Compared to his 2003 opening slot for ASMZ, Perri has scaled down his band. The two-drummer attack is gone (Boo!!), resulting in a quieter, looser ensemble of guitar, brass and ramshackle percussion. For the sake of these newer, lyrically introspective songs, scaling down the instrumentation is likely to their benefit because the old band would have completely overwhelmed them. Still, I spend most of their set wondering if I'm watching a pleasant slice of Toronto country-tonk or a slightly botched performance of Peter Maxwell Davies' "Eight Songs for a Mad King".
This is ASMZ's 51st show ever (IIRC, the 2003 shows were their first of that tour and only their 10th and 11th gigs together) and it quickly becomes apparent that they've shed any remaining morsels of apprehension in regards to their singing. They're no longer singing with a shy, nearly bashful confidence, like someone singing karaoke for the first time in front of long-time friends. Now, they're really belting shit out to incredibly powerful effect. There is no better advertisement for their talents than "Teddy Roosevelt's Guns", which starts with the impassioned "O Canada, I'll never be your son" line, disintegrates (in a good way) into a noisy, droning jam; and completely comes apart (also in a good way) in the finale with drums pounding, the Branca-esque sound of detuned guitars being struck while melting, and crazed screaming of the song's title. Intriguingly, they seem to give a preview of the next album, too. Last time, some of the "Horses In the Sky" tracks appeared as codas to the older songs and with this show, the pattern is repeated.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Jews Rock
Jewsrock.org is a fun site about -- take a guess. It's a new site, and very much a work in progress (where are Jonathan Richman's Bar Mitzvah photos? Get them, dammit!) but there are already plenty of essays and factoids to chew on. I thought that I'd read my books and knew who was Jewish in rock and roll, but it turns out that I hadn't. Now, far be it from me to complain that some of the writing is, er, "too Jewish", but I can understand that they wanted the site's writing to appeal to the broadest possible age group. Hmmm ... here are some things I learned from the "Challah Fame" portion of their site, AKA the RNR Jewish roll call. (I'm also including some passages that I felt like excerpting for the hell of it -- all excerpts are from jewsrock.org):
Er, I didn't know they were Jewish!
Robbie Robertson! MC Paul Barman! Jack Black!
Chris Blackwell!!! This one really blew my mind. His family started the first synagogue in Jamaica.
Gavin Rossdale (half)! I'm just on the "B"'s here!
"Family Portrait" makes a bit more sense now
I wouldn't have guessed that someone named Alecia Moore was Jewish, but she (Pink) is indeed. Her completely non-revelatory family exposé (ooooh, her parents argued, she wasn't happy, how -- NORMAL) made her parents cry when they first heard it. This whole scenario is very Jewish.
This is stretching it a bit
From their early days in the San Francisco psychedelic scene to their one radio hit, 1987’s "Touch of Grey," the Grateful Dead have always had a large Jewish following. Deadheadism is a lot like Judiasm. Fans of the Grateful Dead, like observant Jews, glean spiritual meaning from the intensive study of their chosen texts: in this case, song lyrics. They view themselves as misfits in the greater world but draw incredible strength from their own communities.
I'm cool with the first sentence. I raise an eyebrow with the second. By the third, I'm trying to contain laughter. By the fourth, I'm merely trying to quantify how much acid the writer took at Grateful Dead concerts in the 80's and 90's. Somebody had a good time in college, I'll tell you that.
They mention that the band's manager was Jewish (no name given). I'm not sure if they had more than one Jewish manager, but one of their first was Hank Harrison, who is a) half-Jewish, b) wrote one of the first Dead bios, c) Courtney Love's father. Strangely, none of this is mentioned in the entry about Love.
See what I mean? Too Jewish
On the Yeah Yeah Yeahs: The jury is still out on lead singer Karen O (does that stand for "Oy"?) and guitarist Nick Zinner, but drummer Brian Chase definitely qualifies as a Jewish rocker.
Who says that?
On Yo La Tengo: Every Hanukkah, Yo La Tengo puts on an eight-day show at Maxwell’s, the veteran rock club in Hoboken. Frontman Ira Kaplan, who has been called "the Jewish Jimi Hendrix," brings his Jersey hometown covers by Jews ranging from Neil Diamond to the Ramones.
I think they made up the "Jewish Hendrix" bit. I've never heard anybody say that. I can't imagine that anyone would think that. If Ira Kaplan ressembles anybody, it's the Jewish Lou Reed ... oh, redundant. If anyone is the Jewish Hendrix, it's Lenny Kravitz :)
See what I mean? Too Jewish
On Lou Reed: As they say at seder, if he’d only founded the most influential band of all time, it would have been enough. But after his run with the Velvet Underground, once he’d made it OK to sing about heroin and S&M and to use feedback and soundscapes in rock songs, Lou Reed went on to release Transformer in 1972. If he had only added New York grit to glam rock with an album produced by David Bowie and featuring the Top 20 hit "Walk on the Wild Side," dayenu.
He did sing about heroin, but I wouldn't say that he made it acceptable to sing about it. Funny how people always use that song to support the notion that Reed kicked down a lyrical barrier. Did he also make it OK to sing about orgies involving sailors and transvestites? I've never heard anybody argue that.
Oh, if he'd only utilized a silly pun on the song title "Original Wrapper", outdone Depeche Mode in the "WTF? World events? Why? What is this?" song contest of 1986, and written an album ("Mistrial") that even his most devoted fans won't defend -- it would have been enough for us!
That lawsuit is making a bit more sense now
Richard Blum, aka Handsome Dick Manitoba, senselessly sued Dan Snaith for ownership of the name Manitoba.
This might be all you ever need to know about Phish
Like the Grateful Dead, Phish play unstructured, jammy, jazz-inflected music, tour incessantly, and occupy a special place in the hearts of many a Jewish hippie.
A perfect summation. Oh, half of the band was Jewish.
Er, I didn't know they were Jewish!
Robbie Robertson! MC Paul Barman! Jack Black!
Chris Blackwell!!! This one really blew my mind. His family started the first synagogue in Jamaica.
Gavin Rossdale (half)! I'm just on the "B"'s here!
"Family Portrait" makes a bit more sense now
I wouldn't have guessed that someone named Alecia Moore was Jewish, but she (Pink) is indeed. Her completely non-revelatory family exposé (ooooh, her parents argued, she wasn't happy, how -- NORMAL) made her parents cry when they first heard it. This whole scenario is very Jewish.
This is stretching it a bit
From their early days in the San Francisco psychedelic scene to their one radio hit, 1987’s "Touch of Grey," the Grateful Dead have always had a large Jewish following. Deadheadism is a lot like Judiasm. Fans of the Grateful Dead, like observant Jews, glean spiritual meaning from the intensive study of their chosen texts: in this case, song lyrics. They view themselves as misfits in the greater world but draw incredible strength from their own communities.
I'm cool with the first sentence. I raise an eyebrow with the second. By the third, I'm trying to contain laughter. By the fourth, I'm merely trying to quantify how much acid the writer took at Grateful Dead concerts in the 80's and 90's. Somebody had a good time in college, I'll tell you that.
They mention that the band's manager was Jewish (no name given). I'm not sure if they had more than one Jewish manager, but one of their first was Hank Harrison, who is a) half-Jewish, b) wrote one of the first Dead bios, c) Courtney Love's father. Strangely, none of this is mentioned in the entry about Love.
See what I mean? Too Jewish
On the Yeah Yeah Yeahs: The jury is still out on lead singer Karen O (does that stand for "Oy"?) and guitarist Nick Zinner, but drummer Brian Chase definitely qualifies as a Jewish rocker.
Who says that?
On Yo La Tengo: Every Hanukkah, Yo La Tengo puts on an eight-day show at Maxwell’s, the veteran rock club in Hoboken. Frontman Ira Kaplan, who has been called "the Jewish Jimi Hendrix," brings his Jersey hometown covers by Jews ranging from Neil Diamond to the Ramones.
I think they made up the "Jewish Hendrix" bit. I've never heard anybody say that. I can't imagine that anyone would think that. If Ira Kaplan ressembles anybody, it's the Jewish Lou Reed ... oh, redundant. If anyone is the Jewish Hendrix, it's Lenny Kravitz :)
See what I mean? Too Jewish
On Lou Reed: As they say at seder, if he’d only founded the most influential band of all time, it would have been enough. But after his run with the Velvet Underground, once he’d made it OK to sing about heroin and S&M and to use feedback and soundscapes in rock songs, Lou Reed went on to release Transformer in 1972. If he had only added New York grit to glam rock with an album produced by David Bowie and featuring the Top 20 hit "Walk on the Wild Side," dayenu.
He did sing about heroin, but I wouldn't say that he made it acceptable to sing about it. Funny how people always use that song to support the notion that Reed kicked down a lyrical barrier. Did he also make it OK to sing about orgies involving sailors and transvestites? I've never heard anybody argue that.
Oh, if he'd only utilized a silly pun on the song title "Original Wrapper", outdone Depeche Mode in the "WTF? World events? Why? What is this?" song contest of 1986, and written an album ("Mistrial") that even his most devoted fans won't defend -- it would have been enough for us!
That lawsuit is making a bit more sense now
Richard Blum, aka Handsome Dick Manitoba, senselessly sued Dan Snaith for ownership of the name Manitoba.
This might be all you ever need to know about Phish
Like the Grateful Dead, Phish play unstructured, jammy, jazz-inflected music, tour incessantly, and occupy a special place in the hearts of many a Jewish hippie.
A perfect summation. Oh, half of the band was Jewish.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Jacques Lu Cont
Sometimes you just ignore the hype. JLC can do no wrong, the Gwen Stefani remix is the best of 2004, gotta hear his Missy Elliott remixes, etc. You can't keep up with everything.
This is further confirmation that there's always music that is beyond brilliant floating around out there, unheard by your ears. You can't walk around in a constant bother about this, rather, just accept it as the state of things and enjoy everything you hear, whenever you get to hear it. There was a time when I kicked myself for sitting on Drugstore's debut album, inexplicably not getting around to hearing it for three years. That sort of thing is common now, the difference is that I've stopped kicking myself as hard as I used to.
Lu Cont's hot streak is reminding me of all the Timo Maas hype from a few years ago. Essentially, both guys have a remix formula, with each remix turning out more or less identical to the others once fed through the formula. What's more, their styles aren't all that different -- Maas is looser, proggier; while Lu Cont has a knack of coming up with addictive new melodic leads. Huge, thumping, quaking 4/4 house beats; and euphoric, crushing breakdowns are among the qualities they share. However, I never really got into the Maas hype, whereas I'm feeling JLC, big time. I'm confused about why this is, considering the similarities between the two. One theory: I don't remember Maas relying so heavily on vocals during the climactic moments of his mixes.
It's also interesting that lots of people dislike the original tracks but love their JLC mixes/overhauls, which is just about the best compliment you can give to a remix. I also don't recall this being as much the case with Maas.
Some of this is old news, but if you haven't done it, track down JLC's work on "What You Waiting For", "Jetstream", and my tune of the week, the Thin White Duke Dub of "Mr. Brightside". All of them handily slay the originals.
This is further confirmation that there's always music that is beyond brilliant floating around out there, unheard by your ears. You can't walk around in a constant bother about this, rather, just accept it as the state of things and enjoy everything you hear, whenever you get to hear it. There was a time when I kicked myself for sitting on Drugstore's debut album, inexplicably not getting around to hearing it for three years. That sort of thing is common now, the difference is that I've stopped kicking myself as hard as I used to.
Lu Cont's hot streak is reminding me of all the Timo Maas hype from a few years ago. Essentially, both guys have a remix formula, with each remix turning out more or less identical to the others once fed through the formula. What's more, their styles aren't all that different -- Maas is looser, proggier; while Lu Cont has a knack of coming up with addictive new melodic leads. Huge, thumping, quaking 4/4 house beats; and euphoric, crushing breakdowns are among the qualities they share. However, I never really got into the Maas hype, whereas I'm feeling JLC, big time. I'm confused about why this is, considering the similarities between the two. One theory: I don't remember Maas relying so heavily on vocals during the climactic moments of his mixes.
It's also interesting that lots of people dislike the original tracks but love their JLC mixes/overhauls, which is just about the best compliment you can give to a remix. I also don't recall this being as much the case with Maas.
Some of this is old news, but if you haven't done it, track down JLC's work on "What You Waiting For", "Jetstream", and my tune of the week, the Thin White Duke Dub of "Mr. Brightside". All of them handily slay the originals.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Polmo Polpo, Off the International Radar, The Peppermints @ Sneaky Dee's
Flanked by halos of coloured light that pulsate along with the beat, Polmo Polpo spirals through a spectacular 30-minute version of "Kiss Me Again and Again". Incredibly, he starts off with a sparse, stoic crowd and succeeds in getting almost everyone to dance and funk out to disco laced with the ambient bleeping chaos of a dozen cosmic video arcades. Never mind all this, just go see the guy next time he plays because after five years of this (this was my eighth PP gig), I'm running out of superlatives.
Met by twinking organ drones and guitar fuzz, my first thought is that Off the International Radar aspire to be the shoegaze-inflected Inspiral Carpets. Despite my love for both the Carpets and the 'gaze, the combination would be absolutely horrid. Fortunately, things don't head down that road ... instead, muscular Can-like drumming and noisy one-chord jams make this a lot closer to Reich's "Four Organs" gone the way of Caribou's live show, rather than Madchester with louder guitars. Thankfully.
It's funny, earlier in the day I was remarking how silly bands can look when they play two minute treble-laden rock songs while girls engage in off-key shrieking. The topic of discussion was Sleater-Kinney and the narrow line they walk. The Peppermints are of a thrash and hardcore bent, but none of this is enough to make me stick around watching them for very long.
Met by twinking organ drones and guitar fuzz, my first thought is that Off the International Radar aspire to be the shoegaze-inflected Inspiral Carpets. Despite my love for both the Carpets and the 'gaze, the combination would be absolutely horrid. Fortunately, things don't head down that road ... instead, muscular Can-like drumming and noisy one-chord jams make this a lot closer to Reich's "Four Organs" gone the way of Caribou's live show, rather than Madchester with louder guitars. Thankfully.
It's funny, earlier in the day I was remarking how silly bands can look when they play two minute treble-laden rock songs while girls engage in off-key shrieking. The topic of discussion was Sleater-Kinney and the narrow line they walk. The Peppermints are of a thrash and hardcore bent, but none of this is enough to make me stick around watching them for very long.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
The Warlocks, "Surgery"
Add the Warlocks to the list of "Bands Who Made a Great Album That I Didn't Think They Had In Them". Even Spacemen 3's "Sound of Confusion", which is their best album, starts to grate on the nerves when listening to the seventy-minute CD version (containing the "Walking With Jesus" single as well as the proper album). How many two-chord jams in a row do you really need to hear?
"Surgery" moves away from the treble-heavy, jam-it-out approach of their past albums, in favour of a more 80's Jesus and Mary Chain + 60's Girl Groups approach (well OK, the JAMC already had the girl group element, but the Warlocks don't/can't explode the 60's with a treble bomb as heavy as "You Trip Me Up" ("It's Just Like Surgery" kinda tries, right down to using the same chord progression), instead, they go full swoon ahead, pianos and all -- witness "Angels in Heaven, Angels in Hell" and "Evil Eyes Again"). Sweet, anthemic melodies explode from the speakers, and for once, the singing actually conveys depth and emotion rather than merely acting as an accessory to the surrounding din.
"Surgery" moves away from the treble-heavy, jam-it-out approach of their past albums, in favour of a more 80's Jesus and Mary Chain + 60's Girl Groups approach (well OK, the JAMC already had the girl group element, but the Warlocks don't/can't explode the 60's with a treble bomb as heavy as "You Trip Me Up" ("It's Just Like Surgery" kinda tries, right down to using the same chord progression), instead, they go full swoon ahead, pianos and all -- witness "Angels in Heaven, Angels in Hell" and "Evil Eyes Again"). Sweet, anthemic melodies explode from the speakers, and for once, the singing actually conveys depth and emotion rather than merely acting as an accessory to the surrounding din.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Rock Star:INXS
"It's my dream to be a rock star". "This is what I wanted to do since I was four years old". Etc. Keep that dream alive, because it's not going to come true here. After all, it's just INXS, who haven't meant anything in 15 years.
I loved INXS. I still do -- "Kick" didn't leave my cassette player for most of 1988-9. But they've dropped off the face of the earth since Michael Hutchence's death and as soon as this show starts, even a big fan such as myself has trouble buying into the notion that these 15 hopefuls are in line for an important gig. Their profile plummetted after their lead singer accidentally killed himself in a freak masturbation incident -- notoriety couldn't stick to these guys with superglue. How many people under 20 are watching this show, and how many INXS songs do they remember?
At least nobody looks like the second coming of Hutchence, and as long as nobody tries to ape him then this show won't get too queasy (but why would anybody do that, since MH =! icon, as mentioned above?). The closest we get to Hutchence is Ty, who's the body-and-voicemeld of Terence Trent D'Arby (INXS singer for approx. 3.8 minutes) and Green Velvet. Most of them look like they'd rather be trying out for Good Charlotte, with exceptions such as Suzie from Toronto, who looks like she was singing at Grossman's just last week.
I can't see myself wanting to watch this until the last four or five weeks. How much of Dave Navarro ("good friends" with INXS, yeah right) and the stilted stoicism of Brooke Burke (didn't she used to be 100x hotter?) can I take? Oh, and Kirk Pengilly's beard and moustache look unbelievably stupid.
I loved INXS. I still do -- "Kick" didn't leave my cassette player for most of 1988-9. But they've dropped off the face of the earth since Michael Hutchence's death and as soon as this show starts, even a big fan such as myself has trouble buying into the notion that these 15 hopefuls are in line for an important gig. Their profile plummetted after their lead singer accidentally killed himself in a freak masturbation incident -- notoriety couldn't stick to these guys with superglue. How many people under 20 are watching this show, and how many INXS songs do they remember?
At least nobody looks like the second coming of Hutchence, and as long as nobody tries to ape him then this show won't get too queasy (but why would anybody do that, since MH =! icon, as mentioned above?). The closest we get to Hutchence is Ty, who's the body-and-voicemeld of Terence Trent D'Arby (INXS singer for approx. 3.8 minutes) and Green Velvet. Most of them look like they'd rather be trying out for Good Charlotte, with exceptions such as Suzie from Toronto, who looks like she was singing at Grossman's just last week.
I can't see myself wanting to watch this until the last four or five weeks. How much of Dave Navarro ("good friends" with INXS, yeah right) and the stilted stoicism of Brooke Burke (didn't she used to be 100x hotter?) can I take? Oh, and Kirk Pengilly's beard and moustache look unbelievably stupid.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Live 8
Here are a few random notes from the various Live 8 events. All times are EDT, and may not correspond to the time that those artists actually performed (i.e. I may be watching on tape delay at various points). Unlike running diaries of other events, I'm making no attempt at completeness here, just commenting when I feel like it.
Lots of people are being cynical about Live 8, complaining that we're all dreaming if we think this will accomplish anything. I refuse to buy into that viewpoint. Live 8 is not an endpoint. Nobody should be claiming that we're going to solve all of Africa's problems in one day. But awareness is important and shouldn't be underestimated. How many international causes would kill to have this sort of attention? Surely more people have learned about African debt in the past month than have learned about the Sudanese and Rwandan genocides in the past ten years.
9:32 London. Ben Mulroney and some other talking head are doing commentary between performances. They noted that Coldplay were coming on following U2 and claimed that it signified a "passing of the torch". Uh ...
9:38 London. RIchard Ashcroft (still performing in bare feet -- yes!) joins Coldplay for "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which is supposed to be one of those "moments", but feels like Mad Richard with a subpar backing band nearly ruining his signature tune. He warms up to the song after a few minutes, so good for him, I guess.
9:42 London. Chris Martin says that Live8 is the greatest thing that has ever been organized in the history of the world ever. Really? Better than the moon landings? Use much hyperbole?
13:38 Barrie. Oh, here comes the "we forget that those in the Third World are people too" speech except this time it's coming from Bruce Cockburn, and it's the lead-in to the still-relevant "If I Had a Rocket Launcher". Perfect.
14:21 London. I've just now tuned into AOL's webcasts, but sadly, I am too late to catch Snoop's profanity-drenched performance. Ugh, I'm gutted. However, I am in time to hear Madonna scream "ARE YOU FUCKING READY LONDON". Eh, whatever, I already got my fix of swearing from Bruce Cockburn earlier. Still, Madonna ("Like A Prayer", Ray of Light", "Music") is easily the best thing I've seen thus far.
14:49 Philly. Dave Matthews Band are playing some background music. ZZZZZZ.
15:08. London. I would have tapped the Killers to make a lasting impression and be to this show what U2 were to Live Aid, but they only got to play one song ("All These Things That I've Done", great as always) and weren't on stage long enough to burn themselves into anyone's memory.
I'm lost as to where we are on the London schedule. Things aren't proceeding according to the schedule I've seen, but we still have (at the very least) Robbie Williams, The Reunited Floyd (where's Syd?), Sir Paul, and what's sure to be a barf-bag singalong to "Do They Know It's Christmas".
15:44 Barrie. The mere mention of going live to Vegas brought out a round of boos for Celine, probably the biggest spontaneous reaction from this crowd thus far. Celine Dion's mini-monologue about helping the poor is ... exactly what you'd expect from a Celine Dion mini-monologue about helping the poor.
15:53 Philly. What in the name of all that is holy is happening here? A rap-off between Linkin Park and Jay-Z? Oh good, Blue Rodeo are coming on now in Barrie.
16:30 Barrie. Just my luck, Lightfoot comes on stage just as Def Leppard break into "Pour Some Sugar On Me" in Philly. Lightfoot looks and sounds great for a guy who spent most of his life drunk and nearly died a couple of years ago. Despite his weakened voice, he's one badass stoic singer.
Lightfoot is from Orillia, which means he's the only performer to my knowledge that is from the area where this concert is taking place. Speaking of which, why are the Philly and London gigs all mixed up regarding the nationalities of the bands playing there? Why aren't the American bands all playing in Philly and the Brit bands all in London? All the other gigs have gotten this straight, with a few exceptions (Deep Purple, lucky us).
16:52 London. Whoa, I just learned that Mariah Carey didn't actually say that quote about flies and death and stuff (http://www.snopes.com/quotes/carey.htm). Does make her any less of a flake? A tiny little bit, yes.
17:25 London. Amazingly, Robbie Williams hasn't performed live since Knebworth almost two years ago. His retirement/burnout at the time is clearly exaggerated -- or at the very least, the time off has done him a world of good. With "Let Me Entertain You" (complete with bonus Killers and Queen lyrics), "Feel" and "Angels", he riles the crowd into a football hooligan frenzy, and confirms the notion that he should appear on the bill of every festival.
18:00 Paris. Robert Smith on saving the poor and hungry people of Africa: "It doesn't matter if we all die!!!". Naturally, the Cure are amazing.
18:26 London. Led Zep reunited for Live Aid (3/4 of them, anyway), but even they'd only been broken up for five years. Reuniting Pink Floyd (4/5 of them, anyway) is a far more notable feat considering how much Gilmour and Waters hated (hate?) each other for some 25 years. Somehow, great bands have a knack of hating each other and still creating great music, as Floyd transcend and redeem two decades of bullshit with a chilling version of "Comfortably Numb".
18:35 Philly. Is that Rob Thomas singing "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder? Is that Rob Thomas sounding 1000x better than I ever thought he could while singing "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder?
19:01 London. Passing the mic during "Hey Jude" (what happened to the first three minutes of the song, anyway) was a really bad idea, but still preferable to the planned "Do They Know It's Christmas" celeb singalong (axed for time or taste reasons?). During all of this, I missed Stevie Wonder closing the Philly concert with "Superstition" -- Toronto is now the only one still going!
(oh, it looks like the Rome show is still going on -- wow, Rome and Paris went longer than Berlin!)
19:55 Barrie. The start of Jays-Red Sox means that I don't feel the slightest inclination to see BNL. I did happen to flip over and hear Stephen Page make a good joke at the expense of The Box (anyone under the age of 27 probably didn't get the reference).
20:18 Barrie. Neil Young is a different story. If you're going to pack the stage and do a singalong, I'll take "Rockin' in the Free World" over "Hey Jude", thank you. The whole thing turned into a shambolic mess by the end, but who cares.
And that's it. Hopefully I'll remember to tune into the London broadcast in a couple of hours to see Snoop drop f-bombs all over the place.
Lots of people are being cynical about Live 8, complaining that we're all dreaming if we think this will accomplish anything. I refuse to buy into that viewpoint. Live 8 is not an endpoint. Nobody should be claiming that we're going to solve all of Africa's problems in one day. But awareness is important and shouldn't be underestimated. How many international causes would kill to have this sort of attention? Surely more people have learned about African debt in the past month than have learned about the Sudanese and Rwandan genocides in the past ten years.
9:32 London. Ben Mulroney and some other talking head are doing commentary between performances. They noted that Coldplay were coming on following U2 and claimed that it signified a "passing of the torch". Uh ...
9:38 London. RIchard Ashcroft (still performing in bare feet -- yes!) joins Coldplay for "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which is supposed to be one of those "moments", but feels like Mad Richard with a subpar backing band nearly ruining his signature tune. He warms up to the song after a few minutes, so good for him, I guess.
9:42 London. Chris Martin says that Live8 is the greatest thing that has ever been organized in the history of the world ever. Really? Better than the moon landings? Use much hyperbole?
13:38 Barrie. Oh, here comes the "we forget that those in the Third World are people too" speech except this time it's coming from Bruce Cockburn, and it's the lead-in to the still-relevant "If I Had a Rocket Launcher". Perfect.
14:21 London. I've just now tuned into AOL's webcasts, but sadly, I am too late to catch Snoop's profanity-drenched performance. Ugh, I'm gutted. However, I am in time to hear Madonna scream "ARE YOU FUCKING READY LONDON". Eh, whatever, I already got my fix of swearing from Bruce Cockburn earlier. Still, Madonna ("Like A Prayer", Ray of Light", "Music") is easily the best thing I've seen thus far.
14:49 Philly. Dave Matthews Band are playing some background music. ZZZZZZ.
15:08. London. I would have tapped the Killers to make a lasting impression and be to this show what U2 were to Live Aid, but they only got to play one song ("All These Things That I've Done", great as always) and weren't on stage long enough to burn themselves into anyone's memory.
I'm lost as to where we are on the London schedule. Things aren't proceeding according to the schedule I've seen, but we still have (at the very least) Robbie Williams, The Reunited Floyd (where's Syd?), Sir Paul, and what's sure to be a barf-bag singalong to "Do They Know It's Christmas".
15:44 Barrie. The mere mention of going live to Vegas brought out a round of boos for Celine, probably the biggest spontaneous reaction from this crowd thus far. Celine Dion's mini-monologue about helping the poor is ... exactly what you'd expect from a Celine Dion mini-monologue about helping the poor.
15:53 Philly. What in the name of all that is holy is happening here? A rap-off between Linkin Park and Jay-Z? Oh good, Blue Rodeo are coming on now in Barrie.
16:30 Barrie. Just my luck, Lightfoot comes on stage just as Def Leppard break into "Pour Some Sugar On Me" in Philly. Lightfoot looks and sounds great for a guy who spent most of his life drunk and nearly died a couple of years ago. Despite his weakened voice, he's one badass stoic singer.
Lightfoot is from Orillia, which means he's the only performer to my knowledge that is from the area where this concert is taking place. Speaking of which, why are the Philly and London gigs all mixed up regarding the nationalities of the bands playing there? Why aren't the American bands all playing in Philly and the Brit bands all in London? All the other gigs have gotten this straight, with a few exceptions (Deep Purple, lucky us).
16:52 London. Whoa, I just learned that Mariah Carey didn't actually say that quote about flies and death and stuff (http://www.snopes.com/quotes/carey.htm). Does make her any less of a flake? A tiny little bit, yes.
17:25 London. Amazingly, Robbie Williams hasn't performed live since Knebworth almost two years ago. His retirement/burnout at the time is clearly exaggerated -- or at the very least, the time off has done him a world of good. With "Let Me Entertain You" (complete with bonus Killers and Queen lyrics), "Feel" and "Angels", he riles the crowd into a football hooligan frenzy, and confirms the notion that he should appear on the bill of every festival.
18:00 Paris. Robert Smith on saving the poor and hungry people of Africa: "It doesn't matter if we all die!!!". Naturally, the Cure are amazing.
18:26 London. Led Zep reunited for Live Aid (3/4 of them, anyway), but even they'd only been broken up for five years. Reuniting Pink Floyd (4/5 of them, anyway) is a far more notable feat considering how much Gilmour and Waters hated (hate?) each other for some 25 years. Somehow, great bands have a knack of hating each other and still creating great music, as Floyd transcend and redeem two decades of bullshit with a chilling version of "Comfortably Numb".
18:35 Philly. Is that Rob Thomas singing "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder? Is that Rob Thomas sounding 1000x better than I ever thought he could while singing "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder?
19:01 London. Passing the mic during "Hey Jude" (what happened to the first three minutes of the song, anyway) was a really bad idea, but still preferable to the planned "Do They Know It's Christmas" celeb singalong (axed for time or taste reasons?). During all of this, I missed Stevie Wonder closing the Philly concert with "Superstition" -- Toronto is now the only one still going!
(oh, it looks like the Rome show is still going on -- wow, Rome and Paris went longer than Berlin!)
19:55 Barrie. The start of Jays-Red Sox means that I don't feel the slightest inclination to see BNL. I did happen to flip over and hear Stephen Page make a good joke at the expense of The Box (anyone under the age of 27 probably didn't get the reference).
20:18 Barrie. Neil Young is a different story. If you're going to pack the stage and do a singalong, I'll take "Rockin' in the Free World" over "Hey Jude", thank you. The whole thing turned into a shambolic mess by the end, but who cares.
And that's it. Hopefully I'll remember to tune into the London broadcast in a couple of hours to see Snoop drop f-bombs all over the place.
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