Cross-posted from one of my posts over at Philly Future about Live8.
The days leading up to Live8 in Philadelphia were some of the most antsy days I can recall. I wanted everything to be just right. Get there early, take pictures all over the place, write posts on the hour every hour describing the sets, sights and sounds. But not everything goes as planned. But the event itself was more than I could have dreamed.
Starting the day off walking down the Parkway with thousands of people was like an early pre-bonding experience. The full bond would come in the pit right in front of the stage squashed between hundreds of sweaty, jumping, screaming concert-goers. Brian of AudioActivism.org and I headed to the One.org rally behind the Museum to start off the day of action and participation. I was very happy to see all of these One delegates from all over the country meeting each other and seeing the other leaders involved in their mission to spread awareness of the unnecessary famine and poverty in Africa. I was unhappy with how they ended the rally with three men of the cloth who were more and more focused on spreading their gospel and their vision of God to those who would listen and not necessarily those who needed the help.
The message of the day was repeated throughout the performances and introductions. Spread the awareness! Spread the awareness! Looking back on it, it was all pretty frustrating. I understand that the money raised twenty years ago did not get to where it was supposed to get to. Why, I'm not sure. But there are thousands of avenues they could have used as alternatives. Organizations that didn't exist twenty years ago. Organizations that were probably started as a result of the day of action from twenty years ago. It's been frustrating seeing the non-action by the people involved with the event around the world. As far as I can see, the only person who has stepped up with some promised cash is David Gilmour from Pink Floyd who has promised to donate any profits earned via his Live 8 performance to charity. He's also publicly urged other performers to do the same. From what I've read since then, is that nobody has come forward, publicly. Nobody else has the balls [on their chest or between their legs] to do so. How hard could it be? They could just simply sell the $16,000 in gifts they got for performing as a simple gesture. That would be a starting point.
To say the least, the situation in Africa is a touchy subject. We all want to help, right? Who in their right mind doesn't want to eradicate poverty and famine? But how much should each one of us give to do so? How much time, money and effort? Can it or should it be measured empirically? I don't know. But I felt the need to do something myself and I'm selling prints of the photos you've seen here in Philly Future's Live 8 Image Gallery and on my photoblog in my own Live 8 Photo Gallery and donating all of the profits to World Vision; they are working in Niger to fight famine.
But getting back to the acts themselves, music wise, every act that I saw and heard were incredible. The Kaiser Chiefs as an opening band, who themselves are at the onset of their rock career, were a good jumping off point. They were fresh and new and got the crowd excited. The also got the crowd ready for one of Philly's biggest stars to date, Will Smith. West Philadelphia, born and raised... as his theme music goes. He welcomed the crowds from the other Live 8 venues and got right to the One message. It was nice to see him representing all of Philly, but I was itching to see more acts.
Black Eyed Peas came out jumping and didn't stop through their entire set. Until Stephen and Rita Marley came on stage to sing Get up, Stand up together which sent chills up through my body.
Bon Jovi followed and as far as one million people were concerned, was the concert. Philly's adopted rocker gave the Parkway what they came for, the hits. One million backup singers strong, Jovi belted out Living on a Prayer.
A falling apart Destiny's Child brought it together for a set of hits and got the R&B crowd up. Beyoncé's shorter than short skirt got the sleepy guys' attention as well.
Kanye West brought his A-game in a big way. His set was, by far, the most hi-energy. He put 100% into every single syllable he spat. Pumping his fist as hard as his body would allow during Jesus Walks got me and the crowd around me pumping our fists right with him.
Will Smith came on stage as a musician carried by his dancers in a king's throne to the tune of Muhammad Ali's chant "The champ is here!" complete with pyrotechnics. I wanted to hear two things and I got them both the theme music to The Fresh Prince and my favorite summertime anthem, Summertime. The entire crowd sang along to the theme song and you could see Will was pleased with a gigantic smile on his face knowing that he's still loved here in Philly regardless of his infrequent hometown appearances.
Next up was Toby Keith and his Ford emblazoned guitar which I thought was a bit much. Following Will Smith who wore a Nelson Mandela t-shirt as host and a Live 8 t-shirt to perform in, his disgusting corporate label displayed so prominently made me want to leave and find a WiFi signal to post and upload photos, so I did.
I missed several acts during my two breaks: Dave Matthew's Band, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, Black Thought from The Roots, Josh Groban [I grew up with his cousin] and Sarah McLachlan and Keith Urban. I wasn't miffed to miss any of them aside from Alicia and Black Thought. I've read how many were upset at Alicia's short set of one single song, but I think that was due to her own selflessness and giving the remainder of her time to Black Thought of The Roots who were left out of Live 8, from what I've read, on purpose. The thirty minute Dave set was surely a hit with the hardcore fans who I'm sure drove ten hours to see just him perform.
I came back to Jay-Z and Linkin Park's set. They've recently come together to put together some music which reminds me of the Judgment Day soundtrack melding hip hop and rock. Being a Jay-Z fan for the past decade or so, this was my third time seeing him and he didn't disappoint. In his trademark laid back flow, he brought the already amped-on-their-feet crowd up off the ground. People were throwing up the ROC's diamond sign on cue and bobbed their heads to the slashing hip-hop'd guitar riffs.
Def Leppard came out to an audience that had probably not seen them perform before. I remember rocking out to Pour Some Sugar on Me for as long as I can remember. I was 10-years-old when that song came out and I've loved it ever since. That's the one song I wanted to hear and they gave it to me. Haggard faces and all, they still came out clad in leather and the Union Jack on the lead guitar.
To close, Stevie Wonder. What an incredible way to end it. Short of a star-studded inter-continental finish, this was pretty incredible. A true living legend and a person whose genius will surely never be forgotten. And he got up and danced! You didn't know Stevie could dance could you? I sure as hell didn't. The look on my face when he got up and broke it down and showed us youngsters how it's done. He didn't need to see himself dance to know that he was good, he heard us cheering him on.The people out on the Parkway were in good spirits from 8a through 7p when I started my trek home a convenient twenty-five blocks away. There were no big fights, but there were more than a few people who needed medical attention for heat exhaustion among other things. The concert's initial $350K bill seems to have ballooned to $500K. SEPTA couldn't step it up fully to get everyone home in a timely fashion. The port-a-potties weren't taken away in time. But the trash was all gone in time for the concert the next night and it brought one million of us together up close and personal, millions more online, listening on the radio, reading in the papers and watching it on television across the world.
The world leaders at the G8 Summit pledged $50B by 2010 last week. Not as much as many would have liked to see and there's really no way to guarantee all this aid, but it's a new starting point. A solid number we can hold our politicians to down the line. A number we can point to and demand action upon. The glass is still half empty and yes we should question why it is still half empty, but we can't forget the half that's still there. We gotta build on what we have, slowly, but surely. You can also take matters into your own hands. I did. It's not that hard.
It was an incredible experience being a fully somewhat credentialed blogger covering such a large event. This was a nice step in the right direction for the bloggers out there, but we still have a long ways to go. A press badge would've been nice, but the wristband was good. Not great, but good.
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