Reactionary

I hate when things end. Now Live Aid and Croke Park have been and gone. What now? What do I do to fill my days after weeks of concert madness have eased up a bit. It’s a whole month from now until Coldplay’s show in New Jersey and more than two months after that to the U2 shows in October. I had better not want time to go too quickly, either. Because then they’ll play here, I’ll go, I’ll love it, I’ll say embarrassing things and then they’ll be gone and God knows when I’ll see them again. This is why I’m obsessed with taking photographs. Memories fade and combust and disappear.

The crowds of people were the best thing about Live 8 Philadelphia. People sitting on trucks, people shoulder to shoulder down the mile-long Parkway, people cheering. It was a dead crowd compared to what I’ve seen out of outdoor crowds before, but, hey, it was hot and we’re American and don’t like being uncomfortable. A huge percentage of unattractive blokes with tatoos. The venue was nice, though. It held its own against Moscow’s Red Square, Rome’s Circo Massimo, and Paris’ Versailles. London looked plain in comparison… but they won and rolled over everyone with their great crowd and spectacular music.

This is where I get negative and rant: MTV and VH-1 have divested themselves of any last semblance of worth they may have had. All the good VH-1 did themselves with the awesome All Access U2 show is gone. They showed the SAME thing on BOTH channels and most of it was commercials, stupid VJs saying how great it all was, the same spots being shown over and over, and the final insult was quitting out early to go right back to their *pathetic*, intellect-insulting reality TV. WHERE DID THE MUSIC GO? Since they call themselves music television, non-stop concerts all over the world should have thrown them into seizures of bliss. They should have had a field day. Instead, the day was treated with the grudging obedience schoolchildren grant their homework. Live 8 was tossed aside like last night’s whore once the sun started going down over the eastern seaboard. It was disgusting and how they cut off songs about 30 seconds into the performances was the last straw. They should be showing footage they couldn’t understandably show yesterday due to concurrent venues right now, but they’re not. Both stations are running their moronic shows for the vacuous and idiotic.

Back to the actual show. I only stayed for part of the show, but Bon Jovi was actually good and I’m not quite old enough to have been a fan of his back in the day. “Livin’ on Prayer” actually rocked a bit. The Black-Eyed Peas were okay. The sound in general was pretty muddy and it was hard to hear what anyone actually SAID. Since we couldn’t see what was happening, it was a bit of a mess. But there’s no use in complaining. Being there was the whole point. They say a million came out and then were gone when it was done with little fanfare. Well done, Philadelphia, despite your laziness and constant whining.

The stream from London made me jealous of Brits. U2 was of course unbelievable. And they say the sun actually did break out of the clouds when they hit the stage and ducked again when they left. The person who said this could be imagining things, but I can’t doubt it. I’ve seen it happen. Madonna, or what we saw, was awesome and she looked both cool and classy with her white suit. I wish I look like her when/ if I’m 46. Coldplay, I’ve only heard snippets tossed at me by the pathetically stupid American media. “In My Place” sounds great and I hope someday I may hear their collaboration with Richard Ashcroft in “Bittersweet Symphony”. I know the Killers, Snow Patrol, and Travis played but I have no idea what they played and how it sounded since it hasn’t been relayed to me. I know the bigger point of all this is Africa and justice (I wanted to hug Bono when he said that… I know I wanna hug him all the time but moreso then), but music mattered just a little, too. Pink Floyd was kind of cool and Sir Paul continues to be awesome and I’m not someone who worships the Beatles with the kind of godlike reverence granted by distance and an early end.

If I had been in London, it would have been a day I’d never forget. As it was, I was at Eakin’s Oval and the memories will stick around though I think the negative will hang about just as long.

Posted on July 3rd, 2005 under Life, News, Tunes •  Print •  Email • RSS 2.0 feed • Both comments and pings are currently closed