Wednesday, July 06, 2005
The Impressive Concert You DIDN'T Hear About....
Yes, I know.... everyone was talking about THE concert this past weekend, Live 8. But Philadelphia hosted not only Live 8 on Saturday, but the Philadelphia Freedom Concert and Ball on July 4th, on the very same stage.
First of all, before saying another word, all praise must go to the City of Philadelphia (a city that I'm not typically enamored with) for hosting the largest, FREE outdoor HIV/AIDS awareness event ever held. It's one thing to host a big July 4th concert - lots of cities do that. But to raise awareness and money like they did on this day was truly a wonderful sight. BIG kudos also go to the Philadelphia ABC affiliate, WPVI, for covering the entire concert, commercial-free, and with class and style. WPVI is largely seen in the Philadelphia area as the "frumpier" network in the market, and they probably took a significant amount of heat in making their decision to air this concert live and uninterrupted, so hats off to them for their courage and commitment!
And the music - DAY-UMN!! Sir Elton John plays what seems like a 45-minute rendition of "Rocket Man"... OK, Elton, we get it... you're the Rocket Man. But his electric set capped off an incredible night of music featuring Bryan Adams, Rufus Wainwright, the Philly Pops, and appearances by Wayne Brady, Bruce Vilanch, and Walter Cronkite.
The evening, however, belonged to Patti LaBelle. She performed only two songs, including "Lady Marmelade" of course (which went on for a very extended time and featured men that she had brought up on stage with her), but she tore that stage up in the time she had, simply put. Anyone who thinks to casually throw around the label "diva" to Mickey-Mouse-Club rejects has clearly never seen Ms. LaBelle perform.
Posted by FleshPresser at 10:31 AM /
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