Politics, not pockets

BOB Geldof might not like the comparison, but the truth is the former rock star can turn a soundbite as neatly as any politician.

"There is more than a chance that the boys and girls with guitars finally get to tilt the world on its axis," the foul-mouthed former Boomtown Rats frontman declared.

Twenty years ago, Live Aid - held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium and the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia - did just that.

Some of the music itself may not have been that great - couldn't someone have penned a better tune than the awful Do They Know It's Christmas? - but there's no denying it was a world-shaking event.

The musical extravaganza attracted a worldwide audience of 1.4 billion people. Geldof himself became a scruffy international icon - Saint Bob, the world's conscience, a man whose sheer bloody-mindedness shamed the globe into recognising the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Ethiopia - and the event raised a staggering £40 million for famine relief.

Now Saint Bob wants to do it all again. But this time, it will be all about politics, not raising money.

Five free Live 8 concerts will be taking place around the globe on July 2 - at Hyde Park, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Circus Maximus in Rome and a venue in Philadelphia.

Hundreds of thousands of music fans will attend, and the concerts are expected to be watched by a global TV audience running into the billions.

The key thing about the concerts, however, is their timing. They take place just days before the G8 summit of world leaders at Gleneagles in Scotland from July 6-8. They will be followed, if all goes to plan, by a mass rally in Edinburgh on July 6 the day the G8 summit begins.

And Geldof, who has made no secret of what he seeks to achieve, hopes that up to one million people will descend on the city. He wants to pressurise the leaders of the world's richest nations into dropping Third World debt.

Political justice, not money, is what Live 8 is all about. The tragedy for Africa is that, in the past couple of decades, it is the only continent in the world that has actually got poorer. Since Live Aid in 1985, the African economy has shrunk by a quarter, Geldof said.

"The result of that is that we see people dying on TV screens every night.

"This Live 8 is to finally, as much as we can, put a stop to that. It seemed to me that we could gather again, not for charity but for political justice."

Between them, the five concerts will feature many of the biggest names in world music.

In London's Hyde Park, those peforming will include Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Dido, Keane, Sir Elton John, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Muse, the Scissor Sisters, Sir Paul McCartney, Joss Stone, Stereophonics, Sting, Snoop, Robbie Williams, U2 and REM.

Will Smith, the Dave Matthews Band, Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, Puff Daddy and Jay-Z will be among those taking to the stage in Philadelphia, while in Berlin A-Ha, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Lauryn Hill and Brian Wilson will be appearing.

The concert in Rome will feature musicians such as Faith Hill and Duran Duran, while in Paris Jamiroquai, Craig David, Youssou N'Dour and Yannick Noah will be among those taking part.

But will this gathering of musical talent really be able to tilt the world on its axis? Or will world leaders simply turn a deaf ear?

Many of the super-rich megastars taking part may only be doing so because they feel guilty about the lifestyle they lead, admits Chris Helme, frontman of York band The Yards. "They are scoring some God points," he says.

That doesn't detract from the value and importance of what they are doing, however. "At the end of the day, it is a good cause," he says. "And anybody who makes an effort, makes a difference."

The 33-year-old singer admits he had some doubts about the original Live Aid - not about the value of staging the event, but about the way in which the money raised was used.

Since Live 8 isn't a fundraising event, that shouldn't be an issue this time around. And in many ways Chris believes ordinary people listen more to entertainers nowadays than to politicians.

So if Live 8 can raise awareness about the problems of Third World poverty and the need for debt relief, that will be good, he says. But as for whether the politicians themselves will take any notice - "I don't know," Chris says.

"I have a feeling they will think it is a bunch of court jesters who are trying to advise them."

Fibbers boss Tim Hornsby vividly remembers the original Live Aid 20 years ago. He ran a Bridlington pub back then. "It was something really revolutionary," he says. "No one had ever done anything quite like it before. It was a wonderful day, and it raised millions and millions of pounds for people that hadn't got anything."

And yet inspite of all that passion, that compassion, that commitment, Africa is poorer today than it was then. So does Tim really think that music has the power to change anything?

Music certainly speaks to more people than politics does, he says. It has the power to lift your spirits, encapsulate your feelings, make you care more about your fellow man. But does it have the power to move politicians? Tim fears not. "If a huge live concert could change Third World debt, then I would like that to happen," he says. "But I'm sceptical."

The only thing that would move politicians, he believes, is the fear of losing their jobs. If Live 8 was able to spark off a huge groundswell of public outrage, a mass movement along the lines of the one that toppled the Berlin Wall, then something might happen. If not, he thinks the world's politicians will probably be able to ride it out.

Poet, radio funnyman and musician Rory Motion is inclined to agree - but he backs Geldof and Live 8 for at least giving it a go.

The problem with the world today, Rory says, is that it is essentially run by glorified accountants. That is what the world leaders meeting in Gleneagles really are, he says.

As such, they are likely to be very hard-headed, and unlikely to take much notice of a bunch of musicians.

Which doesn't mean those musicians shouldn't try. Rory himself visited Malawi and Mozambique in 2002, and saw for himself the toll that debt and unfair trading practices were having on the African continent. Crippling debt burdens mean that African countries are paying us twice as much in interest as we pay them in 'aid', Rory says. And so-called 'free trade' laws are stacked against Third World countries in a way that makes it very difficulty for them to compete.

He saw the consequences for himself. "It was very disheartening," he says. "The people of Malawi and Mozambique are very resourceful, very smart. They don't want handouts. But the whole trade system is stacked against them."

If anything can draw attention to the problem, however, it just might be a Live 8-style concert, Rory says. Entertainers are the priests of the 21st century, he says.

They have massive power to influence public opinion.

At its worst, showbiz can result in a horrible 'dumbing down' - just look at Celebrity Love Island. At its best, however, it can make people think.

So, even though some rock stars can get "a bit above themselves", there is no doubt that what they are trying to do its good.

But will it work? Will the G8 leaders listen?

"You've got to believe they can listen," Rory says. "You've got to have a go."

Updated: 11:13 Wednesday, June 01, 2005