I was able to zip through MTV's coverage of Live 8. On the air for 8 hours, was there even three hours of music? They need to remove the "M" from their name. And what is up with British directors? They cut away within 10 seconds of every shot and it makes you nauseated. When you have to rely on AOL (yes, I said AOL) or XM, truly a new age in media is upon us. Especially when you consider I have a VHS tape of "Live Aid" lying around here somewhere. As I said yesterday, MTV had a horrible production and matched it with not much effort, but here's what they did show.

U2 and McCartney doing "Sgt. Pepper". The horn section is dressed as The Lonely Hearts Club Band. Excellent job by all.

The Black Eyed Peas are picked up from Philly with The Marleys. Stephen Marley is killing me with "Get up, shtand up...". And MTV cuts it short.

OK, MTV did show "American Idiot" by Green Day from Berlin. There is something disconcerting about men in black and red wearing armbands getting a crowd of Germans to raise their arms and shout. It is funny.

Christ, they just interviewed Jimmy Fallon. So, we get maybe 15 seconds of Sir Bob with "I Don't Like Mondays".

Hey, it's Bon Jovi with "Livin' On a Prayer". And, of course, MTV cuts it short.

Aha, they actually showed "Bittersweet Symphony" with a shoeless Richard Ashcroft and Coldplay. An awesome version. MTV cut it short.









Destiny's Child is next with "Say My Name". Full version. I have fainted.

Off to Joburg, it's The Mahotella Queens!! I know nothing about them. The ladies appear to be participating in Silly Hat Day. MTV cuts them off within a minute.

Back to Philly. Uh-oh. It's Kanye West. Did he just say "F'er M'er"? Seriously, I am not editing, I think he said "F'er M'er". A day later, I am still not sure what I am witnessing.

It's Audioslave from Berlin in front of a really subdued German crowd. Tom Morrello has "Soul Power" written on his guitar and he can really play. Really good version of "Like a Stone". MTV cuts it short.

Good Charlotte is next from Tokyo. My goodness, it looks like a Cheap Trick concert. MTV cuts it short.

The new Will Smith joint is next. They play the whole song! "Summertime" is cut short.

"Beautiful Day" by U2 is next. I have something in common with this band as I have The Edge's hairline, although we haven't seen it recently. Bono shouts out to all the host cities. They let go a bunch of birds in a nice touch. There they go.

Sir Bob preaching. This is where Madonna sings "Like a Prayer". What's next? Omigod, it's a personal fave, "Ray of Light". She looks stunning in white today and looks better than she did 20 years ago. Some break dancers appear at the end, but I ignore them. This song is easily one of the best of the day. MTV talks over the ending.















Next is Snoop Dogg with "What's My Name?" I love this guy and his Boss Dogg jacket. They bleep him, but the censor is running at a low catch rate. He must be terrified of getting fired right now. The crowd loves it. VJ makes a mistake by saying the "Global Jewbox is plugged in." Bwah-ha-ha-ha.

Dave Matthews from Philly. We get 15 seconds of one song. Then it's a song I don't recognize and MTV cuts it short. They go back to get the last half of "Too Much".

"For All We Know" by Alicia Keys is next. She does a shoutout to Luther Vandross. I never realized how pretty she is. MTV cuts it short.

The Killers, in white, are from London on tape. MTV cuts it short to show...Joss Stone. They have officially spit the bit.

If there is screaming, it must be Linkin Park from Philly. They want audience participation. I oblige: "CRAWLING IN MY SKIN. THESE WOUNDS, THEY WILL NOT HE-AL-L-L-L-L...AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW." Song two is cut short.

More Joss Stone. Just in time to be cut short.

Hey, it's Shakira from Paris. Two words: Nice caboose. Her song is pretty good. Not sure if that was from the Rick Rubin-produced record. I'll see.










Good stuff as Jay-Z joins Linkin Park. I thought he was retired. MTV plays the whole song.

Green Day with a reprise from yesterday, "We Are The Champions".

Keane on tape from London. Good UK band with lots of audience participation. MTV cuts it short.

Orchestra Baobob is next from Joburg. They get 15 seconds. That means only 5 African kids died during their time on MTV.

It's Sting in progress. It's "Driven to Tears". An excellent version. Hey, a shot of Big Ben there. Now it's "Every Breath You Take". MTV cuts it short.

More Bon Jovi. "It's My Life" in which I always think of that ESPN commercial. Isn't Sambora backing Bo Bice on "The Tonight Show" on Wednesday? Whole song, BTW.

Mariah Carey from London. 'Nuff said. MTV cuts it short.

Elton John, relegated to tape, with "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting". That fat man can still sing. MTV cuts it short. To edit Elton and Mariah Carey on MTV back-to-back seems shocking to me.

Dido gets 50 seconds.

Maroon 5's first song from Philly gets 15 seconds. Song two is cut short. Somehow a snippet of song three makes it on the air.

Velvet Revolver is on tape next and did get the Silly Hat memo. Slash is smoking and Weiland looks weird. Good music though.

Next, it's The Who. OK, MTV, how do you screw this up? For starters, we get 5 seconds of CSI song. The boys crank "Won't Get Fooled Again". Watch it, Roger almost swung his mike into his noggin. Pete's wearing a Harley jacket and is tearin' it up. MTV cuts it short.

On tape, it's REM. Michael Stipe appears to have run out of paint for his Blue Man Group audition.









Rob Thomas is on live from Philly and even MTV doesn't give a shit, because it's Pink Floyd from Hyde Park!! I gave this short shrift yesterday because I was on the phone cracking wise with my brother at the time. But upon further review (several reviews, actually), this was an incredible set. To see Gilmour and Waters together again, well, it's chilling. First song is "Breathe". I bet everything stopped in the UK for the next 20 minutes. Waters looks happy. I think he had admitted lately that he'd been a dick for a long time. Next song is "Money" and MTV doesn't bleep "bullshit". Snoop nods affirmation their way. The director (probably an old-timer) sneaks in a shot of the Battersea Power Station during the song. Ni-i-ice. The crowd is insane at this point. Biggest roar of the day.

Roger Waters (over the intro to "Wish You Were Here") says, "It's actually quite emotional, standing up here with these three guys, after all these years. Standing to be counted with the rest of you. Anyway, we're doing this for everyone who's not here. And particularly, of course, for Syd." What a heartfelt thing to say. They are gonna tour, I can feel it.

After this song, the crowd is beside itself. People are having breakdowns. "Comfortably Numb", a great tune, is last. When Gilmour sings, "A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.", I am now out of MY mind. Is that dry ice or the largest cloud of pot smoke ever? During the next chorus, MTV TALKS OVER IT!!! Without question, the best rock moment, in what, 10 or 15 years, and these fuckups find a way to ruin it. The director, refuses to push the off button for at least 40 seconds, because idiot that he is, even HE realizes what is going on. They still cut it short.

At this point, what else matters?









Oh, yeah. Stevie Wonder finishes in Philly and they talk over him, too. Rob Thomas helps with "Higher Ground". Where's Santana? They cut him off after that song.

Macca finishes in London with "Get Back". George Michael helps out on "Baby You Can Drive My Car" and it's a really good version.

Stevie Wonder does get more snippets, even though he is closing the Philly show.

Realizing there was a concert in Canada, Jet does, on tape, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?". They cut it short.

What an odd ending on MTV. They virtually ignored Stevie Wonder. The shows ended a bit after 7:00, so they didn't even show the UK close until the closing credits at 8:00. They showed a bunch of highlights, but nothing in the form of what I expected. It's fitting, because the coverage sucked.

Let's hope the DVD, released in November, isn't done in an half-assed manner.

Meal of Links

The Battersea Power Station. And why it has a place in Pink Floyd history.

Robert Hilburn blasts MTV for its Live 8 coverage. There is no excuse for the crappy job they did. Sadly, after the broadcast, I'd bet their on-air folks thought they did a good job.

I think it's out of my system, but here's a backstage view at the London portion of Live 8.

Exercise Yard

If you sense a large cloud of cynicism rolling through the area tomorrow around 1:00, take note. My Dad, brother and I are attending the Tribe game tomorrow afternoon. Dogs are only $1, but I suspect someone will find fault. Look for us on ESPN.

Visitor

None, it's a Sunday of a long weekend.