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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
Dump Paul McCartney, Elton John and Sarah McLachlan! Add Prince, Radiohead and -- for heaven's sake -- more black people! Our favorite online observers rate Bob Geldof's big summer sequel.
Jun 7, 2005 | With the announcement of the Live 8 benefit concerts, slated to be held July 2 in London, Paris, Berlin, Philadelphia and Rome, and some early complaints already being made about the lineups, we asked some of our favorite music critics, musicians and bloggers to weigh in. Specifically, we asked 1) what they think of the lineups, 2) who they would have added, 3) who they would have dropped, 4) which concert they'd pick to attend, and 5) what they think of the criticisms leveled at concert organizer Bob Geldof and the event.
Their answers are below (with most recent contributions listed first):
Alex Ross, music critic at the New Yorker, blogs at The Rest Is Noise.
The London one is the one I'd go to, I guess, though only if it were at the Royal Opera House.
Which ones would I drop? All but the following: the Scissor Sisters, Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, a-ha and 50 Cent.
If I were picking the artists: Prince, Björk, Cecil Taylor, Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige, Sonic Youth, Radiohead, Steve Reich & Musicians, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, René Pape and the Berlin Philharmonic (all-Wagner program), and the Scissor Sisters.
Michael Azerrad, eMusic editor in chief and drummer in the King of France, blogs at You and What Army.
Live 8 is "hideously white," says Black Information Link? I don't know if it's hideous or merely insidious, but there's a practical angle on the lack of brown faces at Live 8. Twenty years ago, Live Aiders asked the inane musical question "Do They Know It's Christmas?" A far better question is "Does Bob Geldof know Dizzee Rascal?" Anyone who's organized a benefit concert on any scale knows that it's largely a matter of calling in favors from friends. Bob Geldof travels in certain circles; he's literally part of an old boy network and can call in favors only within that network. So naturally Sir Bob is going to go with old boys like Sir Elton, Sir Paul and St. Bono. I'm just glad someone's doing something.
I would have invited Eminem, just to see if he'd be willing to help fight AIDS. I'd have invited George Michael, just so he could sing the anti-Blair "Shoot the Dog" ("Tony, Tony, Tony, I know that you're horny/ but there's somethin' 'bout that Bush ain't right.") And if I were Bob Geldof, I'd do a whole separate concert in some place like Montgomery, Ala., or Jackson, Miss., sign up Deerhoof, the Arcade Fire, the aforementioned Mr. Rascal, the reunited Chavez, Flaming Lips, Missy Elliott and Bob Dylan and then enjoy the entire stadium to myself.
Failing that, I'd go to the concert at the Circus Maximus to see 1983 French Open winner Yannick Noah. If he's even half the rocker John McEnroe is, those Romans are in for a real treat.
John Seroff blogs at Tofu Hut
1. Who would you have asked to be in the concerts?
While I certainly don't begrudge the idea of a big ol' Lollapalooza of folks showing up for a good cause, there's not much point that I can see of holding an evening where Madonna, Annie Lennox, U2, REM and Sting play. Most of these are artists who would sound better under the aegis of glamour and spectacle in any case; reducing them to supporting cast with a song or three apiece seems an awful waste. Then again, if it's in the name of a good cause, you might as well enlist those who can afford to make a difference, right? Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
I suppose I would much prefer to see a healthier, shook-up mix of performers with a few less headliners; less name-recognized artists and more genre diversity. The current "diversity" seems designed almost willingly to include one artist for everybody, which is a noble enough pursuit if you're doing free-form radio but something altogether different when you're dealing with the known commodities of pop music; who out there was really slavering to see a bill of Crosby, Stills & Nash, Lauryn Hill, a-ha and Die Toten Hosen?
My optimal concert would likely consist of a collective of artists who tread somewhat different ground from one another. Three of the best concerts I've seen thus far this year were Devin the Dude, Leslie Feist and The Boredoms; I'd add David Banner, Konono No. 1, James Brown, Anthony and the Johnsons, Basement Jaxx, The Gospel Harmonettes of Demopolis, Alabama and Prince. Matthew Barney could design the set and Timbaland could run the sound boards.
2. Who would you drop from the current lineup?
I wouldn't presume to drop anyone from the lineup; if somebody wants to donate their time to what, ostensibly at least, seems like a good cause, more power to them. In terms of wanting to see them perform live? Well, I'm not sure I'd pay to see half those folks perform, and there's a decent percentage stuck in there that I likely wouldn't cross the street for. More power to them that they make a good living doing what they love, I suppose.
3. If you could choose any one of these concerts to go to, which would it be?
I'm torn betwixt Paris and Philly; I'm inclined to lean toward the city of Brotherly Love solely for Jigga and Stevie. I could always show up late and miss DMB and Maroon 5, I suppose. The 64K question really is: which lineup would you be most willing to sit through all the bands? If that's the case, I'd lean more toward the London (bragging rights) or the Paris again (shorter).
In any case, multi-artist concerts like these don't hold much appeal to me. Music seems to be the last thing on anyone's minds. Instead we get a focus on star power, the complexities of juggling so many egos and the child's old superhero joy of creating one mega-super group. One is inclined to ask why the artists involved don't just write a codicil into their contracts demanding that a quarter of the profits that the label sees on their next album go to a worthy cause in lieu of, say, reproduction or commercial rights to the songs?
I honestly don't like the idea of throwing stones at people who do engage in charitable, well-meaning acts, but could you do it just a bit quieter, please?
Douglas Wolk, a writer and critic, blogs at Lacunae.
The impact of Live 8 is supposed to be political rather than musical; the point has to be to make people pay attention to it, and care about it. So the first person I'd ask to be in Live 8 would be Toby Keith, as little use as I have for his music -- if the current U.S. government got the idea that eliminating famine wasn't a partisan issue, and that right-wing pop stars (and their fans) cared as much about it as the left, it would be a lot more likely that something more substantial than self-back-patting might come out of these concerts. Then I'd ask ABBA, just because if they actually did reunite for the first time in over 20 years, it'd be a very big deal. And Prince, because he's a great live performer and it'd give him a chance to make amends for his "there's just as much hunger here at home" bullshit of 20 years ago. And Sleater-Kinney and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and M.I.A. (whose "Pull Up the People" should be the anthem of the whole shebang), partly so that anybody under 30 would care, and partly so that there would be some pleasant surprises to keep Live 8 in viewers' minds afterward, the way that U2 surprised people at Live Aid.
As for who I'd drop: I'm pretty short on haterade here, but I will just note that if you crossed out everybody in the lineup who was a better performer 20 years ago ... and then crossed out everybody who was a better performer 10 years ago ... and then crossed out everybody left whose music owes everything to artists who aren't on the bill -- well, you'd have a very short concert series.
And if I were to pick one concert to see? Paris. Youssou N'Dour and Manu Chao!
Michael Idov writes for Pitchfork, and plays in Spielerfrau.
1) Who would you have asked to be in the concerts?
My Live 8 lineup would have certainly included most of these artists -- it's more advisable to consult the charts than one's own taste when charity (or even "awareness") is on the agenda. I would rather see Rasputina than Coldplay onstage, but then I'd rather see a million people in the audience than 300. That said -- no M.I.A.?!! How often does a ravishing Sri Lankan toaster fall into your lap just as you're putting together a show to help alleviate third-world debt? Apparently often enough.
2) Who would you drop from the current lineup?
I would have dropped Sir Paul, provided he's not preparing a DJ set with Danger Mouse. After dozens of similar mega-events, and especially after last year's Super Bowl, his presence signals big and safe and, shockingly -- at least to me, a fan -- not much more. Macca is an invaluable dispenser of warm fuzzies, and he has dispensed a lot of the stuff since 9/11; I have been warmed and warmed over. I dread the inevitable transcontinental "Hey Jude" singalong.
3) If you could choose any one of these concerts to go to, which would it be?
Rome, just for the brain-melting disconnect between Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Duran Duran, and Circus Maximus.
Keith Causin blogs at Teaching the Indie Kids to Dance Again.
I'm not going to go into prognosticating a lineup, because it's a hopeless task. Instead I'll grouse about how 1) London is clearly hogging all the good acts -- even the American ones (R.E.M., Scissor Sisters, hell, I'll even name Madonna and Velvet Revolver and the Killers -- they sure beat what Philly has), and further complain that Philadelphia seems to be pretty amazingly watered down. Will Smith hosting? Bon Jovi? Maroon 5? Rob Freakin' Thomas? PUFFY? Gimme a break. I am surprised to not see the Foo Fighters on the bill anywhere, too. As to where I'd go? Probably either London for the strength of a whole lineup, or Berlin for Brian Wilson. Also, what the hell is up with the country music in Italy?
Hua Hsu blogs at to here knows when.
1) Who would you have asked to be in the concerts?
Morrissey, Oasis, Radiohead, Missy Elliott, Björk, Mary J. Blige, Dizzee Rascal, a reunited Stone Roses, Beyoncé, De La Soul, Justin Timberlake/Usher, Sleater-Kinney, Seu Jorge, Caetano Veloso, Nas, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, David Banner, Basement Jaxx.
2) Who would you drop from the current lineup?
Like, three-quarters of the artists playing in London. Also: any band on any of the bills that has had a career of less than three years.
3) If you could choose any one of these concerts to go to, which would it be?
Germany. The possibility of having to see Die Toten Hosen is outweighed by the possibility of getting to see two noteworthy genius-slash-recluses (Brian Wilson and Lauryn Hill) eye each other suspiciously. And I hear Bap is awesome live.
Well, that criticism [that Live 8 London is overwhelmingly white] is hard to dispute. One hardly associates the Killers, Keane, the Kaiser Chiefs or Razorlight with "progressive causes." I know the point in organizing these things is to stack the bill with big names, but if you have Elton John, Paul McCartney, U2 and R.E.M. in London, did you really need a bunch of fourth-rate imitators of third-rate rock cluttering the bottom of the bill? What about reggae or hip-hop? Dizzee Rascal or even the Streets? DJs or some representatives of club culture? At least 50 Cent (himself a very odd choice) is willing to die in the process of trying to feed himself.
