"This is the greatest thing that's ever been organised probably in the history..."

AARRRGH

From Live8 -

Chris Martin from Coldplay said: "This is the greatest thing that's ever been organised probably in the history of the world."

Is it just me, or is this shockingly egotistical?

Claiming a group of singers getting together (him included) is the best thing ever organised in the history of the world, sounds to me like he thinks they're very very very very very important people, much more important than any group of people in the history of the world.

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding.

I really don't believe he was 100% referring to getting attention on Africa.

joejoem

A mixture of hype and pride I would say

county

yes stuck up there own backsides,the live aid 20 years ago was 10 times better

Sarky

World War 2 took a lot more effort.

andyman

Probably Live 8

airetam_storm

Sarky wrote:

World War 2 took a lot more effort.

LOL, ithink??

Piste

The rise of the Roman Empire was much better and influential imho.

GreeBo

Them Mongol fellas didnt do too badly on their horsies either...
:rolleyes:

joejoem

county wrote:

yes stuck up there own backsides,the live aid 20 years ago was 10 times better

yes your right, they shouldnt have done anything, why did they even bother? :rolleyes:

Sarky

Falling sales, obviously.

Keyzer

Operation Overload aka The Allied Invasion of Normandy was the greatest organised "thing" the world has ever seen, imo...

Mr. Martin should go back to teaching geography lessons in my opinion...

RobertFoster

Keyzer wrote:

Operation Overload aka The Allied Invasion of Normandy was the greatest organised "thing" the world has ever seen, imo...

Mr. Martin should go back to teaching geography lessons in my opinion...

Overlord, not Overload.

shay_562

Yes, I'm sure Coldplay (whose last single became the most downloaded track ever, and whose latest album is one of the most successful UK acts ever on the US charts) are really worried about falling sales. :rolleyes:

Alright, so Chris Martin's an arrogant tosspot, as is Bob Geldof. Doesn't change the fact that they're trying to do something to help people (which is more than most celebrities do), and while comments like this don't exctly help, I think they get a lot more stick than they deserve.

Sarky

Coldplay could have just forked over some cash instead of making us all suffer and actually performing.

Assuming they performed. I didn't watch, so I couldn't say.

grimloch

As quoted:

"The greatest thing ever organised ever apparently. The UN, the invasion of Normandy, the eradication of polio, the Magna Carta, all pale into comparison when set against a rock concert"

Miguel_Sanchez

Remember that thing they used to have in the old musicals where all the girls in swimsuits would be along the side of a big pool and they'd dive into the water one after another so it would look like a kind of wave or ripple effect?

I think that was the greatest thing organised ever.

That or the day everyone in the world ignored Louis Walsh and wouldn't talk to him at all. (whaddya mean I dreamt it?)

BrianD3

Maybe Martin was a bit off with the comments, but does it really matter. As someone said, it was probably down to a mixture of hype and pride and the fact that it was massive live event with upwards of 1 billion people watching. It would be easy to get caught up in the hugeness of the whole thing and say something on the spur of the moiment which may not be 100% correct. It's very easy after the event for a bunch of geeks on the internet to start picking holes in what he said by listing out all the "things" that were better than Live 8 :rolleyes:

grimloch

BrianD3 wrote:

Maybe Martin was a bit off with the comments, but does it really matter. As someone said, it was probably down to a mixture of hype and pride and the fact that it was massive live event with upwards of 1 billion people watching. It would be easy to get caught up in the hugeness of the whole thing and say something on the spur of the moiment which may not be 100% correct. It's very easy after the event for a bunch of geeks on the internet to start picking holes in what he said by listing out all the "things" that were better than Live 8 :rolleyes:

You're probably right, he might have really been caught in the moment and just blurted it out. Not really a huge deal but not the brightest comment known to man.

Draupnir

i think the point you are missing here lads, is what martin is talking about. not that all those singers are together, but the fact that in pretty much every nation in the world, people came together in their billions to achieve, or attempt to support, a common goal, to help their fellow human being.

World War II, the d-day landings etc. while marvels of military ability, were only instruments of murder and destruction which could never be considered a great achievement of the human race.

BossArky

Cut the coldplay fellow some slack, I doubt he meant the comment as the way some of you are interrupting it.... he just lost the run of himself. Fairplay to him.

seamus

Chris Martin's a prententious prat tbh.

At best it's the biggest music event that's ever been organised, so far.

mike65

seamus wrote:

At best it's the biggest music event that's ever been organised, so far.

Nah, that was Self-Aid shirley?

Mike.

vibe666

to me it stinks of a lot of exceedingly rich people getting people like us to give up our hard earned cash to make them feel better about everything they have.

you don't see any of them giving up too much to help the poor aside from a few hours on stage doing what made them rich in the first place.

how about all the pop stars that performed auction off 50% of their wealth and give it towards aid for africa? no, okay, well lets all us normal poeple pay to see them play songs instead.

pretentious bunch of twats if you ask me.

i'm sure bob had a lot of good intentions but the hypocracy of it all taints it for me i'm afraid.

i wouldn't like to even guess how high the % was of people who went there just to see some of their favourite bands perform rather than influence the G8 summit.

i think i'll go book my seats for the next one in 20 years time. do you think ticketmaster have them on sale yet?

Raphael

Um...afaik tickets for this weren't sold, they were given out in a draw or some such

Keyzer

RobertFoster wrote:

Overlord, not Overload.

Noted. a type on my part...

Branoic

Draupnir wrote:

i think the point you are missing here lads, is what martin is talking about. not that all those singers are together, but the fact that in pretty much every nation in the world, people came together in their billions to achieve, or attempt to support, a common goal, to help their fellow human being.

World War II, the d-day landings etc. while marvels of military ability, were only instruments of murder and destruction which could never be considered a great achievement of the human race.

I totally agree with this. The pointless backlash posts against Chris Martin's comment is narrow, narrow, narrow.

Its not about the concerts or the singers, it never was. The concerts were just a tool. Its about millions of people the world over coming together in unison with one voice during one truely global event. I gotta say that when they got everyone to click in unison in the different venues around the world, to go along with that whole clicking "every three seconds a child dies" campaign, was really quite a powerful show of unity.

Get over the paddy-esque cynicism and begrudgery and accept his comment in the spirit with which it was offerred.

Branoic

vibe666 wrote:

to me it stinks of a lot of exceedingly rich people getting people like us to give up our hard earned cash to make them feel better about everything they have.

you don't see any of them giving up too much to help the poor aside from a few hours on stage doing what made them rich in the first place.

how about all the pop stars that performed auction off 50% of their wealth and give it towards aid for africa? no, okay, well lets all us normal poeple pay to see them play songs instead.

pretentious bunch of twats if you ask me.

i'm sure bob had a lot of good intentions but the hypocracy of it all taints it for me i'm afraid.

i wouldn't like to even guess how high the % was of people who went there just to see some of their favourite bands perform rather than influence the G8 summit.

i think i'll go book my seats for the next one in 20 years time. do you think ticketmaster have them on sale yet?

Fool.

You obviously didn't pay any attention to what was going on. Actually, I'm quite impressed by this, as with the media saturation of the event I'm suprised some of the basic facts failed to saturate through your skull.

(A) The event was free. Nobody paid to hear the songs

(B) The whole point of Live 8 was not to raise more aid. Aid is next to useless unless other changes are made first. This is the lesson of Live Aid 20 years ago. Alot of the cash and supplies raised in that event ended up lining the pockets or corrupt politicians and dictators. If every rock star in the world gave every cent from every record they make in the next 10 years, this would still be a problem. Live 8 was instead about raising awareness and trying to get the G8 leaders to radically change how we deal with Africa, not simply about pouring more money down the drain.

ionapaul

Wouldn't it only be 'the greatest thing in the history of the universe' if it actually affects measurable change in Africa, and surely we can only judge that a few decades down the line? A billion people came together to watch a free concert, some actually spared a thought for the Africa question, but the crucial questions are: did the G8 leaders listen? Undoubtably. Will they make some changes to try to alleviate Africa's difficulties (or at least massage public opinion in their own countries)? Probably. Will Africa be in better shape for all its peoples in 20 years? The answer to that question will allow us to judge the Live8 event / campaign in years to come.

magpie

Chris Martin is a 'Knobhead Student', as any fule kno.

One of the funniest things I saw in relation to this was that bloke Russell on MTV calling Bob Geldof 'Gandalf' and saying that in his opinion it wasn't an exercise in ego massage for BG, for if he wanted to feel good about himself he could do something far easier, like comb his hair.

Tanabe

@ DublinDude:

You need 2 get a life for even starting a thread like this. Live 8 was for charity, Chris Martin was performing at this event & was most likely excited to have been the second act to perform. Why have u taken his comment to heart? Surely you have said things in your time caught up in the excitement of it all?? Give the guy a break, he was HELPING after all.

All you peeps posting ur negative comments hang ur heads in shame! :eek:

magpie

When these do-gooder musos actually empty their own pockets rather than 'generously' going on stage to receive the adulation they crave, all in the name of Charideeee, then I'll believe their motives are pure.

Tanabe

@ Magpie

Plz read Branoc's comment above......& then SHUT UP!

Dinner

No doubt the concerts were great and all, but to call 8 rock concerts the greatest thing ever is a bit over blown. There are far greater things such as the space program, cures for illnesses etc.

magpie

Oh of course. Its about raising awareness. How much more nebulous a concept can you get?

The irony of Bono simultaneously urging the G8 nations to drop multi-billion dollar debts while sueing his ex-stylist over $5000 worth of old tat is clearly lost on you.

This whole thing is an exercise in po-faced self-righteousness. Maybe if they used the concerts to raise money then use it to pay off part of the 3rd world debt rather than handing it to the corrupt regimes that run Africa at gun point like last time that might be a step in the right direction.

Tanabe

WHY do you KEEP posting the same DRIBBLE that has already been said earlier? READ the ANSWERS given before you decide to give ur tuppence worth!

Raphael

That would be ironic, if it weren't for the fact that you're wrong

Bono is suing the stylist for memoribilia(sp?) to the value of $5,000. It's the not the money that he wants, it's his freakin pants!

BizzyC

In terms of chartity etc. I'd say that the relief effort following the tsunami was more impressive.

I think that these bands are quite full of themselves now. Only a few of those who performed can boast proper charity work; Bono, Bob, Robbie Williams to name a few.

Bono and Bob have done a lot to raise money and awarness, whereas most of them will return home, all warm and fuzzy cause they did what they could. Bullsh7t.
They gave up an hour or two of their time. Madonna was interviewed after, and it was obvious she really didn't know any of the facts or issues involved.

magpie

That would be ironic, if it weren't for the fact that you're wrong

Bono is suing the stylist for memoribilia(sp?) to the value of $5,000. It's the not the money that he wants, it's his freakin pants!

Like I said:

$5000 worth of old tat

Your point is what exactly?

They gave up an hour or two of their time

Exactly, and got to promote their product to an enormous audience throughout the world on primetime TV.

Tanabe

Yawn!

BizzyC

Yeah,

"hey lets save africa!...........This is our new songs, it's out next week."

Raphael

My point is there's no irony. How would you feel if you had something that was worth $5000 and someone stole it from you? You'd want it back. In addition to which, there is quite probably sentimental value atttached to that "old tat", since it's stuff he wore on a gig.

BizzyC

@ Tanabe

Rather than make pointless comments on everyone else's posts, how about you make an actual usefull point yourself and stop acting like a 15 y/o.

Branoic

magpie wrote:

Maybe if they used the concerts to raise money then use it to pay off part of the 3rd world debt rather than handing it to the corrupt regimes that run Africa at gun point like last time that might be a step in the right direction.

Oh please, now you're just being stupid.

Yes. The answer really would be to hold a series of simultaneous concerts combined with a telathone, raise millions and millions of euro in donations, and then GIVE THE MONEY TO UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN to pay off 3rd world debt?????

Are you serious?

Yes, I can see that no one would write pointless moany complain posts about an event like that!! I for one would gladly donate to the US cause.

Thats a MUCH better idea than simply wiping the debt.

magpie

How would you feel if you had something that was worth $5000 and someone stole it from you? You'd want it back. In addition to which, there is quite probably sentimental value atttached to that "old tat", since it's stuff he wore on a gig.

It was mugs, t-shirts, trousers and other bits and pieces given by U2 to their stylist. They had no problem with her having it, they got thick when she put it for sale on ebay.

I think Bono has enough pairs of tiny pants to last him, don't you?

Its just Mr Righteous stopping someone from making a few quid by demanding the return of the items, which doubtless he will throw straight in the bin.

cornbb

At least they're helping!

Many of the acts that performed charity have pleged to donate the royalties from the increased album sales that Live8 resulted in to charity. Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd recently sold his london home for £3m and donated the entire proceeds to charity.

And thats all beside the point really, as the gigs were meant to raise awareness.

I still think Chris Martin is a douce though :cool: