Tuesday, May 31, 2005

IT COMES TO THIS, THEN: DIDO AND A-HA TO SAVE THE WORLD - Live 8 confirmed

This one isn't a fundraiser, then; it's meant to raise awareness. Live 8 has been formally announced by Bob Geldof and, already, music lovers the world over are clearing their diaries for July 2nd to ensure they're nowhere near a radio or TV to catch Coldplay, Madonna, Dido and Maroon 5 doing their thing to, um, yeah... you know, let people know.

It is, we grant, possible that there are a few Maroon 5 fans scattered here and there who don't realise that there's an enormous problem facing Africa in the shape of the debt her nations are carrying; it might seem unlikely, but no less likely than the thought of George Bush smacking his hand on the table at the G8 summit and yelling "If A-Ha care enough about this to play a gig in a Berlin, then I care about it."

So, five gigs, five cities: Philadelphia (who get Will Smith and Stevie Wonder as well as Maroon 5 and Bon Jovi); Rome (Duran Duran); Paris (Craig David and Jamiroquai - as if that would teach 'em to vote against the European constitution) and, of course, London. London will feature Madonna - presumably pushing Kabbalah Water as the universal panacea for the African problem), Coldplay, REM, Dido and Paul McCartney. Tickets will be distributed through some sort of mobile-phone text message lottery bonanza.

This is the line-up in full:

Hyde Park, London

Mariah Carey
Coldplay
Dido
Keane
Sir Elton John
Annie Lennox
Madonna
Muse
Scissor Sisters
Sir Paul McCartney
Joss Stone
Stereophonics
Sting
Robbie Williams
U2
REM
Velvet Revolver
Bob Geldof
The Killers
The Cure
Snow Patrol

Museum of Art, Philadelphia

Will Smith (host)
Bon Jovi
Maroon 5
P Diddy
Stevie Wonder
Jay-Z
The Dave Matthews Band
Sarah McLachlan
Rob Thomas
Keith Urban
50 Cent
Kaiser Chiefs

Eiffel Tower, Paris

Jamiroquai
Craig David
Youssou N'Dour
Yannick Noah
Andrea Bocelli
Calo Gero
Kyo
Placebo
Axelle Red
Johnny Halliday
Manu Chao
Renaud

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

A-ha
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Brian Wilson
Lauryn Hill
Bap
Die Toten Hosen
Peter Maffay

Circus Maximus, Rome

Duran Duran
Faith Hill
Irene Grandi
Jovanotti
Tim McGraw
Nek
Laura Pasini
Vasco Rossi
Zucchero


Hurrah! Die Toten Hosen. About the only name that seems in any way inspired in the entire bloody line-up. Annie Lennox? Why? Why? Is there anyone left alive who remembers her? Obviously, you know, we have pvc and strapping issues with Placebo, so it's nice to see them on the Paris line-up, but... we're suspecting that from a musical point of view, this is one to tape and hope your fast-forward button holds out.


7 comments:

Simon said...

Why are the Kaiser Chiefs in Philly? Why is Tim McGraw in Rome? Yannick Noah the tennis player?

It seems the 10,000 Hyde Park tickets will be sold by text message, £1.50 going to charity. Oddly, tickets will be going for £15,000 on eBay by the end of June.

Anonymous said...

the idea of a event raising consciousness of african poverty in 2005 is so laughable. how many 24-hour news channels are there? how much information is on the internet? this is not 1985.

and if bob really wanted boys and girls with guitars to make a difference, he would have organized something BEFORE and not immediately after presidential elections in the US and parliamentary ones in the UK.

keep up the ridicule.

Anonymous said...

The one place where consciousness needs to be raised is one G8 member country that doesn't get one of Sir Bob's extravaganzas: Japan. So many of the general public here are so unbelievably clueless about the outside world because international issues get v.little media time unless it's something that affects Japan directly.

Actually, when I saw the announcement about Live8 this morning on BBC World, I was rather surprised that it still qualified as news, it's been so long since the first news of it leaked out.

Eleanor G

Anonymous said...

I'm going to see the Damned on July 3 - that should be MUCH better. If Eleanor G is over here too, maybe she'll be going?

Anonymous said...

Being out here in the sticks in Niigata, going to Tokyo's a bit of a major financial undertaking, so no, unfortunately, I won't be going. The only really big name to play in Niigata in the last 10 years was Radiohead, I think (it was just before I came here 7 years ago), and I'm not sure how that happened...

Have a good time, anyway. I saw Catatonia at Club Quattro at the end of 1999 - that was one gig I wasn't going to miss.

Eleanor

Anonymous said...

about blumming time that a-ha were put back on the world stage again. thier last 2 albums were great! and you shmucks should check em out! :) hehehe

Anonymous said...

Misery doesn't love company--it's just miserable and yet people who are starving keep reproducing. I'm having a hard time believing that people want to rally for food instead of education. It seems so heartless to create babies you can't feed and this didn't start happening yesterday. Maybe it is easier to ask for food than it is to educate. And then I wonder how much is spent in Africa for weapons instead of food. A little chow for thought. I have no problem with awareness concerts. I'm just sending along some energy for something a bit more constructive than Scotch Tape used to "fix" the hem of a skirt because it's harder to get out needle and thread to sew it up.

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