morose code

I went to see the Canadian Live 8 concert in Barrie today with Carvill and her sister. I wasn't too impressed with the line up to be honest, but I figured that maybe a solid streak of B-list acts would equal one or two A-listers.

Now, that's not to say that the bands weren't Big Talent, it was just that most of them were the generic Canadian bands that everyone knows and they didn't particularly set any fires for me. I only really wanted to see Pink Floyd (whom I erroneously thought was playing Barrie, but where in fact in Hyde Park), Tegan & Sara (who cancelled at the last minute), Jet, Sam Roberts and DMC. London and Philadelphia, unsurprisingly, had the best lineups compared to Barrie's:

Tom Cochrane
Sam Roberts
Bryan Adams
Simple Plan
Bruce Cochburn
Great Big Sea
Celine Dion
Deep Purple
African Guitar Summit
Blue Rodeo
Bruce Cockburn
Bryan Adams
The Bachman Cummings Band
DobaCaracol featuring Kna'an
Gordon Lightfoot
Jet
Les Trois Accords
Our Lady Peace
Jann Arden
Motley Crue
The Tragically Hip
DMC
Barenaked Ladies
Neil Young

Still, Bruce Cockburn did an amazing version of "If I Had A Rocket Launcher," but for me the peak performance had to when DMC hit the stage and started belting out Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower," then they tore into "Walk This Way." As if that wasn't enough, they had some help from Gary Dourdan ("Warrick" of CSI!), Joey Kraemer and Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith), Mark Meadow (Wall Flowers), Elliot Easton (The Cars), Josh Todd (Buckcherry) and this super hot, scantily clad crazy dancing woman.

Throughout the show they would show celebrities making pleas for the African debt to be forgotten and foreign aid increased. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant of The Office had, by far, the funniest. Hopefully they will be included on the upcoming DVD.

We packed up and left just when Neil Yonge was coming out to avoid the traffic back to Toronto.