Posted on 06/01/2005 6:10:48 AM PDT by pissant
SIR Bob Geldof yesterday unveiled the biggest musical event of the decade as he announced a stunning all-star line-up for Live Aid II.
The centrepiece of the bash — to be called Live8 — will be a huge free festival in London’s Hyde Park on July 2.
It will star Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney, Elton John, U2, Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Dido, Joss Stone, and Sting — among others.
The 150,000 tickets for the Hyde Park gig will be made available through a special text lottery to be held on Monday.
There will be four other simultaneous live shows in Paris, Philadelphia, Rome and Berlin. Hundreds of thousands of music lovers will attend the five concerts, with billions more watching on TV worldwide.
Live8 aims to raise awareness of poverty in Africa ahead of the G8 summit in Scotland on July 6, when leaders of the world’s eight richest countries will meet.
Sir Bob hopes Live8 will pressurise them into cancelling the debts that cripple Third World states.
The London gig has some of the biggest names in rock and pop. Sir Paul McCartney is to open the show, backed by U2, with a rendition of The Beatles’ classic Sgt Pepper.
It was chosen because the opening lyric “It was 20 years ago today...” echoes the fact that it is the 20th anniversary of the original Live Aid.
Sir Bob yesterday confirmed he has spoken to the Spice Girls about them reforming for the gig — and said the signs were looking good.
It had been wrongly claimed that Live8 promoter Harvey Goldsmith had banned them because they “weren’t rock and roll enough”.
But Goldsmith told yesterday’s press conference at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel: “The Spice Girls are not banned — we would love to have them on the show.”
Sir Bob added: “I spoke to them this morning and it’s looking very good.”
Soul legend Stevie Wonder is likely to be the highlight of the Philadelphia concert.
And Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson will star at the Brandenburg Gate concert in Berlin.
Duran Duran will play in Rome while Jamiroquai are to be one of the big names at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Sir Elton John, also at yesterday’s press conference, said: “All the musicians are the creme de la creme.”
Live8 co-organiser Midge Ure said: “There needs to be a change. Someone needs to rattle the cages.”
Sir Bob is calling for a million people to descend on Edinburgh for a mass march to coincide with the summit.
He plans to go there after the Live8 bash.
i saw u2 a few weeks ago. they were great. you definitely need to check them out if you can. even if you dont have tickets now, you can get a decent price from scalpers outside if you start looking to buy when the opening act is playing. i walked in about 15 minutes before u2 went on stage and they were selling good seats for $60 a piece.
I was a fan of U2's music in the 80's, as well. First saw them in 1983 on Pier 84 on New York's west side. Thoroughly enjoyed their music, can't stand their idiot politics. (It's that way with 90% (or more) of entertainers I like these days.)
I can only think of the lame "I don't like Mondays" song. Lame lame lame.
BTW, did you visit the 1970s thread yesterday, missy?
Who?
Don't know Dildo, but I at least heard of the other two. You're gettin old MG! ;O)
Can you post me the link.
It was my callsign in Bosnia...I liked it so I kept it
Because, until now, no one knew there was poverty in Africa.
Lol!
And there's black people there too, I hear
Thanks. 1,500+ posts. WOW! You had quiet the crowd yesterday.
No idea. Music pretty much sucks nowadays, doesn't it?
And I still missed you!
Just for educational purposes Dido has had a couple of pretty big "alternative" hits including the song which may be titled "I Want to Thank You" that was used (ripped off?) by Eminem on his song "Stan" that he sang with Elton John on the Gram . . . aw, you probably don't care anyway.
How are they going to fit all those egos into one park, I wonder?
the lack of talent will leave extra room for ego! ;o)
Robbie Williams:
Former member of a British boy band who later went solo. Huge in the UK, but gets very little airplay in the US. Think of Davy Jones or Justin Timberlake and then inflate their egos to McCain-esque levels, and you've got Robbie Williams.
Dido:
Female British songstress. Had a minor hit a few years ago with the song "I want to thank you", which Eminem later used as part of his song "Stan". Falls into the Sarah McLaughlin/Nora Jones camp of song styles.
Joss Stone:
An 18 year old British singer. She's been in the entertainment news recently for making the uninformed statments that a 18 year old would make, as well as failing her driving test. Has a heck of a singing voice though.
I think I'll pass.
But I do like Norah Jones' music (I have one of her CD's) and I like Sarah McLaughlin's voice as well, so I'll try to find some downloads of Dido's music to listen to.
If I do a Yahoo music search maybe I'll find something on Joss Stone to listen to as well.
I appreciate the music info you gave me.
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