PHILADELPHIA – People pushed, crammed and distorted their bodies Saturday afternoon as more than a million pop music fans, activists, gawkers and media personnel attempted to make their way to the steps of Philadelphia’s Art Museum – the stage for America’s version of the global LIVE 8 concert.
LIVE 8 Philadelphia joined 8 other LIVE 8 concerts all over the world to bring attention to Africa’s poverty issues. The goal of the LIVE 8 concerts was to persuade the leaders of the eight wealthiest nations to remove Africa’s debt, increase aid to the continent and improve fair trade. The concerts were strategically scheduled four days before the eight leaders are to meet in Scotland for the G-8 summit to discuss these issues.
Philadelphia’s free concert started at noon, but by 10 a.m. began to look like a mix of American patriotism and global unity, with flags from across the world hung from every light post lining the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
By noon the crowd was excited, irritated, hot and ready to explode. When Will Smith, a Philadelphia native and host of the event, took the stage the crowd erupted. Smith spoke for several minutes about Africa’s poverty and then explained to the crowd that every three seconds someone dies of hunger. Smith asked the crowd to join him and celebrities on a video in snapping their fingers every three seconds to symbolize those who have died as a result of starvation.
When Smith was finished, The Black Eyed Peas took the stage. The Black Eyed Peas opened the concert with a dose of social awareness and high-spirited energy. The band asked the crowd to learn more about AIDS and to “please have a heart.”
After his set, the concert lulled, but roughly ten minutes later Chris Tucker took the stage and introduced Destiny’s Child to screams of excitement by the crowd. Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle brought back part of the energy that The Black Eyed Peas had started the concert with and Bon Jovi and its fans had killed with his loud, sweat-drenched performance. The three ladies owned the stage exuding individuality, strength and sexuality.
Kanye West took the stage somewhat defiantly yet with extreme reverence for the moment. Of all the performances made by young performers his was the most sincere. When a female audience member shouted that she loved him, West looked down at her and said, “I love you, too” sending the crowd into laughter and applause. After a few songs West spoke of the severity of the problems in Africa and asked everyone to help as much as they can. He then finished his performance with a brilliant version of his hit “Jesus Walks” accompanied by a full string ensemble.
Perhaps it was West’s sincerity and seriousness of his act that hindered the next performance or perhaps it was the sheer absurdity of the next actor. Either way when Smith made his way onto the stage it marked the beginning of the corniest performance of the day.
As the theme from “Rocky” blared, Smith was carried on a throne by four men across the stage. If this was not idiotic and self-indulgent enough the music quickly turned off and several dancers made their way onto the stage playing bongos as the speakers blared Smith’s voice shouting the words, “The champ is here.”
The parade of banality continued as Smith introduced his long-time friend and fellow Philly native DJ Jazzy Jeff as his disc jockey. Starting off with “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and his new song “Switch,” in which a drum line accompanied Smith on stage, the show quickly went sour. After hamming it up for the crowd for a little longer Smith performed “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Theme” and finished with one of his oldest hits “Summertime.”
Smith’s performance was a downer but the worst was still to come – performances by Coldplay and Madonna from LIVE 8 London. Though these were entertaining they weren’t live and therefore just felt like watching television. After the glorified music videos were done, several Philadelphia Eagles football players took the stage, much to the pleasure of the home crowd, to introduce country music star Toby Keith. Keith’s performance was simple and quick. Shooting off three songs in under 20 minutes his performance helped to dissolve the bad memories that went along with Smith’s set. Keith’s no-nonsense act included “Whiskey Girl,” “Stays In Mexico” and “Beer For My Horses.”
The sudden resurgence of interest was quickly destroyed however when it took Dave Matthews Band an eternity to take the stage, supposedly because of “technical difficulties.” Once the band did take the stage, its show was filled with such an indifference that the giant balloons being knocked around the crowd drew more attention. Even the usual Dave Matthews Band friendly crowds seemed dissapointed by the show. The performance left the concert practically dead for Alicia Keys and Kaiser Chiefs who tried their best, but couldn’t get the crowd out of the funk. Luckily for the LIVE 8 crowd the most exciting show of the day was only minutes away.
When Jennifer Connelly took the stage to introduce the next act, the crowd was so indifferent that the most she could get out of the sun baking mass was a muffled cheer. When she finally introduced Linkin Park, the muffled cheer had fallen to a subtle applause. Within moments of taking the stage Linkin Park launched into a high-energy set that included hits such as “Crawling,” “Somewhere I Belong” and “In The End.” Linkin Park provided the rush of emotion that the concert had been missing. The set was intense, edgy and reached the audience like no one else. That is until Linkin Park was joined on stage by Jay-Z who took the concert as his own and changed the show from intense to nearly sublime.
Jay-Z controlled the stage and the crowd. He and Linkin Park launched into “Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You” followed by a spectacular version of “Big Pimpin’/Papercut” The hip hop/rock duo stayed on stage for several more songs, performing more singles off of their collaborative album “Collision Course.” The show, by far the longest of the day, was what the concert needed. Linkin Park’s energy combined with Jay-Z’s command of an audience created the best show of the day leaving everyone in the crowd demanding an encore.
The only problem with the show was that it was in the middle of the concert making it almost impossible for anyone to follow, especially Def Leppard who came on minutes later. Leppard kept its show quick and sweet by literally playing a few songs including “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
After a video feed of Sir Elton John playing “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” and an introduction by Kami, the HIV positive muppet from the South Africa’s version of “Sesame Street”, Jars of Clay played a quick set punctuated by its hit “Flood.”
Later in the concert, as Philadelphia firefighters hooked their fire trucks up to fire hydrants so that they could spray down hot crowd members, Sarah McLachlan took the stage and performed a short set including a duet version of “Angel,” with Josh Groban.
After another video feed, this time of Dido, Maroon 5 played a short set that involved hits and a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
Following Maroon 5, the concert began to slow. Keith Urban took the stage with a rather forgettable set (with the exception of his opening selection, a cover of Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom”). After Urban, Rob Thomas took the stage and performed a so-so set. This, however, was all leading up to the finale, a crowd-inspiring set by Stevie Wonder. Wonder even asked Thomas and Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine on stage so that they could sing “Sign, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.”
As the day concluded and more than a million people made their way home, volunteers and sanitation officials were left with a mess so large that it would probably take another benefit concert, this time on pollution control, to get enough people to clean it up.
