Monday, May 05, 2025

FireAid Benefit Concert

I watched the nearly six-hour FireAid special on Netflix, and I don't really want to critique it because the audiences obviously enjoyed it and they raised a ton of money for the worthiest of causes.  However, I do have a few thoughts:

  • This was an old set of performers.  I counted eight acts where the featured musician was seventy or older.  That's not counting the guest vocalists with Nirvana (two of the four were over seventy).  Some of them were transcendent.  Stevie Wonder dominates every stage on which he appears, to the point that it's not even fair to the other performers.  Rod Stewart has no business looking or sounding as good as he does as age eighty.  I was surprised to discover that John Fogerty and Stephen Stills are still compelling performers.  But I couldn't help but wonder: who is going to appear at these benefit concerts in 10-20 years?  Will we see a never-ending parade of Nirvana and No Doubt reunions? Or think of it this way: LiveAid is often seen as a gathering of millionaire dinosaur rock stars.  But virtually none of the major performers were born even as early as the 1930's (Tina Turner was born in November 1939).  The most senior acts were in their mid-40's (e.g. Paul McCartney).  The members of RHCP are in their 60's.  Elton John (the headliner in Wembley in 1985) was younger than the FireAid headliner at the Intuit Dome, Lady Gaga.  
  • Gracie Adams, Billie Eilish, and Olivia Rodrigo received probably the biggest ovations, thanks to the lungs of their teenaged fans.  All three are great in different ways, although for me Gracie Adams was something of a revelation.  As far as confessional teen drama ballads go, her interpretation of the style was my favourite.
  • Many performers opted for acoustic sets, possibly wishing to strike a more serious, somber tone considering the circumstances.  Others just plowed ahead with their usual bombast.  Both approaches worked.  These shows had a little something for everyone.  
  • These shows featured "classic" artists (i.e. the aforementioned boomer acts), 90's hangers on/afterthoughts (Black Crowes, Green Day, Alanis Morissette), millenial radio pop faves (Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Pink), and the current crop of early 20's teen heroes (Billie Eilish et. al.).  There is a big gap between roughly 1995-2008, where apparently no new megastars were made.  
  • I do wonder about the next generation of stars.  Anderson.Paak and Jelly Roll are both veterans of the music biz but rose to national prominence relatively recently.  Both are around age forty.  Where will Billie Eilish be in twenty years?  My feeling is that artists who become global phenomena in their teens and early twenties don't stay unstoppable for more than about fifteen years, they eventually burn out (Rihanna) or settle into a part-timer role (Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears).  So who will be around as a can't miss, cross-generational, bankable star in the 2040's?