popular thinking

THE ULTIMATE LIVE 8 VIEWERS BLOG: Yes, I watched all of Live 8. It's my job. A little worried last night and early this morning that I wouldn't be able to pull it off, at least not logistically, but everything came together. You could say the same for Bob Geldof's little concert. Greatest concert ever? Well, I don't know that I'd use a superlative like that, but...well. Here are my initial impressions, minute by minute...

America Online and MTV promised the world at least 12 hours of live Live 8 coverage yesterday from six cities – Berlin, London, Paris, Philadelphia, Rome and Toronto. The other venues in Tokyo, Moscow, Johannesburg and southern England were relegated to highlight footage, but that’s another story. Our mission: How much Live 8 coverage could one person absorb? Could it be done? Should it be done? Answering the first two questions would have to suffice.

8:00 a.m. Despite AOL’s promotional teases offering streaming video, having much difficulty finding evidence of same. But they have time to fix this, since Berlin is the only site due up this hour.
8:08 a.m. Still no live music from Berlin. What gives?
8:14 a.m. The tease on AOL Radio (still no video) gets replaced by a loud alarm/horn for about 30 seconds, then by someone yelling in German. No need to fear. It’s not 1945, it’s 2005. As JFK once said, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” So let’s roll with it.
8:18 a.m. The same German guy starts singing a punked-out version of “Hang On Sloopy.” It’d be nice to get an ID on the guy and his band. Help us, AOL. Please? Apparently, it’s Die Toten Hosen, one of Germany’s popular punk bands. Thank you.
8:28 a.m. CNN claims AOL has streaming video, but still no sign of it. Is it them, or is it me?
8:44 a.m. AOL finally updated its site to include the Live 8 video broadcasts, and yes, you can have multiple screens on at once. The video arrives a few seconds later than the AOL Radio version, which probably has more to do with technological obstacles than the FCC. In fact, an introductory message from AOL claims that the live shows may include some offensive material. Speaking of which, the first images I see from Berlin are of an emcee who resembles a German Ryan Seacrest. On the bright side, the turnout along Berlin’s Victory Column looks like it at least meets, if not exceeds, the 100,000 pre-show estimates.
8:52 a.m. Hey, the German Ryan Seacrest dropped an F-bomb. But it was in an activist sense, “Give me your f---ing voice” for the cause, so I suppose that’s more acceptable, right?
9:02 a.m. AOL has seven video channels, six cities plus a “global feed” that supposedly allows you to watch all cities. Just not at once.
9:05 a.m. A trumpet call in London’s Hyde Park, and Paul McCartney and U2 stroll onstage to thunderous applause. “Well, it was 20 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play,’’ sings Sir Paul in London -- and Berlin, too. The Germans see and hear the London show on giant video monitors -- and the set times in Rome and Paris have been bumped later, for Sir Paul, perhaps?Hyde Park doesn’t look full of people yet, but it’s still early.
9:08 a.m. As U2 takes over with “Beautiful Day,” a moment to reflect on the band’s seminal Live Aid performance, in which the Irish quartet stole the show and soon became “the biggest band in the world.” Watching the 1985 video clip again this morning, however, would you have believed that Bono had a mullet and high-heel black boots worn over his jeans, for crying out loud? Better question: Which band, if any, will gain global fame from performing at Live 8?
9:18 a.m. Bono talks about death by AIDS, by “dirty water,” and says Live 8 has something to say to the G-8 leaders. “We have a statement. This is your moment. Make poverty history.” The band launches into “One,” the song behind the anti-poverty campaign and white wristbands -- available at www.one.org
9:28 a.m. Bono ends U2’s set with a few verses from “Unchained Melody,” one of many interesting cover tunes we’ll likely hear throughout the day. Also first sighting of fan fighting poverty with his giant green afro wig!
9:38 a.m. Coldplay’s Chris Martin says he’ll play “the best song ever written, and here’s the best singer in the world, Mr. Richard Ashcroft,” to perform “Bittersweet Symphony.” Wonder what the Rolling Stones think of that? AOL also notifies other feeds of the performance using a ticker called “the buzz” -- in this case, the buzz says: “Gwyneth, Apple watch from front row.”
9:48 a.m. Duran Duran performs “Ordinary World,” from Rome, while Berlin preps for another change, the global feed broadcasts highlights from Tokyo early this morning -- Good Charlotte performing “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” -- and the London feed shows hundreds more fans showing up at Hyde Park.
9:58 a.m. Elton John might not have the same outlandish fashion sense he had 20 years ago for Live Aid, but he announces his return onstage with “The Bitch is Back.”
10:08 a.m. Elton John brings out Pete Doherty, the strung-out Brit from the Libertines, to help him sing “Children of the Revolution.” The buzz, meanwhile, has Audioslave coming on in Berlin.
10:18 a.m. Bob Geldof introduced in London as “the boss” for his first of many appearances of the day onstage. After thanking the audience, he introduces Bill Gates -- yes, Microsoft billionaire and richest man in the world Bill Gates -- because “he says our plan is the right plan. He is one of our biggest supporters.” No wonder Geldof wants our voice and not our money. Gates still isn’t the hippest man in the world, though he does try. “I believe that if you show people the problems, and you show them the solutions, they’ll be moved to act,” Gates said. “The generosity we’re asking for can save millions of lives.”
10:58 a.m. While MTV is still pimping people’s rides, Green Day opens its set in Berlin with an appropriate response: “American Idiot.”
11:08 a.m. Ricky Gervais in London introduces R.E.M. with Michael “Blue Stripe” Stipe (what is with the face paint, anyhow?) while Toronto opens its video feed with Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway.” At this point, I hope there is a rest area around the corner.
11:11 a.m. Would you rather be happy or sad? R.E.M. wails “Everybody Hurts” in London while Green Day covers Queen’s “We are the Champions” in Berlin. Germany wins.
11:28 a.m. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill keep the smooth vibe going in Rome. Definitely a different feeling from that feed and Paris than the others. In Paris, Craig David jams with a band on an R&B influenced take on the Beatles’ “Come Together.”
11:44 a.m. Muse might be singing that “Time is Running Out” in Paris, but the Kaiser Chiefs boast, “I Predict a Riot” -- and with that, the Philadelphia concert starts and AOL has all six feeds up and running. I need a bigger computer screen. Keane takes the London stage with their first big hit, “Somewhere Only We Know.”
NOON Bob Geldof returns (the TV cameras must be on) to the stage, introduces the London crowd to the Philadelphia feed and Will Smith. All the shows stop for the Fresh Prince, who tells a worldwide audience that a child dies “every three seconds” from poverty and disease, then snaps his fingers, instructs everyone else to snap with him -- which they do, only every second instead of three seconds. Timing is everything. MTV has started its coverage with taped highlights, which confuses AOL viewers even more when MTV switches to a live feed that arrives a few seconds before AOL’s feed.
12:24 p.m. Now Geldof is onstage singing. Some Web sites reported earlier this week that the Boomtown Rats leader wouldn’t perform, but there he is with the band performing their long-ago hit, “I Don’t Like Mondays.” MTV instead shows viewers the Black Eyed Peas with The Marleys from Philadelphia, also passing over Andrea Bocelli’s singing from Paris.
12:30 p.m. Wait a second. AOL is playing an actual ad on the Philly feed for the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City? That’ll put an end to poverty? Just remember to bet on black? That’s followed by a series of AOL in-studio sessions. In London, Brad Pitt goads the crowd: “Let us be outrageous. Let us be bold.” Is he talking about the G-8 or Angelina Jolie? MTV doesn’t fall for Brad Pitt, instead showing clips of Green Day.
12:44 p.m. More TV weirdness. MTV plays an ad for “Monster Ballads” with 32 “monster hits” including Whitesnake’s “Is This Love.” My memory is foggy, but didn’t MTV show more live footage 20 years ago during Live Aid?
1:05 p.m. Strange contrast in the use of harmony. Destiny’s Child shows off three-part harmonies with big beats in Philadelphia, while Brian Wilson dusts off the old-school pop melodies in Berlin. Wilson is as much of a hoot to watch as he is to listen to -- he gets visibly peeved upon botching a note early on in “God Only Knows,” but keeps on with the song.
1:18 p.m. The logjam of interesting choices continues. Kanye West starts up in Philly, Shakira shakes it up in Paris, while MTV cuts to the scene in Johannesburg. “Good Vibrations” indeed, Mr. Brian Wilson said.
1:30 p.m. MTV passes up a chance to split the screen between Kanye West (Philly) and Snoop Dogg (London) to revisit Audioslave’s “Like A Stone.”
1:36 p.m. Posh and Becks look so lovely watching Snoop Dogg, don’t they? Jimmy Smits is talking about something or other in Philadelphia, but unless he becomes the actual president and not merely a fictional candidate for “The West Wing,” I’ll stick with Snoop. Even if Will Smith has entered with flower girls, on a throne, with “Ali” chants that “the champ is here.” Snoop keeps going. The London crowd sings with him: “Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, Snoop Dogg.” Even a guy who looks like Jerry Springer is raising his fist in the air.
1:48 p.m. Is the Berlin show over? Looks like nothing going on, which would mean I missed A-Ha. Take on me. No, wait, here comes another unidentified band. Must not have “the buzz” for AOL to mention them.
2:05 p.m. Bob Geldof reminds us on the London, Philadelphia, Rome and MTV feeds what Live 8 is all about by showing recent video footage from Africa’s poorest villages. Then Madonna appears with a full band and choir for “Like a Prayer.” She gets one of the few live spots on MTV. Remember how fragile Madonna sounded at Live Aid 20 years ago? She’s not fragile anymore. MTV bleeps her F-bomb, but AOL lets it fly (She asked if London was ready).

HALFTIME?

2:38 p.m. MTV asks fans how early they arrived to get their spots in Philadelphia. Several said they camped out overnight. Hope my colleague Sarah Rodman isn’t stuck near the stinky people -- smell ya later! I won’t rub it in by mentioning my comfy chair. Anyhow. Snow Patrol is starting in London, but wait, is that A-Ha in Berlin? They look vaguely familiar, and yes, that is “Take On Me.” Suddenly the line between clever and stupid and the line between Live 8 and NBC’s “Hit Me Baby One More Time” is very fine. An announcement from London about the last trains of the night: “Keep your eye on your watch.” It’s not quite “stay away from the brown acid,” but thanks for the tip anyhow!
2:58 p.m. The Killers emerge in London all wearing their white summer suits. You’d think with all this great music, MTV wouldn’t waste so much of its programming day letting the VJs talk and talk and talk about Live 8, and let the music and Bob Geldof speak for themselves. But no. Another retrospective piece. I want my MTV back!
3:13 p.m. It’s a triple dose of soul with Craig David in Paris, Joss Stone in London and Alicia Keys from Philly, although not together. “This might be the last opportunity we have to change the world,” Keys tells the audience, and cites the death of Luther Vandross. “Life is so important. We don’t know what’s going to happen so we have to do it while we can do it.”
3:18 p.m. MTV replays The Killers’ performance of “All These Things That I’ve Done.” Sounds better than the first time I heard it 20 minutes ago.
3:28 p.m. The sun sets in Rome, reminding me how long the day has been. In the spirit of the mash-up disc Linkin Park made with Jay-Z, I decide to mash-up the performances of Linkin Park in Philly with the dance punk of the Scissor Sisters from London. Sounds pretty good, but then again, it has been 7 ½ hours since I started staring at the computer. And I forgot to turn down the volume on the TV, where Alicia Keys has gone from singing “For all We Know” to telling us all she knows about Proactiv Solution. What?
3:41 p.m. Why is Corey Feldman’s band playing in Berlin? OK, that settles it. I’m delirious. Snack time.
3:45 p.m. Tom Green says Celine Dion “will be coming live from a craps table,” because the singer is, in fact, beaming in her Toronto performance from her Las Vegas showroom. And the more she talks, the more my stomach turns. End snack time. Abort. Abort.
3:46 p.m. Jay-Z joins Linkin Park onstage, effectively making my mash-up a mashy-mash-up. Good times.
3:50 p.m. Rachel Perry from VH1 just described the concert as “off the hook.” What year is this?
3:54 p.m. The banner above the London stage beckons: “We can be the great generation.” Onstage: Velvet Revolver. Oh well. It was a nice thought, right, Slash?
4:11 p.m. Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland has lost his shirt and the Def Leppard drummer still has only one arm, so I haven’t completely lost control of my powers of perception. The buzz says Berlin went out with a bang. Were there fireworks? Did I miss them? Ack!
4:16 p.m. MTV is showing Green Day. Wait. Didn’t they do that already?
4:28 p.m. Tami the HIV+ Puppet delivers a thank-you speech to the Philadelphia crowd. They’re kidding, right? Millions of AIDS-infected people in Africa, and Live 8 booked a Muppet? But the buzz on Berlin is inaccurate, as Roxy Music is there covering John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy,” three hours after that city’s concert was scheduled to end. A good sign for fans. A bad sign for my assignment.
4:44 p.m. Mariah Carey performs in London. Not looking skanky at all. Good for her. Hold that thought. Within five minutes, Ms. Carey has already demanded water and a mike stand. Diva! Doesn’t she know the audiences in Rome and Paris and here in my apartment can see her? Actually, that probably explains it. Diva.
4:59 p.m. Either I’m half-asleep, or all six concert feeds have gone quiet simultaneously. Is there a moment of silence of which I am not aware? Something worse? More likely, a scheduling fluke, unless they knew I needed to find more food from the kitchen. Thanks.
5:16 p.m. VH1 News sends Ashley Judd and India.arie to Africa -- it’s like “Trippin,’” only with more of a social conscience and less Cameron Diaz. Did I type that out loud?
5:23 p.m. Maroon 5 is covering “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Hope they got an OK from Neil Young, who is closing out the entire night from Toronto and owns that song.
5:33 p.m. The Who, or half of the Who, takes over in London. That’s nice and all, but where is Pink Floyd? Weren’t they supposed to have reunited already? I won’t get fooled again, I’m telling you that much right now.
5:50 p.m. I’m not imagining this. MTV is repeating the same exact retrospective on Live Aid that it played a few hours ago. Or was it a few minutes ago? Meanwhile, The Cure have popped up in Paris. Haven’t had a good reason to look at that feed in a while.
5:56 p.m. Rob Thomas starts in Philadelphia. MTV wouldn’t dare stop its coverage at 6 p.m. as it had indicated earlier, would it? Not with so many acts yet to perform. How late is this gig going, anyhow?
6:02 p.m. Pink Floyd reunites. “Comfortably Numb.” How apt. At least that’s how I feel. How about you? This trumps Motley Crue in Toronto, Rob Thomas in Philadelphia, and The Cure in Paris. The London banner above the stage now reads: No More Excuses. If it’s good enough for Pink Floyd to put the hard feelings behind them, it’s good enough for us, and good enough for the G8, too. But what about MTV? They stick with the best and most newsworthy performance for 21 minutes before bailing out to commercial, just before the end. Why couldn’t they have waited just another minute or two? AOL kept going.
6:38 p.m. The final stretch. Sir Paul McCartney returns to close out London, while Stevie Wonder has the honors in Philadelphia.
6:43 p.m. The Berlin feed goes down.
6:46 p.m. Dido and Youssou N’Dour managed to fit in at least two gigs today, as they arrive in Paris to close down that show after performing in London earlier.
6:50 p.m. Even AOL isn’t safe from the sight of Paula Abdul dancing. Keep those Laker Girl moves to the “American Idol” set.
6:51 p.m. McCartney’s supposed final song, “The Long and Winding Road,” isn’t nearly as long nor as winding as the actual final singalong, “Hey Jude.” Time for a Philadelphia official to send those folks home. Time for McCartney to stop the song, then start again. Time for the Paris feed to end. Time for the old feeds to start anew. And finally, even though Toronto is scheduled to go another hour, time for Bob Geldof to wrap it up shortly after 7 p.m.: “What a night. What a day.”
He can say that again.

****AOL will make all six streaming broadcasts available on demand for the next few weeks at www.aolmusic.com

An edited version of my Live 8 journal/blog will appear in Sunday's Boston Herald.