LIVE 8 Concert in JHB – Mixed feelings about Africa’s role
Latest update – MADIBA will be there – it’s from 12 noon till 7:30pm.
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We just drove past Newtown where they’re setting up the event – the stage is HUGE – wonder how much that cost! Anyway – it remains to be seen if this concert will be a success and if it will draw as many people and have the same vibe as the YOUTH DAY concert – we will drive by and check i…
t out. The bonus of this venue is that you can drive on the M2 highway and look down on the concert and get a fantastic view. Buzz around the concert seems to be a bit slow – maybe that’ cause they only put it together over the last few days and the black n white posters have only just gone up. Well the Youth Day concert was incredible and we wish them the same attendance – we love a freebie!
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Another UPDATE – it seems there are mixed feelings around this event. You can’t please everyone all of the time! Thanks to Keralanext.com for this info:
The Live 8 rock concerts highlighting Africa’s woes should have been staged in the world’s poorest continent with global stars performing alongside local acts, organisers of the Johannesburg gig said on Tuesday.
Nine Live 8 gigs featuring top acts like U2, Elton John and Madonna will be held on July 2, but critics have lambasted Irish rocker Bob Geldof, mastermind of Live 8, for shunning African stars in an event meant to underline the continent’s problems.
“If we had a collaboration with these European and U.S. stars, if we stood on stage with them, that would have had a bigger impact,” said South African star Zola, who will perform at a concert in Johannesburg endorsed by Live 8 on Saturday.
“It would have been nice for them to come here… they need to see the real Africa,” he told reporters.
Live 8 organisers, under pressure to mount an African effort, approached local campaigners at the 11th hour to suggest a local concert with a link to the bigger gigs.
Hassen Lorgat, South Africa spokesman for the Global Call to Action against Poverty, one of the organising groups, said he was thrilled Africa would be given the global exposure that comes with being affiliated to Live 8, but said he would have done things differently if he had been in Geldof’s shoes.
“Sometimes he worries about the prize, so the idea is to raise the maximum amount of funds. Geldof is not a bad guy, but I would do it differently,” he told a news conference.
There is a chance that former South African President and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela might appear at the Johannesburg concert, although this had not been confirmed, organisers said.
The Live 8 gigs will call for more aid for Africa, debt cancellation and fairer trade ahead of a July 6-8 meeting of the G8 group of seven industrialised nations and Russia in Scotland.
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An Update on the concert – it’s at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown on Saturday Morning 2 July – it is linked LIVE to the rest of the concerts around the world.
Stars performing here at home:
Mali’s Oumou Sangare, Senegal’s Orchestra Baobab, and South African performers Malaika, Zola and Mahotella Queens.
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You may have heard about the LIVE 8 concert being held simultaneously around the world in major cities like London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin and Rome… It’s in AID of AIDS in AFRICA and ironically enough not only was there only one African performer, but of course no concert was being held here….Smacks of 46664 in Fancourt don’t you think?
Due to pressure from around the world, the fantastic breaking news (thanks Noxyrsox) is that a concert will now be held in Johannesburg and African prformers will be included in the concert! It’s time for us to REPRESENT people!
Then again, according to newspaper reports the South African band that will be performing is “Shikisha” , please enlighten us, who on earth are they? Let’s hope that here in Joburg our latest and greatest artists will represent.
We think it must be on the 2nd July if it’s simultaneous to the overseas concerts – but we wait for an official announcement here at home.
