'LIVE 8 WAS AN ANTI-CLIMAX', MOANS SIR ELTON
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'LIVE 8 WAS AN ANTI-CLIMAX', MOANS SIR ELTON By Sherna Noah, PA Showbusiness Correspondent It was dubbed the greatest show on earth, but superstar Sir Elton John has criticised Live 8 for lacking a "sense of occasion". The singer said there were not enough musical highlights, despite Madonna, Robbie Williams, Pink Floyd, The Who, Sir Paul McCartney and Coldplay taking to the Hyde Park stage. Sir Elton, who is known for getting into trouble over his frank views, told The Daily Telegraph: "I thought it was a bit of an anti-climax, to be honest. "The thought behind it was fantastic, but Hyde Park is a charisma-free zone. There was no sense of occasion and from a musical point, I didn't think there were were too many highlights. "I was very pleased to be part of it," he added "but I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as the first one. How could it be ?" The flamboyant star duetted at the July 2 extravaganza with Babyshambles rocker Pete Doherty, whose performance of Children of the Revolution was described as a shambles. Multi-millionaire Sir Elton, 58, described wayward Doherty as "a mess", adding "it's really sad", and blamed his performance on being "really nervous on the day". The historic concert was organised by Bob Geldof to raise awareness of the plight in Africa before the world's most powerful leaders met at the G8 summit in Gleneagles. Millions watched around the world as Coldplay's Chris Martin described the event as "the greatest thing that's ever been organised, probably in the history of the world". But the concert was criticised for not inviting enough black or African stars to perform, and for failing to highlight the impending crisis in Niger, which has left 2.5 million people facing death. French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy recently attacked the event, saying: "We don't just want big announcements at summits and rock concerts and afterwards nothing." Sir Elton, who in the past has offended Madonna for saying she mimes on stage and George Michael for "wasting his talent", also admits in the interview that he's "not really a lover of musicals" despite penning the score for Billy Elliot.
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I thought the idea was to raise awareness. If Elton felt this way, why did he perform? No, nothing can beat the first Live Aid.
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I don't get why he's saying this now and why he agreed to perform; I am sure he knew the lineup when he agreed to take part....
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I don't particularly like him right now.........LACK of musical highlights???? MACCA was there, for cryin' out loud!!!
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He is probably just jealous that he didn't get the best slots.
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Lauren, i was thinking the same thing. He may be pissed off because he wasn't mentioned as a highlight.
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Not many Highlights, They only had a Beatle there.A member of the grestest band they're ever was.
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I was at Live 8 London and I think to an extent Elton John has a point. While there can be no questioning that the artists on show were largely top draw and there were very few outright disappointing performances, much of the atmosphere was lost because of the huge corporate presence in the "Golden Circle". This collection of high-powered company sorts, pen-pushers, media darlings and others who weren't there because they won in the normal text message competition, managed to distance those with the real passion for the music who were set a good fifty metres back from the stage at least. There is absolutely no doubt that this would have had an impact on the attitude of the artists towards the event: when they normally play a show, their main audience is normally within reach-out-and-touch distance and thus a strong connection between performer and crowd can be easily acheived and this then gets reflected in the atmosphere of the event. This would be where the 'lack of charisma' that Elton John speaks of developed. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed my day, just wish that the corporate sorts hadn't been able to get in between the musicians and the true audience!
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I think you have a very good point Thurm..I was at Live Aid at Wembley,bought my ticket for 25 quid from Piccadilly records in manchester and boy,did you know you were at something special,coz it was real people,right up close and personal,hoping that somehow they could stop the horror in Africa and have a ball doing it.I knew on the day that i was part of history and can remember every detail and conflicting emotion so well.It was like,O.M.G. theres Bowie!Theres Queen! etc..theres THAT video by the Cars with those terrible,terrible images(and yes,i cried along with the whole stadium),Theres our PAUL !!! Now,a few weeks later,who'se even talking about Hyde Park?Not even my sis in law,who works for O2 and yes,was in the Golden circle I'm a bit embarrassed to say,.....Yes,it was to raise awareness,and i think Geldof is a brilliant,brilliant man,but is it a sign of our changing society that its already almost just another gig?I dont think it even came CLOSE to wembley...tho the acts were good,and Macca was AMAZING!!
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I was in the Golden Circle and there were some hardcore Pink Floyd fans around me!!
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Baby_macca:
Not many Highlights, They only had a Beatle there.A member of the grestest band they're ever was.
Good God... it's amazing. If any artist other than Paul says something, then somehow he's jealous of Paul or whatever... geez.
: As for Elton, it's just Elton being Elton. But what he says does have some truth to it. -
Thurm:
I was at Live 8 London and I think to an extent Elton John has a point. While there can be no questioning that the artists on show were largely top draw and there were very few outright disappointing performances, much of the atmosphere was lost because of the huge corporate presence in the "Golden Circle". This collection of high-powered company sorts, pen-pushers, media darlings and others who weren't there because they won in the normal text message competition, managed to distance those with the real passion for the music who were set a good fifty metres back from the stage at least. There is absolutely no doubt that this would have had an impact on the attitude of the artists towards the event: when they normally play a show, their main audience is normally within reach-out-and-touch distance and thus a strong connection between performer and crowd can be easily acheived and this then gets reflected in the atmosphere of the event. This would be where the 'lack of charisma' that Elton John speaks of developed. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed my day, just wish that the corporate sorts hadn't been able to get in between the musicians and the true audience!
Very good point. Artists always complain that the best and upclose seats are filled with "suits" and VIP's and it kills their performances because the people they are "seeing" are not true fans and there's no enthusiasm in front of them for them to feed off of and get pumped up on.
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Matthew_Montoya:
Baby_macca:
Not many Highlights, They only had a Beatle there.A member of the grestest band they're ever was.
Good God... it's amazing. If any artist other than Paul says something, then somehow he's jealous of Paul or whatever... geez.
: As for Elton, it's just Elton being Elton. But what he says does have some truth to it.I totally agree with you. This "jealous" excuse for everything has really gotten old.
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Elton being Elton, means he's being a diva, who wants to be the center of attention. And like it or not, he was barely mentioned. It was Paul, U2 pink floyd and some of the younger groups. Until I read this article I forgot that he was there. Corporate people up front, they own the areana, they are sponsors, it stinks, but it is the way it is. Who do you think is sitting up front at the vegas shows Elton is doing, the high rollers not the diehard fans. It's always about money. Lets see Elton moan about that. I agree the jealously factor is really old, it's time these rockers got over it.
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wasn't Elton's time slot dictated by him having an gig in Dublin on saturday evening.
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Well, people are still talking about Live 8 - but, sadly, the terrorist attacks only a few days later rather took the shine off.
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I could kinda see what he meant. The first one had some crazy historical stuff. Like Phil Colins filling in for John Bonham in Led Zeppelin. Freddie singing We Are The Champions and cool stuff like that. But this one did have some too. Like the reunion of Pink Floyd.
Just your every day random Paul fan
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DennyC:
Elton being Elton, means he's being a diva, who wants to be the center of attention. And like it or not, he was barely mentioned. It was Paul, U2 pink floyd and some of the younger groups. Until I read this article I forgot that he was there. Corporate people up front, they own the areana, they are sponsors, it stinks, but it is the way it is. Who do you think is sitting up front at the vegas shows Elton is doing, the high rollers not the diehard fans. It's always about money. Lets see Elton moan about that.
Thing is, Denny, his airtime is completely irrelevant to the actual topic. Elton does have a way of saying things that can be a bit blunt (see the Maddona thing), and he is a diva, but the thing about it: what he says usually does have some sort of grain of truth to it and it's the same here. I can't argue about the money aspect of touring. Every tour is mostly about making money. Sure, I'm sure the artists like to perform the songs too, but like anybody - Elton, U2, the Stones, etc. - they want to make a profit, same with Paul. And Elton's right. It doesn't really have that many highlights, especially when you compare it to Live Aid. The Pink Floyd reunion would probably be the most memorable, but that's probably about it; for me, even Paul's closing wasn't all that memorable, just for the fact that he's done it 10 zillion times already. The rest of the show had some nice current talent, but the show - outside a few moments - wasn't really much to write home about. I can't argue with him on that one.
DennyC:
I agree the jealously factor is really old, it's time these rockers got over it.
But the question is... just what does Elton have to be jealous about? What sort of comment did he make in that article that signaled any sort of jealousy, much less towards Paul? None. Elton is doing mighty fine himself still, so I don't see what exactly he has to be jealous about. That's why this argument that's usually thrown at any other artist not named John, Paul, George and Ringo who happens to say something that most of this board doesn't like is just lame; and with Elton, it's even more ludicrous when nothing even indicates such.
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BTW, "8 "Live" Males Are A Climax, Moans Sir Elton" would have been a much better title.
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I think more to the point, Elton will find something to moan about. It gives him back the center of attention. You are right he has no reason for it, he's doing just fine, but yet he has to have some sort of rant. As for highlights, isn't that kind of subjective. Coldplay must have been a highlight for some. Maybe we just like the Live aid artists better. It just seems insincere to me to complain about the money aspect. w/o the sponsors they couldn't have pulled it off.
