'LIVE 8 WAS AN ANTI-CLIMAX', MOANS SIR ELTON
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To be honest, if you look at all of Live Aid, there are very few great moments - Spandau Ballet? Adam Ant?
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DennyC:
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.
Well, it is a bit of a catch 22, if you think about it. On one aspect of it, the sponsors do sort of ruin the feel of it, yet at the same time, without them, there is no show. As for Elton, yeah, he tends to bitch a bit (Bitch Is Back?) but that's part of his style and it has been for quite a long time. Speaks his mind; not everyone will like it, of course, but that's just his nature. He's a diva... but those type of antics - besides his brilliant songwriting over the past 35 years - are also what got him where he is. Diffrent strokes for different folks, I suppose. As for the acts, you're right, it's very subjective. I guess for someone like Elton, it's only natural to prefer the concert that had most of the artists and bands that he grew up with or was around when they were active. And you're right about Coldplay. I just think compared to a lot of the acts who DID play at Live Aid - Phil Collins, Macca, Elton, Stones, Who, Queen, U2, Madonna, etc., etc., - they're just a hell of a lot more established and most of them are considered legends and iconic, so maybe that's where he's coming from, in terms of a star power aspect.
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randompaulfan:
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.
Super concerts like this have become more mainstream....they aren't novel anymore. I don't think any can live up to the originals.
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Matthew_Montoya:
BTW, "8 "Live" Males Are A Climax, Moans Sir Elton" would have been a much better title.
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Matthew_Montoya:
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.
Great post.
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~ All due RESPECT, Sir Elton needs his birth control pills,.. his hormones are a bit off~
ops: 
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Tripping:
randompaulfan:
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.
Super concerts like this have become more mainstream....they aren't novel anymore. I don't think any can live up to the originals.
That's pretty much it. Concerts like these have lost the novelty aspect of it. I mean, the whole idea behind it is very nice and it's a nice cause, but the reason Live 8 will probably be forgotten - heck, it is pretty much already - is just because it's been done already; the novelty aspect isn't there anymore like it was for Live Aid. Another thing that sort of bugged me - and it probably shouldn't - is that this concert had way too much of an MTV type of feel to it. I mean, sure, they and VH1 broadcasted it, but I mean in the sense of just how the show was ran. When they were going to the show in Philadelphia - or a lot of the places, really - most of the crowd that was there seemed like they were just there to see their favorite bands and when asked about the issues in Africa, you can get the impression that they didn't really care all that much, as long as they got to see their band perform. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the vibe I got. I guess I wasn't as big on Live 8 as most. It was for me just a nice rock show. The idea behind it is very nice and to bring awareness to the issue is very nice, and I hope that the problems in Africa are minimized as much as possible, I truly do, but I think if you ask most people who were there at those concerts, I'm curious what they'll remember first; the fact that they helped spread awareness of what's going on... or that they seen Pink Floyd reunite or seen Paul or U2 or whoever. I think the latter.
To quote good ol' John Lennon, you can't save the world on a stage. -
Tripping:
Great post.
Thank you very much, ma'am.
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harleyblues:
~ All due RESPECT, Sir Elton needs his birth control pills,.. his hormones are a bit off~
ops: Or else taking the hormone pills might be the problem.
I get a kick out of Elton when he's like this. I think some people can take stuff like this way too seriously sometimes. He's just being Elton, really... divaish, bitchy, but he gets over it and moves on. The funny part is that it's still entertaining after all these years. -
I think that's the point, you can't take Elton seriously because he does this often. I don't disagree with you that the people came out to see the groups, and I don't disagree that most of them came away just thinking about the show. We had an ongoing thread about why Paul didn't invite Ringo, as if that had anything to do with the situation. For them it was about who was at the show. The mtv feel, the sponsors think those are the "people" who are going to sit in the mud for hours waiting to see the show, so they cater to them. But it wasn't the intention of the organizers to do that, which Elton was a part of. It wont be the last of this not so novel concerts to get a segment of the population that doesn't read the newspaper and is probably not so interested in the world at large. Maybe some came a way with the sense of injustice the organizers intended you to feel. To call it a failure, is to know what is in the minds & hearts of every person watching and attending, and we can't possibly know that.
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After all the Live Aid's and Live 8's.....the bottom line.....people are still starving at the same rate that they were before.....
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yes they are, and we should all be ashamed of ourselves for not making more of a difference. Blaming the messenger is an misplaced effort.
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DennyC:
yes they are, and we should all be ashamed of ourselves for not making more of a difference. Blaming the messenger is an misplaced effort.
The misplaced effort was thinking for decades that money is the answer....it wasn't 20 years ago....it isn't now...and won't be in the future. If people don't want to be ashamed of themselves, then they should put the pressure on their governments in their respective countries to get rid of the corrupt governments that are raping their own people in these suffering countries...that's where the answer lies.....but no one wants to deal with that one as it's too hard to do. Throwing money is the easiest thing to do.....dealing with the heart of the problem is not.
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Yes tripping, we get it, we all understand that, that's why the organizers of the concert thought they would energize the hearts and mind of people to do just what you said. I don't fault them for trying, I fault us for not listening and acting.
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DennyC:
Yes tripping, we get it, we all understand that, that's why the organizers of the concert thought they would energize the hearts and mind of people to do just what you said. I don't fault them for trying, I fault us for not listening and acting.
Really? I never saw them call for any governments to get the corrupt governments out of those countries. All they wanted was debt forgiven and more money to be thrown in..... You are stating something that was not in their Mission Statement. The fact was Geldof didn't want to hear one word about the corruption.
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They called for us to responsible citizens of the world.
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DennyC:
They called for us to responsible citizens of the world.
Have you written to your government and asked them to send US troops to overthrow the corrupt governments?
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DennyC:
They called for us to responsible citizens of the world.
They called for us to put pressure on the G8 to forgive debt and pledge additional aid. Let's not start playing with the facts as they actually were.
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In case you forgot Bob Geldof's stand on the corruption: "get off the corruption thing"
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Yes I have written my government by emails, signed petitions, for this and a host of other things. Sent clothes and toys through a my daughter's school and my family sponsors a few children. We have done this for years. But I won't ask you to explain yourself or tell me ways you have tried to change the world for the better. It's simply not my business. I guess it's the way my husband and I look at things and how we raise our children, we see a problem, we see if we are able to help with our votes, actions, donations, time, etc. It is pointless to bellyache and disect every one of Bob Geldoff's words. Time is too precious to waste in that way. Sir Bob, is a man that is looking for answers, like the rest of us, he didn't create is problem. I have forgotton none of his words. He is someone I admire.
