Live 8

File:Live8.jpg

The Live 8 poster

Live 8 is a series of concerts planned for July 2, 2005 at each of the G8 nations. It is timed to precede the G8 Conference and Summit held at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland in July 2005; it will also coincide with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. The shows plan to pressure world leaders to drop third world debt, the focus of the Make Poverty History Campaign.

Live Aid and Band Aid organizer Bob Geldof announced the concert on May 31, 2005. Many former Live Aid acts have offered their services to the cause. Prior to the official announcement of the event many news sources (see e.g. [1] [2]) refered to the event as Live Aid 2. However Geldof and co-organiser Midge Ure have since explicitly said they don't think of the event as the same as Live Aid. Geldof said "This is not Live Aid 2. These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison." [3].

Locations and Performers

Five locations have been confirmed. Past Live Aid perfomers are listed with an asterisk (*):

London, United Kingdom (Hyde Park)

U2* Paul McCartney* Coldplay Madonna* Sting* Robbie Williams Dido Elton John* Keane Annie Lennox Mariah Carey

Razorlight Muse Scissor Sisters Joss Stone Stereophonics REM Velvet Revolver Bob Geldof* The Killers The Cure Snow Patrol Snoop Dogg

The Spice Girls were originally on the list of performers, but were then removed. Organisers were reported to have stated that "their style of music did not fit in with the serious political message about world poverty the transatlantic event hopes to portray." (Daily Mirror, 31st May 2005). However in response to those claims Bob Geldof, speaking at a press conference to announce the event said that the Spice Girls may play after all.

Pink Floyd's management have dismissed speculation that Roger Waters and Pink Floyd's current line-up will re-unite for the event.

The British media (The Daily Mail, June 1 2005) have reported that both Queen and The Who are expected to sign up to appear at the concert within the week of the concert being announced.

Philadelphia, United States (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

• Will Smith (Host)
• Bon Jovi
• Dave Matthews Band
• Stevie Wonder
• P. Diddy
• Maroon 5
• Jay-Z
• Sarah McLachlan
• Rob Thomas
• Keith Urban
• 50 Cent
• Kaiser Chiefs
• Il Divo

Berlin, Germany (Brandenburg Gate)

• Crosby, Stills and Nash*
• Lauryn Hill
• Brian Wilson* (performed with The Beach Boys at Live Aid)
• A-ha
• Bap
• Die Toten Hosen
• Peter Maffay

Rome, Italy (Circus Maximus)

• Duran Duran*
• Faith Hill
• Tim McGraw
• Irene Grandi
• Jovanotti
• Nek
• Laura Pasini
• Vasco Rossi
• Zucchero

Paris, France (Eiffel Tower, in negotiations)

• Jamiroquai
• Youssou N'Dour
• Yannick Noah
• Placebo
• Craig David
• Andrea Bocelli
• Calo Gero
• Kyo
• Axelle Red
• Johnny Halliday
• Manu Chao
• Renaud

Other locations

There are plans to hold similar concerts in the remaining G8 countries of Canada, Russia, and Japan. Organizers have yet to reveal full details about these shows.[4]

Key events in the build up

May 31, 2005: Official announcement of Live 8 concerts by Sir Bob Geldof

June 3, 2005: British Chancellor Gordon Brown announces that VAT will be waived on the cost of the London concert. He also supported Geldof's call for a peaceful protest rally in Scotland.

Tickets

Although the concerts will be free, tickets for the Hyde Park concert will be allocated by a text message competition beginning on Monday June 6, 2005. A multiple-choice question will be broadcast on the radio and printed in newspapers that morning, with people able to send in the answer via a text message costing £1.50. Winners will be drawn at random from those correctly answering the question. The concert is expected to have a capacity of 145,000 people. With texters able to make multiple entries into the draw, it remains to be seen how much money this ticketing method will raise. Live 8's official website says that the first £1.6m raised will go to the Prince's Trust, who in turn will donate to the Help A London Child charity. The Prince's Trust usually host the Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park in July. This event was cancelled in 2005 to make way for Live 8. The £1.6m donation will act as a quid pro quo. Funds raised beyond the £1.6m "will go to pay for the costs of LIVE 8, as it is a free event," says the website.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced on the 4th June that he would waive VAT on costs associated with the event. He estimated that that would save the organisers £500,000. [5]

Criticisms

As with many charity events before it, Live 8 has come in for some criticism in the media. Most of these criticisms are not specific to Live 8 but representative of a particular point of view on western attitudes towards Africa and are part of an on-going moral argument.

Criticism of Geldof: Bruce Anderson writing in The Times on June 1 2005, claiming that Geldof uses Africa as "a catwalk".

Other criticisms have included:

• Pointing out the absurdity of super-rich celebrities preaching about extreme poverty to the masses for a day, before returning to making enormous profits.

• Live Aid and Live 8 represent a Neocolonialist attitude, whereby Westerners feel obligated to help out a supposedly helpless and hapless Third World.

London-based group Black Information Link described the list of performers at the Hyde Park event as "hideously white", noting that Mariah Carey is the only non-white performer scheduled to perform at the event. A Live 8 spokeman said that a number of black performers had been approached to participate. The Philadelphia concert has a larger number of black performers. [6]

In the UK the police in Scotland have also expressed fears for people's safety if a large protest rally is held during the G8 summit.

Broadcasters

As with the original Live Aid concert, the BBC will handle the main broadcast feed for Live 8, and will air live in the UK. As of June 3, 2005, the concert will air live in the U.S. via the Internet through America Online; a domestic broadcast network has yet to acquire the television rights.

References

• Live 8 website.
• Geldof unveils Live 8 show plans from BBC News. May 31, 2005.
• The announcement by WMMR 93.3 FM Radio in Philadelphia. May 31, 2005.
• Live 8 unofficial Live 8 US fan website.
• Live8.de unofficial Live 8 German fan website.