Return of the Dick

So...Live 8. Did you watch? Did you go? Well, I watched a lot of it, mostly thanks to the magic of DVR (so I could go read the NME, work on some tunes, and get my hair "done"), and it was very, well, BIG, as in grand. I'm gonna just run through the stuff i actually DID see that I liked. First off, the original was better in terms of organization because this thing was so huge that you couldn't see everyone (did you even KNOW Pet Shop Boys were headlining the Moscow portion of the show? Did you even know there WAS a Moscow event? I sure didn't till Mattagement told me, which is his job of course). So basically, I didn't get to see acts I very much wanted to see like The Cure, Bjork, Placebo, Muse, Robbie, the Durans (I saw one song on the web and they were great), and who the hell else knows. Fucking MTV and VH1 are so stupid, they showed the same thing on each channel when they could have shown different things through the day. Stupid.

Anyhow, here are my ten random musings on Live 8:

1. U2 with Macca doing Sgt Peppers. I did enjoy this geezer shit. Solid.

2. U2. Biggest band in the world on the biggest stage in the world. It's good to see the Bono match the music to his mouth cause they are the one band that seem to get better with each larger crowd they play to. You know how you want to see big bands in small venues? I would never want to see u2 at Irving Plaza. I want to see them play to billions and own it like they do.

3. I don't like Green Day all that much. However, after seeing them on the Berlin show, I understand now why they are so huge. They are true stadium punk. Incredible energy.

4. Have you seen these "One.Org" commercials where a lot of famous people wear white and snap their fingers every three seconds cause someone dies every three seconds? Powerful, important stuff and while I understand that its for a good cause, seeing Damon the anus from Blur back to back with Susan Sarandon in the commercial is a bit too surreal for me. But to top it off, before showing the handsome Brad Pitt to end the commercial on a strong note, they show a NON white clad Mister Noel Gallagher, snapping his fingers in the most unbelievably unconvincing way. Noel was so obviously guilted into doing this by Lord Bono Himself after saying "Well, sorry mate we can't play your little show to billions of people cause we have a gig in Manchester that night" and being told by Bono "well so do we pal, in fucking Vienna and we're still doing the gig WITH Macca no less" that a defeated Chief probably said, in pure father of Thompson Blake style, "FINE" and did whatever the Lord Bono Himself asked. I'm sure they tried to get Liam, but I doubt he could snap his fingers, let alone count the three seconds. Anyhow, look for this commerical.

5. Madonna, supposedly British, supposedly "done", came on, didn't lip sync and quite honestly tore the place down. I couldn't believe it. She looks like someone's hot mom who works out too much and then occasionally busted out a dance move that informed us that yeah this is the Material Girl who we all have secretly lusted after at some point or another. Yeah that last album kinda blew, but the woman can kick it. Stop acting (British), start performing again, Madge.

6. Floyd was awesome but Roger Waters, seemingly wearing my dad's regulation weekend denim ensemble, just seemed too happy to be there. It was a stark contrast to the bleak and excellent music. It's a shame their music gets so associated with stoners and all that stupid 70's shit cause these songs sound sick even now. Waters shoulda sang more, but I don't think Gilmour is ready to give everything up just yet. It was an excellent reunion, if just a tad too happy. However, I would see a tour with these guys for sure.

7. George Michael came up to do some Beatles with Macca and frankly George shoulda gotten his own set. He should have grabbed Andy and done some WHAM! Seriously. I know the day was for a good cause and all that shit, but George should have taken advantage of this platform to re-establish himself as one of the best songwriter/performers of his generation. He is.

8. Will Smith has the potential in 20 years time to be the first black president of the United States. I'm serious.

9. I missed Elton and Pete Doherty as the US just doesn't know or give a shit about such a collaboration. Not sure I do either. I watched Babyshambles ast Glasto and boy was I undewhlemed. Hope Peter has Carl's # in his speedial still. He might need it.

10. It was awesome seeing Mr. William Rieflin performing at Live 8. Still handsome, still an excellent drummer, but man do I miss his old blog, which in fact inspired the creation of the blog you are reading right now.

Ok so those are my ten thoughts on Live 8. HOWEVER, the single greatest moment of the day and quite possibly the single greatest musical moment of the YEAR was when Coldplay brought out the legendary RICHARD ASHCROFT out to perform his greatest hit, BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY and my god tears flowed down my face as I watched this lunatic/genius show these bedwetters how it's fucking DONE. It was like literally seeing someone you love come back from the dead as Dickie, as we lovingly call him, destroyed everyone and everything in his path just based on sheer emotion. Sure, we have given him some shit in his post-Verve years and have probably unfairly compared his music to his previous bands, but if yesterday proved one thing, that this man is a very special performer who deserves the spotlight yet again. He made Chris Martin look like a fucking amateur. And I loved it. And as I mentioned above with George Michael, I hope Dickie can ride this wave so he can remain an important part of our musical lives. I love this man. I hope his new album can live up to the high expectations I now have for it.

Sure, yesterday will be remembered for a lot of things, but I'll always remember it, even if it was just for one day, as the day Dickie rocked it like the Legend he deserves to be known as.

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