Geldof and His Exercise in Self-Congratulation -- You Go Italians!
The Italians got it right. A bunch of over-privileged, overpaid, spoiled brats get to show off and tell the world how wonderful they are. If they really gave a shit about the poor, they'd be building full-service dormitories on their country estates so the homeless would have places to live.
Geldof chides Italian stars for Live 8 apathy - Yahoo! UK & Ireland News
Wednesday June 22, 11:35 AM
Geldof chides Italian stars for Live 8 apathy
ROME (Reuters) - Bob Geldof told Italy's rock stars on Tuesday there was no excuse to miss the Rome stage of the Live 8 concert next month, as some of the country's top acts hesitated over playing "the biggest concert of your life".
Rome will host a huge free concert in the Circus Maximus -- the ancient Roman chariot race track -- on July 2, one of eight events around the world aimed at focusing the world's attention on poverty reduction, but some big stars are wavering.
Vasco Rossi, possibly Italy's most popular rock singer, has pulled out of the concert where he had been due to top the bill, saying it clashes with another gig he is due to play in Ancona, on the other side of the Italian peninsula.
Another singer demanded more information on what the gig is about before agreeing to appear.
"Vasco is a great star, a really great, great artist, and I think he should be on that stage," Geldof, the organiser of the event, told a news conference in Rome.
"Where's Vasco? Vasco where are you? We want Vasco. We need Vasco," he said, to spontaneous applause from Italian reporters.
Geldof said many of other acts were juggling their schedules to play at one of the eight Live 8 concerts being staged ahead of the Group of Eight (G8) in Scotland on July 6-8.
U2, Coldplay, Elton John, REM and Green Day are all playing their own concerts on July 2 -- many in different countries -- and still plan to perform at Live 8, Geldof said.
"He's not going to lose his voice," he said. "He only has to sing two songs."
Unlike in Britain, where Live 8 has received massive publicity, it has been barely mentioned by Italian media.
Singer Lorenzo Jovanotti, another household name in Italian pop who has performed in the past to campaign against poverty, said he would not agree to play Live 8 until he got more information about the Rome concert.
Geldof said Jovanotti was right to want to find out more about the event and said he would speak to him personally.
Geldof, who organised the 1985 Live Aid concert in London and Philadelphia, has drawn some of the world's best known acts to play at the concerts, even persuading Britain's feud-riven Pink Floyd to reunite for the first time in 24 years.
Geldof got the idea of inviting the line-up that created Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall to reform after he read an interview on the Internet with drummer Nick Mason.
"He said the only reason he could stand to get the band back together would be a new Live Aid," Geldof said.
"It's bad enough to force a divorced man and wife to get back together ... This is four people with four divorces."
Geldof said any pop act should leap at the chance to play Live 8 as it would be an historical event, but that he would not be performing himself.
"I would love to play on that stage, but as an artist I don't deserve to, so I am not going to," he said. Geldof's solo career has never reached the success he had as frontman for the Boomtown Rats which split in the 1980s.
As well as Rome, Live 8 will be held in London, Paris, Berlin, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Toronto and Johannesburg. An organiser for the Italian event said the global show would open in London with U2 and Paul McCartney performing together. Click link here to check this out!
Geldof chides Italian stars for Live 8 apathy - Yahoo! UK & Ireland News
Wednesday June 22, 11:35 AM
Geldof chides Italian stars for Live 8 apathy
ROME (Reuters) - Bob Geldof told Italy's rock stars on Tuesday there was no excuse to miss the Rome stage of the Live 8 concert next month, as some of the country's top acts hesitated over playing "the biggest concert of your life".
Rome will host a huge free concert in the Circus Maximus -- the ancient Roman chariot race track -- on July 2, one of eight events around the world aimed at focusing the world's attention on poverty reduction, but some big stars are wavering.
Vasco Rossi, possibly Italy's most popular rock singer, has pulled out of the concert where he had been due to top the bill, saying it clashes with another gig he is due to play in Ancona, on the other side of the Italian peninsula.
Another singer demanded more information on what the gig is about before agreeing to appear.
"Vasco is a great star, a really great, great artist, and I think he should be on that stage," Geldof, the organiser of the event, told a news conference in Rome.
"Where's Vasco? Vasco where are you? We want Vasco. We need Vasco," he said, to spontaneous applause from Italian reporters.
Geldof said many of other acts were juggling their schedules to play at one of the eight Live 8 concerts being staged ahead of the Group of Eight (G8) in Scotland on July 6-8.
U2, Coldplay, Elton John, REM and Green Day are all playing their own concerts on July 2 -- many in different countries -- and still plan to perform at Live 8, Geldof said.
"He's not going to lose his voice," he said. "He only has to sing two songs."
Unlike in Britain, where Live 8 has received massive publicity, it has been barely mentioned by Italian media.
Singer Lorenzo Jovanotti, another household name in Italian pop who has performed in the past to campaign against poverty, said he would not agree to play Live 8 until he got more information about the Rome concert.
Geldof said Jovanotti was right to want to find out more about the event and said he would speak to him personally.
Geldof, who organised the 1985 Live Aid concert in London and Philadelphia, has drawn some of the world's best known acts to play at the concerts, even persuading Britain's feud-riven Pink Floyd to reunite for the first time in 24 years.
Geldof got the idea of inviting the line-up that created Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall to reform after he read an interview on the Internet with drummer Nick Mason.
"He said the only reason he could stand to get the band back together would be a new Live Aid," Geldof said.
"It's bad enough to force a divorced man and wife to get back together ... This is four people with four divorces."
Geldof said any pop act should leap at the chance to play Live 8 as it would be an historical event, but that he would not be performing himself.
"I would love to play on that stage, but as an artist I don't deserve to, so I am not going to," he said. Geldof's solo career has never reached the success he had as frontman for the Boomtown Rats which split in the 1980s.
As well as Rome, Live 8 will be held in London, Paris, Berlin, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Toronto and Johannesburg. An organiser for the Italian event said the global show would open in London with U2 and Paul McCartney performing together. Click link here to check this out!
posted by Ambimom at 9:15 AM
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