Word: u2
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...doesn't want to be named for fear of alienating the British government, calls the whole lead-up to the G-8 "reverse lobbying": politicians like British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown have deliberately invited pressure from rock stars like Geldof and U2's Bono to make it easier for them to persuade voters to spend more on aid, and to make it more embarrassing for relatively recalcitrant countries like the U.S. and Germany to keep their wallets shut. Behind the scenes, the coordination among 10 Downing Street, the British Treasury and the activists...
...Geldof gave birth to Live Aid, the groundbreaking rock-concert series that raised $200 million for African famine relief. Bono of U2 and Richard Curtis (screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill) were there. That day inspired them to learn more about Africa and ultimately form their own antipoverty campaigns. Now the three friends are organizing Live 8, a series of free international concerts to be held on July 2 with unprecedented star power (Will Smith is host of a hip-hop-heavy show in Philadelphia; Pink Floyd will reunite in London on the same bill...
...cultural event. In order to get political momentum, one guy with a banner is not enough. You need millions. The lingua franca of the planet, as we learned from Live Aid, is not English--it's pop music. From Guangzhou to Bogotá, they listen to 50 Cent, Eminem, U2 and Coldplay. Do they listen to the more esoteric individual cultures? No. That's reality. Do they listen to Muddy Waters? I wish they did. Then I'd put a bill up there with him and John Lee Hooker...
...happily into one another's faces at concerts. Almost all the album's 13 songs have been composed with stadiums in mind, and Jonny Buckland has mastered the art of making his guitar careen between enormity and intimacy. It should come as no surprise that Coldplay put up a U2 poster in the studio in which they were making X&Y as a reminder of what they were shooting...
Coldplay should be commended for its ambition, but it's worth noting that X&Y has a serious problem-or rather a problem with seriousness. While Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion took inspiration from the U2 of The Unforgettable Fire, lead singer Chris Martin appears to have made the terrible mistake of shooting for Bono circa Rattle and Hum. It's not Martin's choice of subject matter-he rarely digresses into politics while he's singing, although he's an advocate for fair trade when he's not-but his tone. He wants to teach...