Live 8 Edinburgh - The Final Push

When you have grown up in a small village you are used to that nothing ever happens of any significance in aforementioned place. All the 'real' stuff happens in the big cities, e.g. Live Aid gigs.

So naturally I was very excited when we got the tickets for the Edinburgh concert. When the gig list first came out though I was really disappointed with the line-up, no really big names like they had in London, like Pink Floyd or Madonna. Thought I'd go anyway now I have tickets and also thought of Sod's Law that if I don't go everybody who was there will tell me next day how good it was.
And am I glad I went !
Nicely warmed up by my G+T in a Strathmore plastic bottle and a tad stoned inhaling (involuntarily!) somebody else's hash smoke (that must have been one hell of a joint or maybe I am just more sensitive nowadays !) Lise (Rick preferred to work in France...) and I watched the likes of Texas, Travis, Youssou N'Dour, Annie Lennox and the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown ! The Africans 'One Giant Leap' made me dig out the DVD of the same name out again, listening to it right now !!!

There were lot's of others I wasn't tooo bothered about, and also a string of hosts, Eddi Izzard was great, Lenny Hendrie too...
Annie Lennox sang a very moving 'Redemption Song' and read out a statement which had me fighting the tears. Respect.
Before the James-Brown-fix, the Geldof/Bono speeches. I liked Geldof's words especially , here an excerpt:

"...Tonight is the ceremony of life, tonight is the denial of the carnival of death that we see paraded across our TV screens. Tonight is the denial of the pornography of poverty that's played out nightly in our living rooms.. If tonight was full of noise then on Friday there will be a great silence across the world while we await the verdict of eight men." .... "If we are going to be denied then let us tell them this - having engaged in the political process, should you fail we will not be cynical, we will bide our time and when you come to us and ask for your approval at the ballot box, fuck off!"

Not that I believe that last nights gig has changed much if anything on a big scale, but the more often these events happen the better, slowly slowly it will burn an awarenesse in all our heads that the African situation is intolerable and needs doing something about. Call me a dreamer?


Some photos here.