[SlackAli]

Bob Geldof has unveiled plans for a repeat of 1985's Live Aid concert, called Live 8, to highlight the ongoing problem of global poverty and debt.

The free event will be held in London's Hyde Park on 2 July with concerts in Philadelphia, Paris, Rome and Berlin.

Madonna and Sir Paul McCartney are among stars playing in London while Stevie Wonder is on the US line-up.

A text message lottery is being held on 6 June to determine who will gain tickets to the UK concert.

Listeners to breakfast shows on BBC and commercial radio stations will be asked to send a text message at 0800 BST containing the answer to a multiple choice question. The winners will get two tickets to the show.

It will also be shown on big screens in seven cities across the UK, and shown live on BBC TV and radio.


WHO IS TAKING PART?
Coldplay
Madonna
Sir Paul McCartney
Coldplay
Sir Elton John
Robbie Williams
Will Smith
Stevie Wonder
50 Cent
Youssou N'Dour
Jamiroquai
A-ha
Duran Duran

Read the list of artists in full

Will Smith, Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder and Maroon 5 are among the performers who will play the US city's Cradle of America venue.

Veteran band Duran Duran will play in Rome, while A-ha will perform in Berlin.

Sir Elton John said he was "extremely honoured" to be taking part in the event, which he added will feature "la creme de la creme of musicians".

Geldof said there was a strong possibility that the Spice Girls would reform for the concert.

"I spoke to them this morning. It looks very good. That's all we can say," he told the BBC.

The aim will be to raise awareness of Make Poverty History, a campaign to get the richest nations to cancel debt and increase aid to developing countries, and to promote fair trade.

The G8 summit takes place from 6 to 8 July at Gleneagles in Scotland.

Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai will perform at the concert in Paris

Some economists were sceptical the aims of the Make Poverty History campaign would help the people it was targeted at.

Kendra Okonski, of the International Policy Network, said debt relief, aid and trade justice had been a "demonstrable failure" for decades.

"Aid has tended to reward failing governments and undermine democracy," she said.

"In the case of Uganda, they're waging an illegal war with aid money that's given by the United States.

"Debt per se is not a bad thing. Lots of us have mortgages.

"If you say all debts are forgiven it actually punishes countries which are doing a good job paying back their debt."

Geldof said the event was "not for charity but political justice", adding that organisers had "scrambled like crazy" to stage the concerts to highlight the plight of Africa.

"This is to finally, as much as we can, put a stop to that," said the political campaigner and musician.

"There is more than a chance that the boys and girls with guitars finally get to tilt the world on its axis," he added.

Jonathan Ross will present the BBC's coverage in the UK, while Graham Norton will report from Philadelphia.


I work 10 hours a day to feed my family, not Africa
Chris Salinas, Philadelphia, USA

Have Your Say

The UK government has backed the project, with Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell saying Live 8 will "set the scene" for the G8 summit.

Meanwhile, the Band Aid Trust has recouped more than £2m in VAT from the government, which was made from DVD sales of the 1985 Live Aid concert.

"We want it to be the biggest and best open air concert that the capital has ever seen," she said.

The original Live Aid concerts, on 13 July 1985 in Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, raised £40m for famine relief in Africa.

(BBC website)

Here we go again. Twenty years on from LiveAid and another extravaganza to be watched by a worldwide tv audience of 2 billion.
Will it do any good? Did LiveAid do any good, or just siphon western money into the coffers of African despots? Why do ageing 'rock stars' presume they are qualified to diagnose the problems of world poverty and berate us if we don't agree with their opinions? Is this just about the egotism of the semi-forgotten and the aspirations of the new?

[XL Guru]

Do we need it? Well I certainly don't need "Bob the Gob" effing & blinding every 5 mins on my TV.

For sure they need something ; how shocked was I at the announcement yesterday that 6 THOUSAND Africans die EVERY DAY from AIDS?

[josdegr]

Originally Posted by SlackAli

"In the case of Uganda, they're waging an illegal war with aid money that's given by the United States.

a free concert to promote war. they wont be getting any of my money.....


ohhhh, take that back. i do CONTRIBUTE through major corporations (coke, proctor&gamble....etc) that are going to attach their names to this fiasco.

[lighthouse]

That's the problem with a lot of government aid money in that it goes to the administration of that particular country. The point of NGOs is that they don't work on that basis - sidestepping a lot of the stuff that caused some of the problems in the first place. Live 8 is very important in that it sends a clear signal to the G8 leaders that there is work to be done and revitalises the whole arguement about developing world poverty. There's a lot of stuff that happens every day in that regard but Live 8 prompts discussion - and here's one of them!

If the Coca cola/P&G sponsorship angle is true then I hope Sir Bob is making some hefty caviats to ensure that they back up their obvious publicity from this with supporting development projects in the areas concerned.

[SlackAli]

My feelings are that I'm pretty sick of having my conscience decided by other people. Being told I should feel in a certain way about whatever the great and the good decide is the cause of the moment. It' s bad enough when it's the government hitting us with this sanctimonious, hand-wringing - when it's some second rate ex 'rock star' who looks like he sleeps rough, and who is so grotesquely ugly he looks like he should be a waterspout on NotreDame - then it's even worse.

Go back to well-deserved obscurity 'Sir Bob'.

As for the line up the only entertainment most of them will give is if they have heart attacks on stage caused by decades of over-enthusiastic use of the old Colombian marching powder

[lighthouse]

Obviously not a big supporter of ventures like this then! Admittedly there is a certain 'charity fatigue' around these days (a term first used in the period of sequel events after the original one of 1985). The problem is that if these 'stars' didn't get together to do stuff like this and create a dialogue who would? If you've ever supported the work of a charity then there's likely to be a 'celebrity' patron somewhere who has lent their name to it. It's difficult to comment though on a statement about having a conscience decided for you without knowing what the author believes should be done - if anything.

The real point of this isn't so much about the bands/musicians/concert/coverage etc, because that's just the icing on what should be a very large cake that says to governments and CEOs that this can't go on the way it has and something needs to be done about it! The real stars of this show are going to be the thousands of people who do something to help those less fortunate than themselves, the people who don't just succumb to apathy - and most importantly the people who are hopefully going to benefit from all this work. When you see someone who has been empowered by this, who isn't reliant on charity and can fend for themselves that's the living inspiring embodiment of what this sort of thing is out to achieve.

Cocaine use! Yeah - I'd have to agree with that to a point, and the millions spent every year on little bags of powder might be better used to break the impasse of poverty in our own as well as other countries. The celebratocracy is a very strange place with some rather unorthadox values so it's between them and their rehab clinician as to how to address that one.

[SlackAli]

Originally Posted by lighthouse

Obviously not a big supporter of ventures like this then!

'Fraid not. Not big on manufactured compassion, whether its in aid of Africa or the long-overdue 'passing' of a member of the royal family. Just too many deserving causes being sold to us today.

[linskyjack]

Nope--Bob Geldof needs it to give his life meaning.

[lighthouse]

Perhaps a poignant addition to the roster might have been Joan Baez. Not only is she an internationally acclaimed musical icon, and one that made records about poverty in Mexico or the Latino ghettoes of the US, she gave lots of her time doing voluntary work in such places to help out. How many of those playing can you say that about?

I guess an angle in your comment LJ is that he became a KBE because of his work with the Band Aid trust in the 1980s - not really for his music. But then recognition from somewhere for altruistic work isn't a bad thing is it? Admittedly the whole peerage thing does render the person an instant cliche, and I'm sure he'll evoke as much criticism as support over the next few weeks, but even us typing this has meant that half the job has been done in that we're here discussing it!

Unfortunately, manufactured compassion is a symptom of our economy and lifestyles. The 'deserving causes' find themselves having to vie for our awareness and money like any other product or service available on the 'market'. Until we have a thorough change in attitude and the way our society is put together you'll continue to get the good causes approaching you in this way!

[alanmzifa]

i think we do need live 8 .

most of the aid 20 / 30 years ago to africa went on arming despots . major western economies gained hugely from this . giving in one hand and getting back in the other through taxes of arms suppliers and manufacturing . the east and west supported their favourite non-democrats to advance the communist / non-communist agendas . many debts were never serviced hence the accumulating problems .

today's africa is much different , though still not near perfect . most despots like Idi Amin are a distant memory , communism has collapsed and democracy is more widespread in africa . there is still a huge way to go but the conditions to create change are much better than they've ever been .
30,000 people a day die in africa as a result of poverty . read that last sentence again . imagine if 30,000 a day died in america , europe .
western governments cancelling debts gives these african countries' governmments no excuse for not spending the money to benefit their poor whether that be through health , education or micro business development .

our western governments don't need that debt , we can live without it . many in africa won't .

[SlackAli]

Originally Posted by lighthouse

Unfortunately, manufactured compassion is a symptom of our economy and lifestyles. The 'deserving causes' find themselves having to vie for our awareness and money like any other product or service available on the 'market'.

Good point. But like any other commodity, we don't have to buy into it. I've got no objection to people giving money for religious/humanistic reasons - I choose not to give to any charity - but I resent being preached to by someone who attained celebrity status - thus gaining the 'right' to be listened to - through making sub-standard punk-lite records almost 30 years ago.

You could probably throw the GDP of the EU at Africa and it would still be in dire straits in 20 years because climate change is making making many of these countries untenable as habitable areas, before you even start on the problems of corruption and pandemic infection

[Dude044]

I have mixed views about Sir Bob and this venture,mind you if there's a free concert .Having said that i thought Band Aid was a great idea.And i quite liked The Boomtown Rats

[linskyjack]

Originally Posted by lighthouse

Perhaps a poignant addition to the roster might have been Joan Baez. Not only is she an internationally acclaimed musical icon, and one that made records about poverty in Mexico or the Latino ghettoes of the US, she gave lots of her time doing voluntary work in such places to help out. How many of those playing can you say that about?

I guess an angle in your comment LJ is that he became a KBE because of his work with the Band Aid trust in the 1980s - not really for his music. But then recognition from somewhere for altruistic work isn't a bad thing is it? Admittedly the whole peerage thing does render the person an instant cliche, and I'm sure he'll evoke as much criticism as support over the next few weeks, but even us typing this has meant that half the job has been done in that we're here discussing it!

Unfortunately, manufactured compassion is a symptom of our economy and lifestyles. The 'deserving causes' find themselves having to vie for our awareness and money like any other product or service available on the 'market'. Until we have a thorough change in attitude and the way our society is put together you'll continue to get the good causes approaching you in this way!

I just don't see how these concerts really effect structural problems in third-world countries. I think that most people know that the world is primarily poor and that living conditions in many cases are horrible. Maybe people take out a couple of dollars and donate to these organizations as a result of these concerts--so that's okay. In another sense, they do nothing to change anything long term.

[deh]

Philly is going to be packed. That is going to be a traffic nightmare. They are expecting 1 million + at Ben Franklin Parkway.

Best of luck.

[lighthouse]

Just seen an article in the Daily Mirror - wanting the mighty Status Quo to play Live 8.

Y'know, I can't dispute that at all - they wrote the most appropriate record of all time to acompany a global rock n roll extravaganza - "Rockin' all over the world". They are the longest serving band in our musical history and well deserve to play this - on Rock n Roll's 50th birthday. They might not be as huge as the likes of McCartney, Elton or Madonna, or have the arty whimsy of some of the newer bands around now - but they ARE the quintessential UK rock band with a song that sums up the whole event.

Yeah, go on Bob put 'em on!