Live 8
Red Elvises Contribute To a World Event
By Kayt
By now I’m sure everyone has heard about the Live 8 concerts, a series of world-changing
concerts in nine locations around the world, all of which took place on July 2, 2005 as part
of a global drive to pressure the G8 leaders to cancel debt, boost aid and free up trade in
Africa. These concerts, in Moscow, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Philadelphia, Toronto, Tokyo
and Johannesburg, were the kick-off of and effort called The Long Walk to Justice to help
bring relief to poverty stricken nations in Africa. It was put together initially by three
people: Bono of U2, Richard Curtis, a leading British scriptwriter and Bob Geldof who
conceptualized and organized the original Live Aid concert in 1985 to help provide food and
other essentials of life to famine-stricken Africans.
Television coverage in the U.S. focused mainly on the Philadelphia and London performers but
many talented and giving artists participated all over the world, including our own Red Elvises
who were among those participating in Moscow. The Russian portion of the Live 8 effort was
pulled together in days just two weeks before the concert date after Russia became the eighth
of the G8 nations to agree to host a Live 8 event. The timing turned out to be just right for
Red Elvises, who were scheduled to be in Russia for their tour at the time. Other artists
performing there, on a stage set up at the entrance to Red Square, close to Moscow’s famed
Saint Basil’s Cathedral near the red-bricked walls of the Kremlin, included Agata Kristy,
Aliona Sviridova, B-2, Delphin, Garik Sukachev, Jungo, Linda, Moral Code X and the ‘80s British
group Pet Shop Boys. According to an English-language Russian news website, between 15,000 and
20,000 music fans, police said, came to listen to the mainly Russian line-up. Security was
tight as a precaution against terrorism but the performances apparently progressed without
incident.
Oleg sent an email to the Red Elvises group email list soon after the big day saying “We played
3 songs – Belly Dance, Ticket to Japan and Kosmonaut Petrov. In Russian broadcast they showed
Kosmonaut Petrov. We hope we can get the tape from Russian TV.” I’m sure everyone reading this
hopes so too, as we only got a five-second glimpse of Red Elvises’ performance (a bit of Belly
Dance) as part of the “International Montage” segment on MTV and VH-1 near the end of the
eight-hour broadcast. Still, it was very exciting to see Red Elvises on MTV, even if only for
five seconds. We can all be very proud of them and the other artists as well.
And did it work? Did the world leaders at the G8 summit listen? Yes! An excerpt from a message
to the performers now appearing on the official Live 8
website reads:
“LIVE8 was wonderful and devastatingly effective. The figures announced... are not simply cold
numbers.
They mean 10 million people alive because you danced for life.
They mean 20 million children in school because we played our guitars.
5 million orphans taken care of because we sang for joy.
600,000 people every year will not now die of malaria.”
This sends a powerful message to the world, that politics...and more to our concerns, MUSIC,
along with this grreat outpouring of generosity of spirit, time and effort on the parts of
hundreds of musicians, organizers, tech crew people and many more, can effect huge change and
save and improve millions of lives. Live 8 was a wonderful thing which should have far-reaching
effects; everyone who participated in these concerts is truly a hero.
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