Live 8 - Live Aid 2

Started by MacGuffin, June 01, 2005, 12:12:49 AM

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MacGuffin

U2, Madonna, 50 Cent join Live 8 lineup

LONDON -- Madonna, Coldplay, REM, Dido, Paul McCartney and U2 are among the top-flight acts signed up to perform at Live 8, a massive charity concert staged here to highlight global poverty and coincide with the G8 summit, organizers said Tuesday.

Announcing the lineup for the London event at a packed news conference, rocker, charity guru and organizer Bob Geldof said four more star-studded concerts would be staged on the same day in the United States and across Europe.

In total, five free concerts will be held on July 2 in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin and Rome, said organizer and concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith.

A text message lottery is scheduled for June 6 to determine who will gain tickets to the U.K. concert. It will also be shown on big screens in seven cities across the U.K., and shown live on BBC TV and radio, organizers said.

Will Smith will host the event to be held in Philadelphia's Cradle of America venue with Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, 50 Cent and Maroon 5 all lined up to perform.

British pop combo Duran Duran and Faith Hill will be among those taking to the stage in Rome, while Crosby Stills & Nash and Lauryn Hill will perform in Berlin. Paris will have turns from Craig David and Placebo.

Geldof declined to scotch rumors that the Spice Girls were set to perform for the London event. "I spoke to them this morning. It looks very good. That's all we can say," Geldof told the BBC.

Elton John said he was "extremely honored" to be taking part in the event, which he added will feature "la creme de la creme of musicians."

Geldof aims to put pressure on world leaders to stamp out African poverty by using the concerts and their global audiences to promote that aim.

The move comes 20 years after Geldof helped organize the Live Aid concerts -- then in London and in Philadelphia on the same day -- to save the starving in Ethiopia. This time he wants to influence the G8 group of industrialized nations whose leaders are due to meet in Scotland in July.

"Here we are again," Geldof said, adding that he hoped to use the concerts "to tilt the world a little bit on in its axis in favor of the poor. It seemed to me that we could gather together again, but this time not for charity, but for political justice."

Other top flight acts due to appear at the U.K. show include Mariah Carey, Annie Lennox, Scissor Sisters, Sting, Robbie Williams and Muse.

The concert will coincide with a political rally in Edinburgh organized by Make Poverty History, an umbrella group campaigning to cancel poor nations' debt and boost aid.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has campaigned to help Africa during Britain's presidency of the G8 this year and will host G8 leaders at a summit in Gleneagles in Scotland July 6-8.

U.K. culture minister Tessa Jowell said the government was 100% behind Live 8 adding "we want it (Live 8 ) to be the biggest and best open-air concert that the capital has ever seen."

Said Jowell: "The G8 Summit in Edinburgh, which follows the concert, offers an opportunity for the world's developed nations to really make a difference -- to do something positive for the Third World. Live 8 will set the scene, and we are proud to be able to help make it happen."

Hyde Park, which will stage the U.K. event, is to have its open-air concert capacity increased to 150,000 for the day.

Goldsmith also noted the pressure was on, with Live 8 expected to be organized in about seven weeks compared with 10 weeks for Live Aid. "It makes it a lot harder," he said.

Geldof said this time it "wasn't about the money" but about a political movement to stamp out poverty.

The original Live Aid concerts, held in July 1985 at Wembley Stadium here and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, raised £40 million ($72.7 million) for famine relief in Africa.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Stefen

Good cause. But this is going to be hilarious.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

MacGuffin

Bjork to headline Live8 in Japan

Icelandic singer Bjork will head the lineup for the Japan event in the Live8 series of rock concerts aimed at pressuring world leaders to do more to relieve poverty in Africa, organizers said on Friday.

Bjork, in her first live performance in two years, will be joined by McFly and U.S. band Good Charlotte, as well as Japanese musicians Dreams Come True, Def Tech and Rize.

The Japanese event at a conference center near Tokyo was only added to the list of Live8 charity concerts in mid-June, and other acts may be confirmed later, a spokeswoman said.

"Normally speaking, if you publicized an event on this scale two months in advance, it would definitely be full," said one music journalist, who declined to be identified. "But since it's being done all of a sudden, I am not so sure," he added.

The venue accommodates an audience of 10,000.

Campaigners for more aid for Africa plan to stage the Live8 concerts worldwide to put pressure on the G8 -- the Group of Seven industrialized nations plus Russia -- being held in Gleneagles, Scotland from July 6 to 8.

Aid and debt relief are expected to dominate the summit.

The concerts are to be held on July 2 in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

There is also a show scheduled for Edinburgh on July 6, the opening day of the G8 summit.

Some in Japan were unsure if the event would do much to raise awareness of poverty in Africa.

"As far as Japan is concerned, Asian problems are more important at the moment," said the music journalist.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Stefen

This has been so stupid all day long, a band will play and ill get into it then MTV will cut away to their vee jays. They literally played about two minutes of each performance then would cut away for talking points like what does blink 182 think about famine and then 5 minutes of commercials.

Then Pink Floyd came on. WOW. Did you guys see that? That was amazing. It made my year. I never ever thought I would see them together again with that lineup but it happened and it was everything I had thought it would be and more. It was really really really good.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

Ghostboy

What did they play?

This whole Live8 thing is sorta silly, good intentions and cool concerts aside.

Stefen

Breathe, then Money, Wish You Were Here, then Comfortably Numb. MTV cut it off in the middle of CN for more talking points then commercials so I don't know what else they played. But it was a fantastic performance. Really the highlight of the whole day.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

Raikus

I've been watching it off and on all day to catch PF's performance. Great, great stuff. To see that so much time has gone by and these guys sound just as good, if not better, than they did 20 years ago is simply amazing. It really makes you shake your head at the current "artists" out there.

Remind me if they have another of these in the future to never go to the Philly show. I don't think one good person/group performed there during this whole thing. And I'm really sick of VH1 cutting from a great group at the London show and going to craptastic Philly.

And I threw my remote at the TV when they started talking over Comfortably Numb.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands, with all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves, let me forget about today until tomorrow.

Redlum

Dunno why all the cynicism. It was amazing. Admittedly the Philly show seemed pretty tame. Everyone reading off a goddamn autocue and pretty bland bands apart from the Kaiser Chiefs. This stuff does make a difference. It made a difference 20 years ago, and even if it fails at the conference it has still reboosted awareness.

The hyde park show was great. I didnt get to see all of it but Bob Geldof is the man. They were talking about 85% of the worlds population watching/listening to Live8 in some way. Now even if it was half of that in reality thats really impressive. Richard Ashcroft performing Bittersweet symphony with Coldplay - yes! Floyd sounded perfect. I tuned in on the radio and despite expecting them on stage I couldnt figure out whether it was a CD or live.

\"I wanted to make a film for kids, something that would present them with a kind of elementary morality. Because nowadays nobody bothers to tell those kids, \'Hey, this is right and this is wrong\'.\"
  -  George Lucas

mogwai

i loved everything about it, definitely a positive vibe. i could already download bono/mac's sgt pepper over at itunes. i haven't listened to it yet but i expect it to be in good quality. i hope richard ashcroft release something new this year.

Sigur Rós

I generally liked it. The only things that bugged me was that they only showed like 5 minutes from Johannesburg....I thought that was weird considering the whole thing was about Afrika and the music was good....lucky dube!

mogwai

i feel bad for those who missed the last part of pink floyd's performance. i hope they'll reunite for a tour. they all seemed to enjoy their performance especially the drummer (what's his name...) who played with his eyes closed for a moment. erm, what's the reason behind why roger waters and the others didn't talk to each other for over two decades?

edit:

(windows media)

Sigur Rós

Quote from: mogwaiwhat's the reason behind why roger waters and the others didn't talk to each other for over two decades?

Roger Waters is an Arse!

GoneSavage

thanks for the link mogwai but there is no sound on it.  maybe it's just me.

Stefen

im not getting sound either.

edit, nevermind, i had headphones plugged in haha.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

Sigur Rós

Quote from: Stefenim not getting sound either.

edit, nevermind, i had headphones plugged in haha.

haha, Stefen you are so silly. Doing silly things all day.

A haiku poem I wrote about how silly you are:

Silly Steffen
Is your body also
freshly painted?