Live 8 wasn’t initially poised to be much more than a mild and sentimental murmur compared to its monolithic predecessor, Live Aid. But as it unfolded, with more acts signing on to perform and cities all over the free world on board to host additional concerts, Live 8 began to take on a life of its own. And so it came to be that on July 2, 2005, nine simultaneous, free concerts boasting over 1,000 musicians were staged in London, Paris, Toronto, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo, Moscow, Johannesburg and Philadelphia.
Unlike Live Aid, the event wasn’t a fund-raiser. Organizer Bob Geldof made that perfectly clear when he boldly proclaimed: “We don’t want your money, we want your voice.” The idea was to send a message in support of the Make Poverty History and Global Call To Action campaigns. By no strange coincidence, the concerts were perfectly timed to direct attention on the G8 summit taking place four days later in Scotland. G8 leaders pledged to increase aid to developing countries by $50 billion overall by 2010, including an increase of $25 billion in aid for Africa.
For the most part, the Live 8 concerts were a resounding success. To the delight of those with multimedia PCs and broadband connections, AOL offered up customized web casts of all the concerts. To the dismay of everyone else, live broadcasts on MTV and VH1 were soiled with insipid VJ commentary and loads of commercials. Viewers were outraged and select performances were eventually rebroadcast without the disruptions. Before a note was even played, Geldof had announced a Live 8 DVD would come out before the end of the year. True to his word, the four-disc set now available is filled with stunning live footage taken in London and Philadelphia alongside key highlights from Toronto, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg, and Moscow.
Paul McCartney and U2 start things off, appropriately enough, with a colorful rendition of “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.” There’s an ample mixture of old and new as U2, Coldplay, Madonna, Elton John, Bon Jovi and Sting trade air time with the Black-Eyed Peas, Snow Patrol, the Killers, Velvet Underground and Joss Stone. Along with exceptional performances from Stevie Wonder and the Who, the much-anticipated Pink Floyd reunion with bassist and songwriter Roger Waters makes the whole package well worth its $35 price tag.
The fourth disc spills over with extras including an intimate backstage documentary filmed at Hyde Park, Floyd’s rehearsal for the show, McFly and Bjork in Tokyo, and films from the Who, Travis and Ricky Gervais. The bonus footage from Edinburgh’s Final Push concert on July 6 features performances from James Brown, Travis and the Proclaimers. Whether or not the Live 8 DVD will become, as Geldof speculated, the biggest selling music DVD of all time remains to be seen. But after viewing the spectacle in all its technicolor glory, one may be prone to agree with the former Boomtown Rat when he says it certainly deserves to be.
~ Shawn Perry
