I’m at the Live8 concert in Hyde Park in London. Andy had a spare ticket and kindly invited me along. I bet he’s regretting it now: he has to listen to my curmudgeony whining all day.
So here I am. Madonna is warbling away in the background while I make use of some internet-enabled laptops provided by AOL.
The logistics of the day so far have been less than impressive. Andy and I queued up for over an hour outside Hyde Park and we moved less than 100 metres. Then suddenly, as the concert started, it became a free-for-all, with everyone running down the street towards some kind of entrance. We made it in eventually but we missed U2 and Coldplay.
Never mind… we’ve been entertained by the likes of Snoop Dizzle and UB40. I tell ya, this event might make me optimistic about the chances of making difference in world politics, but it makes me very depressed about the music scene.
By the way, I’m now convinced that Coldplay, Travis and Keane are actually the same band.
At this stage, we’re just waiting around for Pink Floyd. I’m sure they won’t play until it gets a bit darker so I’ll have to suffer through Mariah Carey and Robbie Williams before then.
I’m not looking forward to getting back to Victoria station later: apparently there are going to be crowd control measures in place. Sounds like fun.
Well, Madonna has finished entertaing us with her unique brand of Kaballistic pop. Maybe I’ll queue up for a very dodgy hamburger and await the next act.
Anyway, it’s not about the music. Which kind of makes wonder why I’m here, listening to some very average acts.
Wait… they just made an announcement that things are running late. Now the show is expected to finish at 10:30 (two and a half hours behind schedule). I’m not sure I can hold out that long.