* * * * (out of 5)
London was Bleeding Love towards Nelson Mandela on June 27 and it was well deserved. I just finished watching an abridged version of the Concert, on VH 1, to honor the man on his 90th Birthday. It seems that the weeks surrounding Independence Day have become a traditional time to have huge charitable concerts on international television. From Live Aid in 1985 to Live 8, Live Earth and the Concert for Princess Diana, the world falls into a giving mood that rivals a sedate Christmas.
I think I first heard of Nelson Mandela and the struggles in South Africa in 1984. I read in Rolling Stone about the fight against apartheid and about the death of Steven Biko and the false imprisonment of Mandela. "Madiba" is Mandela's clan name and what he is often called. President Reagan and many other world leaders were unconcerned about the atrocities in this country and kept doing business with it, despite world wide protest. To stand up for what was right, in a simple protest against Mandela's incarceration and the brutal politics of apartheid the free world's artists vowed to never play Sun City, the all-white resort town in South Africa. Artists who did were blackballed. Queen, Tina Turner and Rod Stewart were among the musicians who did play there and were considered outcasts for it. Amnesty International gained world wide acclaim by pushing the issue front and center and made all political prisoners a cause celebre for a few years in he 1980s.
Then in 1988, London held a 70th Birthday party for the still-jailed Mandela at Wembley Stadium. I was busy that day and missed the show on the radio and didn't have cable yet to watch it, but it was a great success. The man was put in jail in 1964, Prisoner Number 466 of 1964, 46664. He was held there until 1991, 27 years later. Word of that concert in '88, gave him renewed hope and indeed gave hope to many other prisoners like him. When he was finally released, he was probably the only man in history more famous for getting out of prison than going in. With the world's help he lead his country out of apartheid and became president, but with a dream of democracy where white and black could live alongside each other in peace. He could have easily turned into a demigod and turned his country into a bloodbath, but he held true to the principals that put him into prison and made him such a hero and martyr to the world.
Now in his "retirement" he has started many new foundations with his name to build on peace, freedom and education. His prison number, 46664, is the name of a new cause that will try to conquer the scourge of AIDS which imprisons so many of his countrymen. AIDS in Africa and especially in South Africa is so rampant that I doubt anyone can really stop it, but he's performed miracles before.
One nice idea introduced by Bono and the Edge in a videotape at the concert, was for a world holiday commemorating Peace, to be honored every year on Nelson Mandela's birthday. When Madiba came on stage to thank the crowd and the musicians, he looked a bit frail but his words were strong. That any man can live to be 90, after spending 27 years in a hellhole prison is a testament to his spirit and love of life. When you see a man like that, you always hope two things. That there is someone much younger willing to be as loving and courageous when the need arises. And two, that because of the work of such a man like Mandela that that brave younger man will not be needed. Unfortunately, we know all too well that brave young people must still rise up and fight for what's right in this world.
As for the concert itself, it was a rousing party, made up of some familiar faces and some new. Will Smith did such an excellent job of hosting the Philadelphia contingent of Live 8 in 2005 that he was made master of ceremonies again here in London's Hyde Park. He and wife Jada Pinkett Smith nicely balanced the seriousness of the cause and man, while generating excitement for the show ahead. It looked like at least 100,000 showed up for the show and were very loud throughout. These types of shows from London give me a warm, special feeling about the people from England and their strong political convictions. I'm not sure a concert for Mandela here in America would draw such a large, spirited crowd. Not without some major headline acts.
This show had Simple Minds singing "Don't You Forget About Me", which has to considered one of the Top 10 most important songs of the '80s. It defines the era and what makes it so ironic is that Simple Minds lead man Jim Kerr didn't even write it. They played it for "The Breakfast Club", but he actually hated it at the time because it reminded him and probably many of us of a Billy Idol song. How would you like your signature song to be something you hate? Hahahah. Ahh, the problems of being a rock icon.
Amy Winehouse came out with a skirt that was way too tight for her and had to keep pulling at it, because it would ride up and show off her bloomers. A physical mess doesn't begin to describe this girl, but she still looks better than Janis Joplin in her prime and has these amazing eyes that burn through whatever crack haze she shadows them in. A crackhead playing a song called Rehab at a Nelson Mandela show. That's funny as hell, but it worked because it is one of the best songs of the past five years. Even when she mumbles some of the words as she did here, the song still catches fire. It reminds me of early REM. You didn't care what Michael Stipe was singing, his voice was just another wonderful instrument in the band. What I didn't like was that she lead the final concert singalong for "Free Nelson Mandela". There were so many good singers on stage, especially Leona Lewis, who could have done a much better job than her.
As for Lewis, this was my first time seeing her and after months of being beaten over the head with her #1 hit Bleeding Love, I'm beginning to see what Simon Cowell saw in her. What a voice, so classy from head to toe. She doesn't move around enough, but maybe that will come later. If you have the moves you dance, if you don't maybe you should stand still. Whitney Houston was a horrible dancer, she hit you between the eyes when she was stationary. Unlike Whitney or Mariah, Leona doesn't destroy the phrasing of the song for some fake gospel feel. I know it's a lot to ask, but hopefully she can be as sweet and unassuming as she apparently is now. She makes you want to root for her.
Will Smith (aka The Fresh Prince) did his last big hit from the summer of '05, "Switch", and mixed it in with the theme to his TV show. If there is any doubt that he's an international superstar you should hear the London crowd singing along with every lyric. He's been so serious in so many movies for so long now you kind of wonder if he still has that flashy Fresh Prince vibe that endeared us to him in the beginning and judging from his live performance he still does. He just saves it for the stage.
Being that the show was cut down to 90 minutes with commercials for VH 1, I did not see all the acts, but the highlight had to be the pairing of the remaining members of Queen with Bad Company's Paul Rodgers. What a match made in heaven. If they come to the States, I will definitely go see them. No one could enthrall a London crowd quite like Freddie Mercury, just watch tape of his historic Live Aid performance, but these fans were more than happy to take the flight with Air Rodgers. Older and definitely tougher looking than Mercury, Rodgers sang the classics in Queen style but changed the phrasing just a bit to make them more his own. While I can't listen to We Will Rock You or We Are the Champions on the radio anymore, live in concert those songs come alive. And Brian May's guitar playing. Why isn't this man mentioned more in the discussion of guitar gods? Just to show you what he's got, they finished off with All Right Now, the old Bad Company hit and Brian played it like he created it.
I'm all for making a Nelson Mandela Peace holiday if it just means hearing great music like this every year.
The Freditor
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