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63-565: Farm Aid is an annual benefit concert held for American farmers. On July 13, 1985, before performing "When The Ship Comes In" with Keith Richards and Ron Wood at the Live Aid benefit concert for the 1983–1985 Ethiopian famine , Bob Dylan remarked about family farmers within the United States in danger of losing their farms through mortgage debt, saying to the worldwide audience exceeding one billion people, "I hope that some of

126-408: A benefit concert is of a large-scale, popular event put on to support a charitable or political cause. In the modern era , the first benefit concert is generally seen as the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh . Comprising two shows on the same day at Madison Square Garden , it was organized by and starred George Harrison and Ravi Shankar . The format of most modern benefit concerts, involving many acts,

189-448: A cause that celebrities do not contribute by only donating their money, but by participating in event like benefit concerts. That way stars can inspire hundreds of thousands of others to give. The presence of celebrities can draw criticism, but that is outweighed by the benefits. Some argue that pop stars only take part in charity to improve their public image. That, arguably, may be a motivation, but their participation can be essential to

252-454: A favourite celebrity support a cause can influence fans to support the same cause—not because the cause is significant to the fans, but because it seems significant to the artist. To feel connected to a celebrity, fans are likely to participate in activities the celebrity considers important. For example, if a benefit concert starred unknown musicians performing songs for unknown people in Africa,

315-689: A large global audience, stating that Geldof's intention was to aim for the biggest global stars to ensure media attention and a large television audience. A Live 8 concert in Johannesburg and an "Africa Calling" concert featuring an entirely African lineup at the Eden Project in Cornwall , were organised following the criticisms. Geldof's motives for organising Live 8 were questioned. TV and radio presenter Andy Kershaw - who had co-presented Live Aid in 1985 - directed criticisms at Geldof and

378-873: A natural disaster rather than as a political issue". Benefit concerts are an effective form of gaining support and raising funds for a cause because of the large media coverage that they usually receive. In addition to the results they generate themselves, benefit concerts also generate a kind of cascading effect. That is, larger benefit concert motivate smaller concerts and other kinds of charity initiatives. Large-scale benefit concerts attract millions of viewers and are usually broadcast internationally. As powerful means of mass communication, they can be highly effective at raising funds and awareness for humanitarian causes. Media scholars Dayan and Katz classify benefit concerts as "media events": shared experiences that unite viewers with one another and their societies. In fact, in their book Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History ,

441-449: A particular cause or occasion. They argue that media events interrupt the flow people's daily lives, and that such events create a rise of interpersonal communication or "fellow feeling". Furthermore, they propose that media events transform the ordinary role of the viewer into something more interactive where they adhere to the script of the event. All these principles of media events are true of benefit concerts. Benefit concerts interrupt

504-560: A series of events ahead of the G8 conference, and had already been planned before the announcement of Live 8. An estimated 225,000 people took part, making it the largest-ever protest in Scotland and the largest ever anti-poverty protest in the UK. In the weeks leading up to Live 8, British newspaper Daily Mirror began a petition, garnering support for British rock band Status Quo to play at

567-597: A set, just before Neil Young finished off Live 8 in Barrie with "4 Strong Winds", " Rockin' in the Free World " and " O Canada ". Some of the highlights of the Berlin show included Brian Wilson who played a set with his band, doing " Our Prayer "/" Gee ", " God Only Knows ", " California Girls ", " Good Vibrations ", and " Fun Fun Fun ", as well as Green Day , having released their political rock opera " American Idiot "

630-736: A social agenda or fund-raising focus. Live 8 Live 8 ( French : En direct 8, German : Live 8, Italian : Vivi 8, Japanese : ライブ8 (romanised: Raibu 8), Russian : Прямой эфир 8 (romanised: Pryamoy efir 8)) was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa . They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder , Scotland , from 6–8 July 2005. Both events also coincided with

693-664: A variety of music artists. The board of directors includes Nelson, Mellencamp, Young, and Dave Matthews , as well as David Anderson, Joel Katz, Lana Nelson, Mark Rothbaum, and Evelyn Shriver. On 8 April 2021, it was announced that Annie Nelson and Margo Price have joined as board members. Board member Paul English , who was Willie Nelson's longtime drummer, died in February 2020. The organization operates an emergency hotline that offers farmers resources and advice about challenges they're experiencing. Early on, Nelson and Mellencamp brought family farmers before Congress to testify about

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756-478: Is an altruistic act and that there is no self-gain in it". Pink Floyd 's guitarist David Gilmour announced that he would donate the profits from the increased sales in Pink Floyd's Echoes album to charity, stating: "Though the main objective has been to raise consciousness and put pressure on the G8 leaders, I will not profit from the concert. This is money that should be used to save lives." Criticism

819-406: The "power of the people" to change the world. Benefit concerts, therefore, have the potential to raise enormous sums of money for a cause because of the para-social interaction that occurs between the performing celebrities (the leaders) and the spectating fans (the people). Dan Laughey describes para-social interaction as "the apparent familiarity between media personalities and audiences". Seeing

882-486: The 20th anniversary of Live Aid . Run in support of the aims of the UK's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty , ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July. On 7 July, the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$ 25 billion to US$ 50 billion by 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa. More than 1,000 musicians performed at

945-994: The 20th anniversary of Farm Aid, took place at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, Illinois , with events in downtown Chicago as well. The 2007 Concert took place at Randall's Island in New York City (the first Farm Aid in New York) and was recorded in High Definition to be broadcast on HDNet as a 2 Hour Special highlighting many of the performances from the Allman Brothers and Counting Crows to John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson. The September 2019 lineup includes Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and country music star Luke Combs . The concert at Alpine Valley Music Theatre

1008-591: The BBC issue an on-air apology. In the United States, ABC drew criticism from the Parents Television Council when its delayed airing of the Hyde Park concert highlights failed to censor The Who 's performance of " Who Are You " which contained the lyric, "Who the fuck are you?". ABC responded: "Unfortunately, one inappropriate phrase sung by one performer was initially missed and made it into

1071-668: The East Coast network feed. It was subsequently edited out of the West Coast feed." MTV and VH1 were criticised for their coverage of the Live 8 concerts. Media critics and viewers complained that the networks focused too little on the actual musical performances, pointing to the frequent switching between artists and concerts, and cutting to commercials, interviews or "educational segments" while bands were still performing. The VJs also received criticism for frequently talking over

1134-596: The Farm Aid benefit concert to raise money for and help family farmers in the United States. The first concert was held on September 22, 1985, at the Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois , before a crowd of 80,000 people. Performers included Bob Dylan , Billy Joel , B.B. King , Loretta Lynn , Roy Orbison , and Tom Petty , among others, and raised over $ 9 million for U.S. family farmers . Willie and

1197-524: The G8 is moving slowly in the effort to meet its promises. Some consider Live 8 to be a success, including Bob Geldof himself. However, others including the World Socialist Web Site dismissed Live 8 as a "public relations stunt" for G8 leaders and multinational corporations, due to the disparity between the rhetoric of the events and the actual efforts made after the events in reducing poverty. Geldof also believes that public attention

1260-464: The G8 summit, which drew the ire of teachers and local residents. Furthermore, the Live 8 concert's timing coincided with the long planned Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh. Damon Albarn suggested that the performers should put pressure on their record labels to pay "some kind of tariff" from the increased record sales that would come from playing at the event, so as to "genuinely show this

1323-417: The Hyde Park lineup in response to the criticism. N'Dour was the only major African artist scheduled to perform at any of the five main concerts. A Live 8 spokesman said that a number of black performers had been approached but were not available to participate and that the event would nonetheless feature a "large urban element". Organisers also argued that there were few black British artists who could attract

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1386-518: The Live 8 and the Live Earth events, which both attracted billions of spectators. Scholars theorize that the observed increase on concert size since the Live Aid is happening because organizers strive to make their events as big as the tragedy at hand, thus hoping to gain legitimization that way. Examples exist in musical history of concerts being staged for philanthropic purposes. In 1749,

1449-513: The Live 8 launch in May, Bob Geldof confirmed that organisers were trying to get the group to re-form for the event. Ultimately, the Live 8 reunion did not materialise due to a holdout by Spice Girl Mel B . During the Hyde Park concert, British comedian Peter Kay jokingly introduced the Spice Girls while he was introducing The Who . English rock band Oasis also declined to participate in

1512-401: The Live 8 website, funds raised beyond the £1.6 million "will go to pay for the costs of Live 8, as it is a free event". Some ticket-winners placed their tickets for sale on internet auction site eBay , and were heavily criticised by the organisers of the event, including Bob Geldof. Initially, eBay defended its decision to allow the auctions to go ahead, stating that there were no laws against

1575-437: The all-star line-up were Pink Floyd , reunited with former frontman Roger Waters for the first time in over 24 years. With the death of keyboardist Richard Wright in 2008, Live 8 was the final time the band's "classic" lineup performed together. Waters stated the band dedicated " Wish You Were Here " to their absent former member Syd Barrett , who later died in 2006. The final event called Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push

1638-523: The answer to a multiple choice question via a text message costing £1.50. Winners were drawn at random from those who correctly answered the question. Over two million messages were sent during the competition, raising £3 million. The first £1.6 million raised was given to the Prince's Trust , which had to cancel its own annual Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park that year to make way for Live 8. According to

1701-472: The authors suggest that the song synonymous with the Live Aid benefit concert, " We Are the World ", might as well be the theme song for media events, as it nicely encompasses the tone of such occasions: "these ceremonies (media events) are so all-encompassing that there is nobody left to serve-as out-group". Dayan and Katz define media events as shared experiences that unite viewers and call their attention to

1764-459: The careers of ageing rock stars more than about helping the poor in Africa. The lineup for the Canada Live 8 concert in particular, was criticised for being "out of touch" and filled with "musical has-beens". For the Edinburgh concert, Geldof called for children to "give up home and school for a week" to join supporters in a march (entitled The Long Walk to Justice) on 6 July, the start of

1827-552: The composer George Frideric Handel wrote his Foundling Hospital Anthem , and put on annual performances of Messiah , to support an orphans' charity in London. While many composers and performers took part in concerts to raise donations for charitable causes, it was also not unusual in the 18th and 19th centuries for musicians to stage performances to raise funds for their own professional work, such as Ludwig van Beethoven 's 1808 Akademie concert . The modern understanding of

1890-529: The concerts as they were performing at the City of Manchester Stadium the same evening and the day after. Noel Gallagher later expressed disapproval that musicians were expected to rally at the convenience of Geldof. Gallagher was also vocally sceptical about the impact of Live 8, citing his belief that rock stars did not have as much influence over world leaders as the Live 8 organisers may believe. English rock band Radiohead also turned down an offer to play at

1953-424: The concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks. Live 8 was seen by 3 million viewers in the United States according to Nielsen, with a estimated 30 million viewers worldwide. Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof announced the event on 31 May. Many former Live Aid acts offered their services to the cause. Prior to the official announcement of the event, many news sources referred to

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2016-581: The event a "ravenous orgy of celebrity ego trips". Geldof's approach, of pressuring G8 leaders to improve aid, forgive debt and ease trade restrictions in Africa, was questioned by John O'Shea, chief executive of international aid charity Goal. O'Shea was concerned that "Live 8 overlooked the need to tackle Africa's corrupt regimes and establish a UN peacekeeping army in Darfur, the Congo and northern Uganda." The organisers were criticised for using Africa to revive

2079-467: The event as Live Aid 2 . However, Geldof and co-organiser Midge Ure have since explicitly said they do not think of the event as the same as Live Aid. On an episode of BBC Two music-based comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks , which aired on 2 March 2006, The Cribs frontman Ryan Jarman said he had texted Geldof to suggest that a "Live Aid 2" would be a good idea. However, after organising

2142-553: The event at Hyde Park in London, England where he also performed " I Don't Like Mondays ". Special guests appeared throughout the concerts. Then- Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates made speeches at the London show, while former South African President Nelson Mandela addressed the crowd in the Johannesburg venue. Guest presenters, ranging from sports stars to comedians, also introduced acts. Included in

2205-462: The event's success. Celebrities not only promote catalytic philanthropy, they can produce an effect some call Geldofism : "The mobilization of pop stars and their fans behind a cause." Therefore, because of their visibility, celebrities are used by organizers as a mean to gain support to the cause in hand. Furthermore, the success of benefit concerts is tightly related to the quality of entertainment offered by them. To gain space and legitimization in

2268-465: The event, Geldof said: "This is not Live Aid 2. These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison." Many of the Live 8 backers were also involved in the largely forgotten NetAid concerts, including Executive Producer Jeff Pollack . Organisers of Live 8 presented the "Live 8 List" to the world leaders at the Live 8 call that politicians take action to "Make Poverty History". Names from

2331-624: The event. The original lineup for the Hyde Park concert faced criticism for having only one non-white artist – Mariah Carey . Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn called the lack of black performers the organisers' "greatest oversight", while Senegalese musician Baaba Maal wrote in The Independent : "I do feel it's very patronising as an African artist that more of us aren't involved." Live 8 organisers subsequently added British R&B singer Ms. Dynamite , US rapper Snoop Dogg and Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour to

2394-524: The event. Originally offered a 6pm slot, the band already had commitments in Ireland and therefore requested an earlier slot. Their request was rejected by the organisers as there were no available slots. There were speculations by the press that English girl group the Spice Girls would reunite for a Live 8 performance, in what would have been their first appearance as a five-piece since May 1998. At

2457-447: The familiar face of their beloved artist on stage endorsing a cause, fans feel more compelled to support the cause. Criticisms against benefit concerts go further than just criticizing the intentions of the celebrities involved. Some argue that benefit concerts are a wrong response for tragedies because the atmosphere involved on them is not one of mourning. Further criticism comes from those who argue that Geldofism turns celebrities into

2520-656: The first Emmy Award for content delivered via the Internet, cellphones, and iPods ("Broadband award"). Live 8 on AOL was chosen as the winner out of 74 entrants. In a report issued in June 2006, the G8 have reportedly not lived up to their promises set in 2005. According to DATA, the US, U.K., Italy, and France increased their development-assistance pledges and actual aid to Africa in 2005, but Germany maintained its former level of contribution and Canada decreased aid in 2005. In general,

2583-487: The incentive for viewers to donate would be minimal. Bob Geldof, the founder of Live Aid, is aware of the need of familiarity and para-social interaction on behalf of the viewer. When criticised for not inviting enough African performers to play at Live Aid (of which the main purpose was famine relief for Africa), Geldof commented that only popular musicians were invited to play at the show because unfamiliar artists would cause viewers to lose interest and "switch off". In seeing

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2646-537: The list also appeared on the giant televisions at each concert during the broadcast. An official Live 8 DVD set was released on 7 November 2005 internationally and 8 November 2005 in the United States. Broadcaster Jonathan Ross opened the European Live 8 concerts with the words: "It's two o'clock in London on July the 2nd 2005. Hyde Park welcomes the world to Live 8." There were ten concerts held on 2 July 2005, most of them simultaneously. The first to begin

2709-416: The media, benefit concerts must have a large audience, the kind of large crowd attracted by famous music stars. Bob Geldof himself responded to criticisms about the lack of African artists on the Live 8 by stating that, although those musicians produce great works, they do not sell many albums—and, for the sake of reaching as many people as possible, his concert had to include only popular artists. Finally,

2772-552: The money ... maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe ... one or two million, maybe ... and use it, say, to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks." He is often misquoted, as on Farm Aid's official website, as saying "Wouldn't it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?" Although his comments were heavily criticised, they inspired fellow musicians Willie Nelson , John Mellencamp and Neil Young to organize

2835-411: The motives for Live 8, saying: "I am coming, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Live 8 is as much to do with Geldof showing off his ability to push around presidents and prime ministers as with pointing out the potential of Africa. Indeed, Geldof appears not to be interested in Africa's strengths, only in an Africa on its knees." Rashod Ollison of The Baltimore Sun echoed Kershaw's criticisms, calling

2898-710: The only legitimate spokespeople for a cause, robbing the NGOs of the possibilities to speak up for a cause. In chronological order, beginning with the earliest date: The following is an incomplete list of benefit concerts with their own Misplaced Pages page. For a more descriptive and inclusive list focusing on historically notable events, see the list above . Note that while some of the listed concerts feature only one headliner and several supporting acts, other benefit concerts feature diverse lineups and are also considered music festivals . This list may have some overlap with list of free festivals , which are rock festivals that often have

2961-439: The other founders had originally thought that they could have one concert and the problem would be solved, but they admit that the challenges facing family farmers were more complex than anyone realized. As a result, decades after the first show, Farm Aid, under the direction of Carolyn Mugar , is still working to increase awareness of the importance of family farms, and puts on an annual concert of country, blues and rock music with

3024-459: The performances. The following weekend, MTV and VH1 re-aired ten commercial-free hours of music performances from the Live 8 concerts in response to the criticism. The London concert also received criticism when alcohol was outlawed for concertgoers, but made available for the VIPs. On 2 July 2006, BBC One , CTV and MTV broadcast Live 8: What a Difference a Day Makes . In the UK, the special

3087-428: The presence of other people, and that happens in benefit concerts, they become connected to each other and are more likely to work together towards a goal. Critics also say that benefit concerts are just a way for the rich West to forgive itself by helping the poor and distressed. These critiques argue that concerts like the Live Aid "rob Africans of agency, reinforces Western ethnocentrism and racisms and see famine as

3150-534: The previous year. Agatha Christie , Bi-2 , Jango, Dolphin, Linda , Moral Code X , Red Elvises , Splean , Pet Shop Boys On 2 July, the same day as the Live 8 concerts, a rally and protest march was held in central Edinburgh , the nearest major city to the Gleneagles venue, for the G8 conference later that week. This protest was organised by the Make Poverty History coalition as part of

3213-503: The public, as well as Geldof himself, would withdraw all auctions of the tickets. Similar touting situations arose for the Edinburgh and Canadian shows, and eBay also halted the sales of the tickets. Deep Purple made an appearance and performed " Highway Star ", " Smoke on the Water " and " Hush ". DMC (of Run-DMC ) performed with Elliot Easton of The Cars , and Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith . The Tragically Hip played

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3276-438: The quality of entertainment is key to the creation of a public sphere where discussions about the concert's cause can occur. The better the entertainment, the more people watch the concert, and thus the more people become aware of the cause. Furthermore, the music played in the concerts can lead spectators to interconnect and become more likely to act towards the cause. According to a theory, by Jane Bennett , when people sing in

3339-476: The resale of charity concert tickets. The site also offered to make a donation to Live 8 at least equivalent to the fees it would make from the ticket sales. Some people, angered by others seemingly using Live 8 to make money, placed fake bids for millions of pounds for such auctions in an attempt to force the sellers to take them off sale. It was later announced that eBay, under pressure from the British government,

3402-673: The routine of people's lives because they occur (in most cases) for only for one night or for one week-end. Furthermore, they are broadcast as television spectacles that interrupt the regular scheduled programming on a given television network. Often, this kind of announced interruption has television viewers discussing the event with others beforehand, generating excitement around the event. Moreover, benefit concerts encourage audiences to adhere to their script, such as by phoning in donations or signing an online pledge. As media events, benefit concerts are widely broadcast and seen by millions of people. (The Live Aid charity concert in 1985, for example,

3465-577: The state of family farming in America . Congress subsequently passed the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 to help save family farms from foreclosure . Farm Aid also operates a disaster fund to help farmers who lose their belongings and crops through natural disasters, such as the victims of Hurricane Katrina and massive flooding in 2019. The funds raised are used to pay the farmer's expenses and provide food, legal and financial help, and psychological assistance. The 2005 concert, marking

3528-445: Was 60 minutes as compared to the U.S. version on MTV, which was 90 minutes long. The special was aired on MTV at 07:30 Eastern time, giving nearly no chance for viewers to be made aware of the broadcast. Instead of airing the special late at night, MTV aired their normal broadcasting schedule for Sundays, again adding to the criticism of MTV's lack of interest in Live 8. The Live 8 on AOL worldwide multi-feed webcast by America Online won

3591-609: Was Combs' first show at Farm Aid. In 2022, Farm Aid sought national recognition for the effort to encourage Americans to buy domestic beef. Benefit concert Benefit concerts can have both subjective and concrete objectives. Subjective objectives include raising awareness about an issue such as misery in Africa (such as Live 8 ) and uplifting a nation after a disaster (such as America: A Tribute to Heroes ). Concrete objectives include raising funds (such as Live Aid ) and influencing legislation (such as Live 8 or Farm Aid ). The two largest benefit concerts of all time, in size, were

3654-527: Was held at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh , Scotland, on 6 July 2005. It featured further performances from some of the artists from the other concerts, and was the closest of the eleven to the actual location of the G8 summit. Although the concerts were free, 66,500 pairs of tickets for the Hyde Park concert were allocated from 13 to 15 June 2005, to winners of a mobile phone text message competition that began on Monday, 6 June 2005. Entry involved sending

3717-588: Was held at the Makuhari Messe in Japan, with Rize being the first of all the Live 8 performers. During the opening of the Philadelphia concert outside the city's Museum of Art , actor Will Smith led the combined audiences of London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Barrie in a synchronised finger snap , meant to represent the death of a child every three seconds in Africa. Bob Geldof hosted

3780-548: Was levelled at the Philadelphia Live 8 concert , when it was revealed that while the performers received no monetary compensation for their participation, they were given gift bags containing designer gifts worth about $ 12,000. The gifts included $ 2,000 Gibson guitars , $ 3,500 Hugo Boss suits and $ 6,000 Bertolucci watches. Despite the show being broadcast before the watershed in the United Kingdom, there

3843-564: Was no attempt at censorship by the BBC . The network came under fire for its coverage of the Live 8 concerts due to the amount of live swearing by several performers that was broadcast before the watershed. Madonna , Snoop Dogg , Razorlight , Green Day , U2 and Velvet Revolver were also criticised for their use of foul language during their performances. An investigation by the UK media regulator Ofcom ruled that television audiences were subjected to "the most offensive language" and demanded that

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3906-413: Was pioneered in 1985 with Bob Geldof's Live Aid. Benefit concerts are a major example of celebrity charity for they involve popular musicians; actors and actresses; and other kinds of entertainment figures volunteering to a greater cause. The efficiency of celebrity charity is explained by the theory of Catalytic Philanthropy designed by Paul Schervish . His thesis explains that it is more beneficial to

3969-471: Was seen by an estimated 1.5 billion viewers worldwide.) However, this mass dissemination is only one of the factors that contribute to the success of benefit concerts. The people who send the message for collective action are essential to a benefit concert's effectiveness. Dayan and Katz suggest that media events are an expression of a "neo-romantic desire for heroic action", meaning that media events produce leaders who inspire collective action with belief in

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