While this does not really count as a movie, it is so much of a great viewing experience that I cannot but write an entry on it in the Cine-Blog. I remember than in mid-July of 1985, there was a devillish Saturday when simultaneously the great street beer festival in the next-door town, our own prom ball as the highlight of the dancing lesosns AND the “Bob Geldorf mutates from a one-hot-wonder to a one-idea-world-saviour” festival took place. The apparent solution was not to the amusement of the lady who was my partner for the ball: i.e. I did stay at the ball for two hours, went home to change the tape of the video recorder, went to the street festival, got drunk, went back to the ball, was surprised to find her dancing with another guy, and backed off considerably annoyed by “women” (in general). The lasting memory, however, was the tape of the Live Aid concert, with these outstanding performances by Dire Straits, Queen, and (above all) StingBranfordMarsallisPhilCollins (how do you write B.M.’s name? No clue). Back then, I had basically all mny favourites in the Wembley performances, nurturing the idea that the US has not produced any decent music since…when was it that Bo Diddley died? Revisiting the concert today, however, makes me think that this may have been due to the fact that I must have missed the part of the concert after Wembley had turned off the lights amost completely. There are indeed some amazing performances (Patti LaBelle – never saw her before, I swear!), and definitely some hilariously funny stunts: who should belive in live being fair when Mick Jagger may rub his crotch Tina Turner’s belly, while Keith Richards and Ron Wood have to stand around next to Bob Dylan, being forced to perform actions way beyond their talent (i.e. play the guitar) and be the most gruesomely unskilled background choir for somebody who is the most gruesomely unskilled forground singer (whom I love, see the entry on “No Direction home”!). And I still have to find out how these people turn up miraculously who were never part of the show but end up standing in the front line for the showdown (most prominently Harry Belafonte?).
The DVD box contains Live 8 2005 – even through I am only halfway through, Will Smith already made my day: “With all them celebrities around, let’s get one thing straight – Philly is Who’s House?” – “Will’s House!”
Postscriptum: part of my puzzlement has been resolved through Amazon.com’s eager customers: 85 Songs, meaning around 6 hours of music, have not been included for various reasons … but still: what about Belafonte…???
thomas4cinema 