Music is My Radar
As if Manchester wasn’t already the coolest place on earth. Those lucky buggers got one more reason to be smug ‘cause they’re getting Xfm on 97.7 later this year. Now if only they could get to work on a Toronto station.
Apparently people are working on a Live 8 concert for Ottawa. We can’t decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Although we can assure you that the capital of Canada really does know how to organise big events, we’re not sure we’d want to be associated with this event given all the recent criticism.
There’s been a lot of criticism of the Live 8 roster for not being diverse enough. This time it’s Damon Albarn’s turn and when he talks we listen. Damon says he hasn’t been asked to participate and even if he is asked he won’t perform. Our boy thinks it’s embarrassing that such a diverse country has a concert roster that’s almost entirely WASPy McWASP. He also finds Live 8's approach demeaning to the people of Africa. But Damon wasn’t all criticism and no solutions, he implored participating artists to step-up and pressure their labels to donate money to the cause. Not only is he a musical genius, but he’s got a solid head on his soldiers—everything he said is bang-on and articulate. That's why he won the Britpop battle with Oasis.
Speaking of Damon, he still wants Gorillaz to star in a major motion picture. He’s got high hopes for a film sometime in the future even after those pesky “creative differences” put an end to a movie with Dreamworks. Add that to the long list of reasons why we have no love for Dreamworks SKG and its animation division.
Remember how we told you Lindsay Lohan was suing the paparazzo who allegedly ran into her on purpose. Well she’s taking her fight a step further and gathered superfriends Cameron, Reese, Halle and the LAPD in the battle against “aggressive” paparazzi. If we were representing the girls we’d be on the phone with Bruckheimer and Bay ‘cause this scenario has blockbuster film written all over it.
Speaking of previously mentioned stories, (sorry, it really is a slow news day) the always funny and sometimes crass Perez Hilton’s got Holly Golightly is playing the Horseshoe Tavern on July 20. If you live in the G.T.A. be there ‘cause there really is no acceptable excuse for missing this show.
If you need something to do this weekend you could do much worse than to check out the remaining NxNE events. There’s also the Four Tet/Junior Boys/ Caribou show at the Opera House on Sat.
Enjoy the weekend kiddies!
Apparently people are working on a Live 8 concert for Ottawa. We can’t decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Although we can assure you that the capital of Canada really does know how to organise big events, we’re not sure we’d want to be associated with this event given all the recent criticism.
There’s been a lot of criticism of the Live 8 roster for not being diverse enough. This time it’s Damon Albarn’s turn and when he talks we listen. Damon says he hasn’t been asked to participate and even if he is asked he won’t perform. Our boy thinks it’s embarrassing that such a diverse country has a concert roster that’s almost entirely WASPy McWASP. He also finds Live 8's approach demeaning to the people of Africa. But Damon wasn’t all criticism and no solutions, he implored participating artists to step-up and pressure their labels to donate money to the cause. Not only is he a musical genius, but he’s got a solid head on his soldiers—everything he said is bang-on and articulate. That's why he won the Britpop battle with Oasis.
Speaking of Damon, he still wants Gorillaz to star in a major motion picture. He’s got high hopes for a film sometime in the future even after those pesky “creative differences” put an end to a movie with Dreamworks. Add that to the long list of reasons why we have no love for Dreamworks SKG and its animation division.
Remember how we told you Lindsay Lohan was suing the paparazzo who allegedly ran into her on purpose. Well she’s taking her fight a step further and gathered superfriends Cameron, Reese, Halle and the LAPD in the battle against “aggressive” paparazzi. If we were representing the girls we’d be on the phone with Bruckheimer and Bay ‘cause this scenario has blockbuster film written all over it.
Speaking of previously mentioned stories, (sorry, it really is a slow news day) the always funny and sometimes crass Perez Hilton’s got Holly Golightly is playing the Horseshoe Tavern on July 20. If you live in the G.T.A. be there ‘cause there really is no acceptable excuse for missing this show.
If you need something to do this weekend you could do much worse than to check out the remaining NxNE events. There’s also the Four Tet/Junior Boys/ Caribou show at the Opera House on Sat.
Enjoy the weekend kiddies!
posted by Mike D at 11:36 AM
3 Comments:
Although I don't necessarily disagree with the notion of celebrities using their notoriety to benefit charitable causes, the whole "Live Aid/8" thing is basically ridiculous. I might be wrong (nor do I care to do adequate research), but I seem to recall that Live Aid was not actually successful on the financial side of things. It costs millions of dollars to coordinate events like Live Aid/8m, and siphoning any profits off to actual charities will be no doubt be hampered by an unbelievable amount of red tape. Plus, there's no actual "causal focus" to the event, as far as I can tell. You can't simply say "we're putting on a bunch of rock concerts to raise awareness about strife in under-developed nations" and expect to see any tangible benefits (i.e. money going to specific charities, etc). Sir Bob has most definitely fallen into "the awareness trap."
Also, can you imagine how lame the lineup would be for an Ottawa version of the concert? I can... Blue Rodeo, Alanis Morrisette (re-hashing songs from 10 years ago), Tom Cochrane, a random Francophone artist, Stompin' Tom, The Guess Who (admittedly, pretty decent), and maybe K-Os if we're lucky. For some "indie" credibility they'd probably try to toss in Arcade Fire, Stars or The Constantines to play a twenty minute set before half the audience shows up.
I agree with everything you said Punk is Dead. Although the idea is noble, Live 8's approach doesn't seem like it'll do much in the long run. Trying to raise awareness in a mass celebrity filled musical event every 10 or 20 years isn’t going to solve the problems in many African countries. If the G8 and other Western nations want to make an impact in Africa they have to make a commitment to work with the governments of those countries (without tied aid) and it has to be a long-term commitment. That being said I'll be very happy if Sir Bob and Co. can prove me wrong with Live 8.
But from a music standpoint, I too am skeptical about the quality of a possible Ottawa roster given Live 8's criteria of mass-market sales/appeal.
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