Thursday, June 09, 2005

Live Aid

Speaking of compassion (as this organ's inaugural post tried, however obliquely, to do), and while admitting that Live Aid is most certainly a good cause and that any criticism might be perceived as petty and churlish, the fact remains that the L8 shows Bob Geldof has planned for July 2nd have pretty puzzling lineups. While the locations are fairly cosmopolitan (London, Philadelpha, Berlin, Paris, Rome), the lineups are honestly fairly pedestrian, at the same time that they're frankly pretty bizarre. I've posted them below, for your edification and consideration. It honestly makes pretty weird reading, and you have to wonder what kind of demographic they're going for, or if these acts were just all that was available since the summer festival schedule has probably already been set for a while. For example, while you might understand the desire to replicate whatever glory accrued to the first Live Aid, you have to wonder about Sirs Paul and Elton at this point. And what about Midge Ure? Was he busy? And won't we after all get to see Phil Collins reprise his transatlantic shuttle wherein he appears almost to be playing in two places at once? I am crushed. But I guess if Concorde is out of commission then that bet is probably off. (There is also apparently quite a controversial debate, if you can imagine, in progress in Britain currently with regard to the potential appearance or non-appearance of Status Quo, whose dual status as both national treasures and salt of the earth is galvanizing a lot of support on their behalf. There are fond memories of their original appearance in 1985, which clearly provokes questions about how much of this enterprise is in fact driven by nostalgia.)

Perhaps one of the oddest rosters is that of Paris, where you can see the officially ancient Johnny Halliday alongside Yannick Noah, who as far as I know used to play tennis for a living. (Some friends of mine wonder if there shouldn't be a move to add washed up tennis players to every city. My friend David is rooting for a joint appearance by Boris Becker and Betty Stove. I'm kind of hoping that somebody will get Roscoe Tanner.) And these notables will be joined onstage by, of all people, Placebo, whom Allmusic have been known to describe as the "glam version of Nirvana." Oh dear.

The Berlin lineup isn't much less strange, boasting A-ha alongside Crosby, Stills and Nash and Die Toten Hosen. I know I'm sticking my neck out a little bit here, but I'm betting that this is going to be a pretty weird day no matter what city you choose to go to.

Salon has started an interesting conversation by asking a number of bloggers and music writers whom they would choose to appear at their own personal Live Aid.

I've been pondering my own potential Live Aid roster, and thus far I've managed to come up with the following, bearing in mind that some of these acts offer a nod in the direction of African music and politics, and that some of them may well not have see the light of day in a good while. It's a fantasy, in other words:

FANTASY LIVE AID ROSTER
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
JULY 2nd, 2005

Sly and the Family Stone
Prince
King Sunny Ade
Femi Kuti

Gang of Four
Fugazi
David Byrne and Brian Eno
Adam and the Ants

James Brown
The Roots
Afrika Bambaata
The Beastie Boys

In the meantime, here are the various real lineups.

The Philadelphia leg of the show includes the following:
Will Smith, Bon Jovi, Maroon 5, P. Diddy, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, The Dave Matthews Band, Sarah McLachlan, The Rolling Stones, Rob Thomas, Keith Urban, 50 Cent, Kaiser Chiefs

London looks like this:
Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Dido, Keane, Sir Elton John, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Muse, Razorlight, Scissor Sisters, Sir Paul McCartney, Joss Stone, Stereophonics, Sting,Robbie Williams, U2, REM, Velvet Revolver, Bob Geldof, The Killers, The Cure, Snow Patrol

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

Berlin:
A-ha, Crosby Stills and Nash, Brian Wilson, Lauryn Hill, Bap, Die Toten Hosen,Peter Maffay

Rome:
Duran Duran, Faith Hill, Irene Grandi, Jovanotti, Tim McGraw, Nek, Laura Pasini,
Vasco Rossi, Zucchero

7 Comments:

Anonymous Matt said...

woo-hoo! comments! I love it.

did you end up seeing any of the Live 8 shows?

7:21 AM  
Anonymous Matt said...

where are the new posts?! we want new posts!

9:09 AM  
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Blogger Mark Regan said...

But Roscoe Tanner is in jail in Tennessee being held without bond pending an extradition hearing.

Maybe the judge would let him out for a day so he could appear in another celebrity match.

4:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tennessee sent Tanner to Florida where he did a year of a two year sentence on probation violation charges and was released on February 1, 2007 after application of "good behavior" credits.

On February 8, 2007, Tanner was arrested by Orange County, California authorities on warrants they had issued in June of 2005 for criminal contempt of court and criminal failure to pay child support. Tanner had fled the state of California upon learning of these warrans, hid out in several southeastern states, and eventually fled to several European countries, before his arrest on the Florida fugitive charges.

8:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Roscoe was convicted in in the Superior Court of California on the Orange County contempt of court and failure to pay child support warrants, and was sentenced to 43 days in jail and placed on probation until March 1, 2012.

Now is the time for his friends to help him find legitimate employment from a company that will deduct court ordered child support payments from his salary and send them to the Orange County Clerk of Court to be used for the benefit of his daughters.

10:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Roscoe Tanner had his day in the California Superior Court and received a sentence of 43 days in jail and was placed on probation until 3-1-2012.

With application of time served credits, he should be released in about a week, if not already.

Now maybe his friends can help him obtain legitimate employment with an employer who will deduct his child support obligations from his check and send them on his behalf to the Clerk of Court to be forwarded to Roscoe's daughters.

9:21 PM  

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