This Live8 thing...

The following was posted on the org not long ago. Have to say the man's got a point!

Apologies for being a cynical middle aged b*stard....but isn't this an excuse for Geldof's mates to resurrect flagging careers in front of a global audience of millions. Excellent sentiments and always good to give the G8 a televised kicking...but...

Just heard on the radio that Annie f***ing Lennox has been added to the bill. Geldof says that these "top" names are the only way to guarantee the TV and Media audience! I say b*ll*cks!! Sting only sold 22,000 tickets for his 72,000 capacity show at Hyde Park last summer. Annie Lennox....lucky to fill 250 at The Mean Fiddler....Duran Duran playing Rome.....Jeez....it's just a park sized 1980's Here and Now reunion tour...
at least the Stones and Bowie have had the sense to bow out gracefully...just wait for the exciting news of Status Quo opening the show, with Queen (ha!) and Paul Rodgers reprising/massacring Bohemian Rhapsody whilst Freddie p1sses himself in Valhalla...and if that gobsh1te Bono pulls one person out of the audience my foot is going through the telly...

Joss Stone - 18 going on 38...and Coldplay were born middle aged...

Perhaps the cynicism could be reduced if all the participating artists would donate all profits from all album sales to Make Trade Fair in the first month following Live8...it's not as if they need it....

 

lil cynical ifyou ask me...

i for one quite like 80's muzac.. and who cares if its a chance for aging popsters to get some attention.. its not like their getting ticket sales..+ it will get the attention of some of the older generation in whose hands the power really lies.
like monsieur BLair who probably has more respect for sting than all the stupid young twats who's behinds he currently licks for the cameras.

 

The line up looks pretty good to me. Not completly my style but a good mix of old and new

 

Bollocks.

I'm not sure if you fully understand the whole idea. There are some fucking massive names playing at the Live8 event. Can you spell Paul McCartney, Elton John and Pink Floyd? So what if there are a few artists who may not be as popular now as you think they need to be, but is that really important? The point is that these artists are getting involved and doing something for a cause that they believe in, and it is encouraging thousands to get involved to.

And as for being cynical because these people aren't donating their profits to make Trade Fair...well, I think I may need to explain something to you. Make Trade Fair is not a charity, it doesn't take donations. It is a campaign that asks for involvement and support, which is EXACTLY what these artists are giving.

I would have applied for my ticket no matter who was playing.

 

If anything, the inclusion of Ms Dynamite on the list looks like tokenism to me...


The like of U2 and Elton John and Madonna and Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd and yes even dear old Sting have sold millions and millions of records across their long careers... I remember the same discussions around Live Aid... why the Beach Boys?... they weren't riding high in the charts at the time... but they were a big name that had already sold bucket loads of music...

Then look at the likes of Keane... Killers... Scissor Sisters... Snow Patrol... Muse... Razorlight... all new names but they have all had massive selling albums in the last year... it was the same at the time of Live Aid when you had Dire Straits and Sade and The Thompson Twins... not exactly legends of music but they were big at the time...

Which brings me round to Ms Dynamite and Snoop Dogg... I don't know how many records these two artists have sold over the years... I know that Snoop has released a fair few lps and is possibly much bigger in the states than over here... then again, he has recently had a couple of successful singles in the charts so maybe the Howard Jones rule applies as above...

But Ms Dynamite?... one album released... how much did it sell?... when was her last release?... I'm also thinking the same about Velvet Revolver, but maybe uncle Bob is allowing them in because they are almost Guns 'n' Roses in all but lead singer...

You need to get a stats nerd onto this one...

Fly...

 

Hate to contradict you, Fly, but Ms Dynamite won the Mercury Music Award for that album, one of the biggest awards a UK artist can receive. And she has done a lot of work campaigning and working for relevent charities over the last few years.
And Velvet Revolver are massively popular, which is probably the reason they are playing.

 

Velvet Revolver meow

 

Haha, point proven. I think this may be the only time that two vegans will ever condone the wearing of tight leather

 

I'm feeling rather faint... I may need to lay down for a while :&

 

ms dynamite.hm she made some sort of political statements during some random award ceremonies...or something....so i recall.buh, she's not a big name though. i guess they wanted to be politically correct or something and have urban hiphop music as well as whatever the other stuff is classified as to encompass for different tastes. i cant think of any really superb urban hiphop artists of the top of my head umm.....anyone else?

 

Well... The Mercury Music Award is intended to be a recognition of quality rather than popularity... why not an act like Destiny's Child who have sold fuck loads of records worldwide and, could be argued, are in a similar musical area?... or, if it is a case of quality, why not Dizzee Rascal who has also won awards?...

And as for campaigning... Geldof told Damon Albarn that Gorrillaz were not asked because they simply had not sold enough records despite the fact that he has done loads of campaiging about Africa and attempted to raise the cultural profile through projects like Mali Music...

Ohhhh... are we having an argument now... be strict with me!!!

Fly...

 

Well, to be honest, I'm not bothered about seeing Ms Dynamite, but I'm sure there are some people who are. If Geldolf believes she has a right to be there, I trust his judgement...I don't have a clue about hip hop! But I know that Ms Dynamite made an awesome speech at one of the Anti-War protests down in London that I went to, so I definitely respect her.
Anyway, I think the biggest tragedy about this whole event is the fact that Robbie Williams is playing. I hate his guts. As most people will know, I was/am a massive Take That fan, and I blame him for their demise. I will have to take some sort of rotting fruit along with me for when he comes on stage. Bastard!

 

Right to be there? There's no such thing as a right to be there. It's supposed to be for charity. If you're talking about who's worthy of playing at the gig then that suggests that there's something in it for the artists, which brings me back to the original post of the thread.

 

It's raising awareness for a good cause... slate it all you want but at least they are actually doing something.

 

There is also this myth that all the acts who performed at Live Aid benefitted from a massive career boost...


Errrrrrrrrr... I think Adam Ant dissproved that particular theory...

Fly...

 

hahaha good point... poor adam, i still love him

 

Dont You eeveeer. .. do do dobedoodooo (couldnt resist )

 

Ahhhhhhh... this is interesting...

For anybody who wants further information, go to www.live8.edenbookings.com but there is no info on tickets yet...

Fly...

 

Errrrrrrr... that link does not seem to be working... try this...


http://live8.edenbookings.com/

Fly...

 

yeh i read that yesterday in metro, i thought it sounds like an excellent idea, good ol Gabriel