Whenever anybody attempts anything remarkable, there are always skeptics.
Nothing exemplifies this like the reactions of many people when they heard about Bob Geldof's Live 8 concerts. I can see where the critics are coming from as I initially had a hard time seeing how ridiculously wealthy rock stars could even fully understand poverty, let alone "make it history". In the past, artists have often been very successful at raising funds and awareness for different causes, but the eradication of poverty is a far more ambiguous goal than raising money for famine relief or SARS. Needless to say, Geldof and crew appeared to have set the bar quite high for themselves.
I was lucky enough to be in attendance at Canada's Live 8 show in Barrie, Ontario. I was psyched to see some acts, less than excited about others, but most of all I was intrigued to see what kind of balance would be struck between the amount of time devoted to the seriousness of the subject and the amount of time spent rock 'n' rolling.
Throughout the day I had varied, often intense reactions to what I saw. I was overcome by grief as a video was shown in which two young children struggle to discuss their mother's death as a result of AIDS. My great fortune in life became more apparent to me than it had ever been, and I felt guilty for having taken so much for granted.
There were many people in attendance and on stage who seemed to be genuinely concerned about poverty, but there were also others whose behaviour indicated ignorance of the purpose of the concert. I was irritated that some bands were unwilling to step down from their rock star pedestal and acknowledge the issue at hand, but those bands that went above and beyond the compulsory referral to the live8live.com website made a strong impression on me. The Barenaked Ladies and Bruce Cockburn had especially memorable sets.
The corporate presence of Nokia, Sony and Hershey's seemed inappropriate, although I suppose the money had to come from somewhere considering the tickets were free. I was slightly confused that the concert ended with "O Canada!", which seemed incongruent with the day's theme of internationalism.
By the end of the day when all was said and done, I still hadn't come to an understanding of how a concert was supposed to end poverty. I began to think that Bob Geldof was a nut for setting such an impossible goal for himself.
Then it dawned on me: Bob Geldof doesn't expect to abolish poverty single-handedly, these concerts were a rallying call to enlist the masses and hopefully start something huge. People will continue to debate the success of Live 8 and whether or not it made a difference as far as the impoverished of the world are concerned. However, the success of Live 8 no longer depends on Bob Geldof or U2 or Neil Young. Responsibility has been transferred to the billions of people who attended, watched and heard Live 8.
Bob Geldof has used his voice to make a difference, let's use ours.
Full Live 8 Coverage
