Live 8 – AOL Feed Amazing, MTV can kiss my A$$

So I started watching Live 8 on MTV, even though they were showing the same exact show on VH1, the same exact show! Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you have MTV you probably have VH1 as well. So I have no idea whose idea it was to show the same show? Perhaps if they showed different live feeds, it would make sense, but that didn’t so that sucks.

The MTV feed was a complete mess. They had Sway and Rachel (MTV correspondents) TALKING while artists are on stage. I kept wishing they would shut up and show the artists on stage. What’s the point of watching them talk about the show, instead of watching the show! This was completely ridiculous. And on top of that Rachel (skinny chick with short shorts), was an idiot! At one point she said “This concert is totally wicked awesome! The best Live 8 ever!” I wonder if she was aware this is the ONLY Live 8? She was a complete mess, someone fire her soon.

After two hours of getting angry with MTV, I realized I could watch the concert via AOL. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Of course, my laptop speakers weren’t working, so I spent 30 minutes fixing my computer before I could watch the concert. Restarted the computer a couple times, tinkered with audio settings and finally I can watch the concert!

AOL gave you the option to watch a live feed of each concert (Philly, London, Berlin, Paris, etc.) by clicking a link. This was great. I would flip from Philly to London in seconds. I would watch the artists I liked and controlled it all by a click of the mouse.

Since I have DSL, I didn’t have to worry about slow streaming or too much buffering, it was perfect. I’m not a big fan of AOL but today I have to give them much respect. They did a terrific job and it was FREE! All FREE {insert crazy sinister laugh}!

Best Performers

Without a doubt Lincoln Park and Jay-Z were the best! They way they mixed their music was amazing. Lincoln Park was rapping Jay-Z lyrics, Jay-Z rapping LP’s lyrics! It was just great. If you didn’t see it, find the performance online, it’s a must see.

Madonna was well, Madonna, a great entertainer and it was nice to hear Like a Prayer live again.

Pink Floyd, was great! Comfortable Numb, was perfect. Damn, those guys are just geniuses. “Is there anybody out there” Yes there is, and we love you!

I must give a mention to George Michael’s guest appearance with Paul McCartney, was nice. I personally don’t know why they didn’t let him perform, but I was happy to see him there, even if it was only 3 minutes.

At the end of the day…

I would say the event was successful with its mission to create awareness of Africa’s plight. In one interview, I saw this young typical white guy scream “I’m from South Jersey, and I’m here for AFRICAAAAAAA! Rock on! Yeaaahhhh!” in a deep south Jersey accent. That made me chuckle, but it also showed that this guy, who I am sure, rarely thinks about Africa, is now thinking about it.