In four short days, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway will be serving as venue for one of the biggest events to hit town since I’ve lived here.
Live 8 is more than a concert, it is a way for artists/musicians/people of note to use their power as celebrities to call attention to the number of children who die as a result of extreme poverty, every day. It is attempting to be a wake up call to the political leaders who will be convening in Scotland for the G8 Summit.
I feel like people in Philly aren’t perceiving that way, though. Many I talk to are expressing frustration at having their city shut down for the day. They are bemoaning the fact that the performers in London are better/more interesting than the ones in Philly. They are seeing it as just another large, outdoor concert happening in Center City over the 4th of July weekend. But it’s not just another concert. It is an opportunity to be a part of a global community that cares deeply for the health and wellbeing of all humanity.
People can care about global heath and well being without going to a concert with Bon Jovi and Maroon 5. Or Pink Floyd (still upset about that).
I personally plan on avoiding the museum area and watching televised recasts or something.
I personally have no interest in spending time out in the hot humid with other hot humid sweaty people, just to listen to maroon 5 play their version of music in the great outdoors.
i just hope the bars on 2nd and market are open.
Hi Marissa,
I jog by the Art Museum several times a week from my apartment at 21st and South, and am going to enjoy watching the event preparation. I may photoblog some, but I can’t say whether I will be attending the actual concert. I’m concerned by the predictions cited on the Philadelphia Futures blog http://www.phillyfuture.org/node/1030> that the space of the Parkway isn’t going to accommodate the anticipated crowds.
As a humanitarian, I certainly support the causes that are inspiring and driving this event. My fervent hope is that many attendees and viewers will be inspired to research, and as a result perceive more clearly the continuing power of the West in today’s viscious economic arrangements.
viscous or vicious?
Oh, the whole “public health and wellbeing” arguement is bullshit.
99% of the people out there aren’t going to give money to the cause; they just want free music. Those who really care about investing money in charitiy are the type who are going to avoid this for one reason or another. Going will maybe express my solidarity with the “cause”, but that’s questionable.
Live8 has fallen into a familiar activist trap. The idea is simple: Make big, sweeping gestures with no real point or way to enact it.
It’s really pointless to get a million people to say “YES! I’m anti-hunger in Africa!” without having a means to achieve that end. If we could get a million people to donate $2 to a fund that would actually work to end poverty, then we’d actually have something going. But as it stands, it’s just a meaningless gesture of “solidarity” because it’s more a social thing than anything else.
Wow. My first comment, and I wrote you a novel. I’m suzanne from the Philly Metblog, btw. Hi.
Wow, didn’t think I was stirring up such controversy. I guess I tend to be an idealist, so the original intent of Live 8 appeals to me. However, I am the one who is all excited about taking a vodka watermelon down to the parkway for the concert, so who am I really to talk.
Thanks for all the comments, though.
stop complaining about phili’s line up…HAVE YOU SEEN TORONTO’S?! the best we got is celine dion…VIA SATELITE! HA!
hey, point taken about Toronto. You guys kind of got the shaft.
No, no, they don’t even have “SHAFT! Diggachickadiggachickadiggachickabowchickabownow”
Personally I like some of Celine’s work. But an entire concert of her? Don’t think so.