to incorporate her into the show.Half way through the song the interpreter came to get her.
Its great to see that some of the money from Live aid went to the right place.

Wasnt that African woman magnificent? She looked so proud and elegant.

It was a good way to show the Cynics that, even if only a small proportion are helped in this way, then surely its worth it.

I agree with you MG, they ballsed it up and forgot to lead her off the Stage when Madonna came on. The interpretor should have looked after her better.

I think for historically representational reasons we should know the name of the African lady.
Her name is Birhan Woldu.

Oh, and yes, she looked beautiful.

To see her - so beautiful and proud - gave a face to the effort. I am still impressed by her.

I saw only parts of the show. I really liked the Black Eyed Peas. And I very much enjoyed Annie Lennox.

I think you're all missing the point. Do you really think this event will do diddly squat to help the people of Africa? Live Aid supposedly garnered about $100M, which wasn't enough to to help one country, much less the entire continent.

These blowhards are all just self promoting, with the possible exception of Bono, who doesn't understand what he is trying to accomplish.

What is the number one problem facing the African Continent today? Is is debt relief? AIDS? Emerging diseases? Hardly.

As more and more African nations turn to Islam, the worse and worse it is going to get. The theocracies promote hardline dictatorships and a hatred of the west and capitalism. And if you don't agree with them, they kill you.

Fingers need to be pointed in the right direction, if you're going to point.

Agreed ... it was great to see them together again. Leaping about and whipping up the crowd isn't their style.

... plus they might break a hip.

Neil Boortz on Live 8:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html

FIGHTING POVERTY

What a weekend! What a holiday! Millions of Americans celebrating the very freedom they fear, and that nice man Bob Geldof telling us evil Americans what we should be doing with the money we work so hard for! Why, we should be sending it to Africa, that's what.

Lets give thanks that Live 8 is over. What a bunch of sanctimonious, self-righteous, narcissistic jerk-offs. They top off their great multi-venue circle jerk Sunday with a demand that the United States cough up some more money for something they refer to as "aid and justice for Africa." These rock stars have a goal. They are demanding that the evil United States cough up 0.7% of its gross domestic product and send it to Africa. What these footstools don't grasp is that the 0.7% isn't theirs to demand or theirs to distribute as they see fit. That money belongs to the men and women of the United States who got up every morning and went out and damned well earned it. Personally, I don't give a flying fornication just how much of our money they think should be sent to Africa. I dare say that the average sheetrock installer in Sheboygan donates a greater percentage of his earnings to charity than do these insipid rock stars.

And just what is it about Africa? Here is a continent with an incredible abundance of natural resources -- and a history that speaks to nothing but poverty. So, these Live 8 guitar players want to do something about poverty in Africa? Maybe they should be demanding the return of land in Zimbabwe to the white farmers from whom it was stolen! Just a few decades ago Zimbabwe was one of Africa's richest breadbaskets. Zimbabwean farmers fed their own country and many of their neighboring countries with the food from their farms and ranches. Then along comes their new exalted ruler ... the great Robert Mugabe. He sends his goon squads out to steal the land from the white farmers - murdering many of them - and turns those farms over to his revolutionary soldiers. What happens next? Hunger, that's what. Now Zimbabwe can't even feed its own people, let alone the citizens of neighboring African countries. To make matters worse, Mugabe is now engaged in a campaign to destroy the homes of poor citizens in Zimbabwe's capitol so that they will move back out into the bush where they won't be so visible and problematic. So ... did you hear one of these rock stars even hint that the United States should do something about Mugabe? Are you kidding? Sure, they like want to fight like poverty and like all that .. but that doesn't mean that they're ever going to like say one like negative word about any of the like dictators who like steal so much of the aid money and like keep their own people in poverty.

Oh .. and here's something else that these brilliant rock stars you won't hear about. I'm talking about the birth rate in Africa. In Africa, as in America and in so many other parts of the world, the people who can least afford to raise children are the people with the highest pregnancy rates. It is considered to be gravely politically incorrect in America to ever suggest that a woman who cannot afford to raise a child should do something to prevent pregnancy. It seems you can't address this situation in Africa either. The solution for African women having children they can't afford to raise is to go to the United States and confiscate the money needed to raise them.

The problems faced by Africa are largely cultural. Though our illustrious rock stars wouldn't touch this, the dominant African culture is one of irresponsible reproduction, tribal warfare, submission to dictatorial despots, anti-capitalistic governments and unprotected sex leading to rampant disease. Live 8 isn't going to change this, and either is confiscating more American wealth to be poured into this mess.

The answer to African poverty may well be to shed this burden of political correctness and to start calling the shots over there as we see them. If these intellectually superior rock stars really want to do something about poverty and justice in Africa a good first step might be to ask the Western world to forcibly remove Robert Mugabe from power in Zimbabwe and return the farming land to its rightful owners.

Yeah ... like that's going to happen.

Perhaps if Ted Nugent had been on the bill?

Nuge wouldn't do it. He's smarter than that.

Wanting to help and actually helping are two very different things. I think these performers have their hearts in the right place, and their heads firmly tucked between their ass cheeks.

I think its fair to say 20 years ago the whole money raising thing wasnt the best thing to do as they now know.Alot of the money went to corrupt 'leaders'.
This time they didnt ask for money but support, the concert was just a way of saying thank you and to raise awareness.
Africa need debt abolished, medicine for aids/illnesses and fair trade sorted out, they need ALL of it, and it all needs to be run properly.

The performers are all very high profile,if they can use their fame to help spread a message then I dont think we should knock them.
'Celebs' have alot of pulling power.We'd much rather support them than politicians.
Im glad they are using their fame to give somehing back to this world, what harm is it doing?

,,,,And THAT my friends, is what gives the USA such a wonderful image around the globe.


I am sure that the vast majority of American people abhor this type of attitude, BUT.....this is what grabs the headlines, and reinforces the stereotype.

Shame, really.

............and now, for those of us in the real world..........

BIRHAN WOLDU



http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/ethiopia/

Snippet:-

"A personal note by Brian Stewart, Senior Correspondent, CBC News

Though by now internationally well known as "The Face That Changed the World" in the 1984 Ethiopian Famine, Birhan Woldu is quietly pursuing her dream of higher education in Ethiopia.

Now aged 23, Birhan is in her second year of Agricultural College and she hopes to later combine this with a degree in nursing to prepare her for work among poor farm families in the largely impoverished northern provinces of Ethiopia.

My educational assistance for Birhan and other members of her family is now being handled through the British-based organization A-CET (African Children's Educational Trust).

Birhan has also become keenly interested in the work of the rapidly growing A-CET, which is now helping over 265 youngsters with scholarships and additional training, along with a further 200 taking courses to become computer operators. Many, like Birhan, are famine survivors, and all come from such disadvantaged backgrounds that education would be impossible without outside support. Several other reporters who have flown in to visit Birhan have also joined this inspiring sponsorship program. "

woooooooooooooooooo people when i started this thread i said lets discuss the music, forget the politics for now, thats another forum.