reflections on the impact of Live 8?

[timouse]

...so i've been intermittently checking in on the tv to see what's happenning with live 8, and so far, i'm frankly a bit disappointed by the level of discussion surrounding the meaning of live 8. i mean the cbc lady had jack layton cornered for an interview and the best thing she could come up with to ask him was "hey jack, what band are you most looking forward to seeing?" to which he said that he liked all the bands and his favourite moment was most likely to be the finale where everyone comes on stage...there was one moment where will smith spoke on stage from philadelphia and told the assembled crowd that "every 3 seconds, a child dies becuase of poverty," and encouraged everyone to snap their fingers with him at 3 second intervals to underscore his point.

cut to a crowd of smiling people snapping their fingers...gotta love the ironic nature of the universe

not that i want them to turn this in to a preach-fest about the IMF and structural adjustment to african economies and enforced poverty, but hell, i would have thought jack would have piped up...

fwiw, i have already sent my e-mail off to my MP (Conservative...grrr...) and expressed my wish as a voter that the government oughta wholeheartedly back debt elimination and examine IMF and World Bank lending practices...the biggest disappointment so far today has been the lack of contextual discussion about why exactly it is that the poorest nations of the world are in such trouble, and who the brainiacs are that came up with the economic plans that have led to these nations incurring crushing debt.

if sir bob and the others are serious about this thing making some kind of difference, something needs to be said about how this was all allowed to happen, and why it is that the world bank holds all the cards in underdeveloped nations.

i wonder what Vandana Shiva is doing today?

[Chewie]

hope it's better than this douche from whitby....this is from CP wire

"While most musicians who performed made mention of the purpose behind the event, it seemed lost on some concertgoers.

Marty Gradwell from Whitby, Ont., said he came to the Canadian gig "to rock out and enjoy the start of a warm summer."

Asked what prompted the worldwide music bash, he could only venture a guess.

"For AIDS in Afghanistan, is it?"

what a fuck-o!

[mamacita]

I'd have to agree with ya timouse, I found the level of enthusiasm toward the "cause" a little lacking, it really seemed like just another concert to me. I think there could have been more of a collective demonstration with this many people together, Like if they had planned a chant in all the locations at the same time, something more collective, and to the point of the problem at hand... Half the people I discussed the concert with in passing still were really unsure of the actual cause..or reason for it!

[ollie]

I got the impression that some of the musicians weren't even sure what the message was supposed to be. I just heard a lot of vague congratulatory backpatting. It seems the big push was to add your name to the live8live.com web site. Was this all done for the sake of an internet petition? If the message was "We need your help" then my question is still a loud and resounding, "HOW?", with the added condition of "Please be specific and provide concrete examples."

[StoneMtn]

I totally disagree with the above skepticism.

Whereas I don't actually believe any politicians who matter will really care what a few billion music fans think, I heard comments from innumerable people while I was at the concert about poverty, the G8, and the horrible plight of our world. I also saw two people burst into tears.

I have also heard one younger person tell me that the really good thing about this is that the younger generation knew nothing about the G8 Summit before, whereas now everyone does.

If you only focus on the cynics it looks cynical. If you only focus on the people who care you see the opposite.

[mamacita]

Article about Live8

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/1hi/entertainment/music/4637801.stm

[ollie]

I totally disagree with the above skepticism.

Not sure if you're including me in that group but I wasn't being skeptical, just relating the message I got from the close to 12 hours of broadcast I watched. The point still wasn't clear to me even after all that much time as a captive audience. It's possible I'm just dense but it's my opinion that they failed in delivering the message that they wanted to enough people not already a part of the choir.

[bouche]

The dude from Deep Purple made it sound like he was describing any generic cause when asked what he thought of the whole thing.

[ollie]

The dude from Deep Purple made it sound like he was describing any generic cause when asked what he thought of the whole thing.

That's exactly who I was thinking of in particular.

[StoneMtn]

I'll give you that. The current frontman for Purple didn't particularly impress me, as an activist or a replacement singer (although I really enjoyed they're set). There were also other musicians that could have done a better job at getting the message across, but there were many aspects of the "message-side" of the whole event that I thought were well done.

For instance, Bruce Cockburn was articulate, logical, and drove the point home as much as he could in his 15 allotted minutes, saying something like:

"Many people criticize this cause, saying that you can't get the money to the people, because the governments in those countries are corrupt. Well, the part they're forgetting is that those same governments are propped up by the governments whose leaders are attending the same G8 Summit".

[timouse]

I'll give you that. The current frontman for Purple didn't particularly impress me, as an activist or a replacement singer (although I really enjoyed they're set). There were also other musicians that could have done a better job at getting the message across, but there were many aspects of the "message-side" of the whole event that I thought were well done.

For instance, Bruce Cockburn was articulate, logical, and drove the point home as much as he could in his 15 allotted minutes, saying something like:

"Many people criticize this cause, saying that you can't get the money to the people, because the governments in those countries are corrupt. Well, the part they're forgetting is that those same governments are propped up by the governments whose leaders are attending the same G8 Summit".

thanks, stonemtn, that's exactly what i was hoping to hear, although i sort of guessed that bruce would be the guy to bring that point home.

what i don't get is why every single performer wasn't saying exactly that...if this was all about informing folks about the problems surrounding 3rd world debt, then telling them about the hard work the west has done monkeying around in the geopolitics of the 3rd world is a big part of the picture. without that necessary bit of context, people won't understand why this is all going on.

if people knew the extent to which the IMF and the World Bank have had a hand in restructuring developing economies to suit the needs of the G8, there'd be much more anger and protest in favour not only of debt cancellation but in favour of disbanding the world bank and kicking mr wolfowitz out on his butt with a fat pension and a slit throat...

sorry, thete's that cynicism that you were talking about earlier

[AD]

My understanding of the aid packages proposed is that it's tied-aid, meaning the donors stipulate what the money is for. Isn't this entirely undemocratic when everyone is calling for more African governments to be more democratic?

AD

[timouse]

My understanding of the aid packages proposed is that it's tied-aid, meaning the donors stipulate what the money is for. Isn't this entirely undemocratic when everyone is calling for more African governments to be more democratic?

AD

that's exactly the problem. the aid given by the IMF & World (Domination) Bank always comes wiuth a catch..."restructure your economy to allow more imports, produce more for export, adopt our monetary policy, and gee, how would you like a super-dam to generate some hydro??"

until the G8 stops trying to call the shots, little will change. that should be the message of live 8...

[Rob Not Bob]

I'll give you that. The current frontman for Purple didn't particularly impress me, as an activist or a replacement singer (although I really enjoyed they're set).

Err, not to be a nitpicker, but the vocalist with Deep Purple at Live 8 was Ian Gillan, long time vocalist and player on such Purple classic albums as In Rock, Fireball and Machine Head (the "Smoke On The Water" album). Yes, he has gotten a bit older, a bit paunchy and lost the burn on his vocal fastball, but hell so have I .... thing being he wasn't really a "replacement" vocalist, unless you mean how he replaced Rod Evans waaaaay back in the early 70s (and Joe Lynn Turner again in the early 90s)

RnB

geek

[StoneMtn]

That was actually Ian Gillan? I thought it was some sound-alike doing an adequate, but not stellar, job.

His voice has definitely taken a beating over the years, but I'm glad to have gotten to see an actual Deep Purple lineup.

(That was actually the first time I've seen Deep Purple at all, as every time I've almost seen them something has prevented me.)

[bradm]

How is Deep Purple with Steve Morse on guitar, or vice versa? I'm a big fan of Morse (esp. his work in/with The Dixie Dregs, but also The Steve Morse Band), but he wouldn't have been my first choice to replace Richie Blackmore (due to stylistic differences, rather than ability).

Aloha,

Brad

[AdamH]

This email is from a VSO volunteer in Kenya:

Subject: Live 8. G8. Mama Ruth

Mama Ruth died today.

She died this afternoon in a hospice in Nanyuki. Over the last few weeks, I've watched the AIDS virus ravage her body. Steal her strength and her spirit piece by piece. It is a relief she is no longer sufferring. It is a tragedy she is no longer here. She leaves behind her 9 year old twins, Ruth and Kirima. Her (awful) husband and four other grown children.

Mama Ruth inspired. Over the past year and a half, I observed her transformation into the ultimate "mama bear". She embraced Ruth's right to education and claimed it, taking on head teachers and community members who would stand in her way. She pushed and carried Ruth to school, even as she weakened. She encouraged, cajoled and demanded other parents of disabled kids to do the same.

Her death is a tragedy.

According to current statistics she is just one of over 500 people who die from AIDS each day in Kenya. Even while living here and maybe especially while living here, I can't fathom that number. Despite considering my colleagues attend a funeral almost every week. Despite the presence of 6 AIDS orphans in just one of our special units. Despite seeing a village in Isiolo abandoned because the entire community had been wiped out by the virus. Despite knowing these are scenarios repeated over and over in every part of this country. I can't wrap my head arund the idea of 500 people a day. And I can barely write that today Mama Ruth is one of the dead.

Christine

[Rob Not Bob]

How is Deep Purple with Steve Morse on guitar, or vice versa? I'm a big fan of Morse (esp. his work in/with The Dixie Dregs, but also The Steve Morse Band), but he wouldn't have been my first choice to replace Richie Blackmore (due to stylistic differences, rather than ability).

Aloha,

Brad

From what I have heard from him, he riffs like Blackmore but solos like Morse, which is the ideal solution I guess. Technically speaking, he wasn't the first in this round to replace Blackmore, as he was initally replaced by Joe Satriani for a tour of Japan before Morse came in full time. Fiona was for a while in a Deep Purple cover band and their opinion was they liked Morse but missed Blackmore, but I think given personal disputes that is highly unlikely that he will come back. I like him fine in the role, but then again I liked Tommy Bolin in the group, so YMMV.

RnB

Purple Historian