Pink Floyd to Reunite
My words to a West Coast friend over ICQ were, and I quote, “Holy crap!” when I read the news that the almost-original lineup of Pink Floyd was reuniting to play the Live 8 concert. Bob Geldof, the organizer of the Live Aid concert and the guy who played “Pink” in the movie “The Wall”, is organizing the Live 8 concert to “focus attention on the need for political justice for the world’s poor.”
Interestingly enough, tickets to the concerts will be free and allocated by lottery. As Geldof says, “charity will never really solve the problems”, instead relying on a show of unity to get his point (and presumably the point of that participants) across to the leaders attending the G8 summit between July 6th and 8th in Edinburgh, Scotland. In preparation for the G8 Summit, US President, George W. Bush, and British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, have already made progress on a debt relief plan for Africa.
I haven’t read enough about the G8 Summit, Live 8 or the potential Debt Relief plans to speak intelligently about them, so I will avoid making any opinions known until I’ve actually had a chance to think it over for myself. I tend to be suspicious of any organized event being led by screaming bleeding hearts like Bob Geldof, but I must admit that his approach to this event is interesting and novel (not charging for access to the shows and specifically stating that he doesn’t want people’s money). I personally despise celebrities who believe that their status of pop icons somehow grants them the right to seize the limelight to push their personal politics, although not as much as I despise the sheeple who blindly follow these morons merely because they’re celebrities. However, I would never presume to dictate who can or cannot organize or gather to express a point of view. Since Geldof and the participants don’t stand to profit financially from these proceedings, at least so it would appear, I guess I will suspend my suspicious nature and simply wish them the best of luck in their endeavors, whether I agree with them or not (remember: still making up my mind on this one).
Regardless, the event got Pink Floyd back together! That’s a pretty big deal to a Floyd fan like myself. Considering that I’m of the opinion that every album since the Final Cut has been crap (and the fact that I’m a big fan of Waters’ solo albums), I think my pleasure in the reunited lineup is easily understood. It’s probably too much to hope that any new material will be generated by the reconnection of the band, but at least there will be an opportunity to watch them play together again. Now if only Syd Barrett was able to attend.
