Stars for a cause

A few months before the G-8 summit in Scotland, rock star-turned-activist Bono of U2 was searching for ways with which he can get as many people as possible to help him push his call for debt cancellation for poor nations. As always he also wanted to call attention to the massive problem of poverty that plagues Third World countries. He thought of doing another Live Aid concert because the opening of the G-8 would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the trail-blazing fund-raiser organized by Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats.

Geldof said no, but came up with a better idea. Why not a free concert in the major cities of the G-8 nations, the US of A, the UK, Germany, Japan, Canada, France, Australia and another one in South Africa? Bono and Geldof got to work and as with what usually happens when these two great men call, the best and the biggest pop stars in the world today were only too eager to rearrange their schedules to accommodate their request for free.

So on Saturday, July 2, 2005 over a hundred acts performed live for nearly two million people and for over three billion more on television and the Net. Dubbed Live 8 in honor of the eight nations in the summit talks, it was the most spectacular concert ever produced and played in 10 cities for free. The performers not only played their hearts out. They also made a call for everyone to help, help, please help the people who are dying because they have no access to food, medicine or even drinking water.

Among them were U2 with Bono of course, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Coldplay, Bjork, Dreams Come True, Lucky Dube, Youssou N’Dour, Pink Floyd, Green Day, Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, Bryan Adams, The Who, The Killers, Brian Wilson, Velvet Revolver, Linkin Park, Neil Young, Tim McGraw, R.E.M., Sting, Maroon 5, Kanye West, Dido, Robbie Williams, Rob Thomas, Annie Lennox, Black Eyed Peas, Will Smith, UB40, Stevie Wonder, Pet Shop Boys, Joss Stone, Duran Duran, Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Sarah McLachlan, Josh Groban, George Michael, Faith Hill, Alicia Keys, Shakira and so many others.

You can now add a million or more to the number of people who were able to watch Live 8. This is because the concert is now available on video. A four DVD set sub-titled One Day, One Concert, One World has been released and it contains 10 hours of music and extra features like rehearsal and backstage documentary footage.

I suppose proceeds from the sale of this DVD will also go to Live 8 so treat yourselves to this one and help. Then maybe we should also start thinking of what we can do around here where poverty continues to grow at an alarming pace.

Live concerts on discs

More live performances on discs. There is Michael Bublé with Caught in the Act. He was no match for Tony Bennett who won the Grammy for Traditional Pop Vocal Performance but I was so glad to learn Michael was nominated. I even felt happier when I saw him as presenter during the awards night with no less than the sensational Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher. Bublé is now truly a big star.

Check out Caught in the Act to find out why. The two-CD release has a DVD containing Bublé in a live performance with Feeling Good, Sway, Try a Little Tenderness, Fever, Come Fly with Me, Moondance, You Don’t Know Me, That’s All, For Once in My Life, You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine with Laura Pausini, This Love, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Home, The More I See You, Save the Last Dance for Me, How Sweet It is, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Song for You featuring Chris Botti and backstage footage. When unable to watch the video, there is a bonus CD that contains some of Bublé’s recent hits like Summer Wind, You and I, The More I See You, Can’t Buy Me Love and Smile.

From the local front, there is Nonoy Zuñiga in The Love Concert Live at Music Museum. Nonoy traces his music career history in this intimate concert. The popular balladeer actually started out as a folk singer, Moonshadow and You’ve Got a Friend with Albert de Pano. He was a band vocalist, a Chicago medley with Beginnings, Saturday in the Park and Make Me Smile with Joey Generoso of Side A and Route 70.

The hits are of course present, Never Ever Say Goodbye, Ako ay Ikaw Rin, Doon Lang, Kumusta Ka, Init Sa Magdamag and others. And to close, he performs cuts from his latest, The Love Album, like The Way You Look Tonight, Moon River, I’ll Be Seeing You and What Matters Most. The Love Concert is available in both VCD and DVD formats with an interview with Nonoy and videos of Too Shy to Say and Moon River included in the latter.