Great Concert for a Great Cause

The Live 8 concert series is not about selling tickets or shocking fans, its about music, celebrities, and politics. These things combined bring a huge voice to the subject of world poverty.

One of the greatest moments was in South African's Johannesburg where former South African President Nelson Mandela walked onstage and was greeted warmly by over 8,000 people who gave him a five-minute applause.

Mandela had strong things to say, "I say to all those leaders: Do not look the other way, do not hesitate, it is easy to make promises, but never go to action." He also said, "While poverty persists, there is no true freedom."

Madonna, Sting, and Coldplay among others were featured in the Hyde Park, London concert. Actor Brad Pitt was also there with a story from his trip to Africa. He was haunted by the misery he witnessed first hand, recounting what a young woman suffering with AIDS had said to him, "Please bring us the drugs, please hurry."

Also at the London concert was Bono of U2 who had this to say to the crowd, "We're not looking for charity, we're looking for justice. We cannot fix every problem, but the ones we can, we must."

Live 8 is a series of free concerts being held around the world in hopes of pressing leaders of the 8 richest countries of the world to help world poverty and help the nations that are in desprete need of assistance. Live 8 worldwide producer Harvey Goldsmith describes the concerts as a mix of "the biggest acts in the world, the best acts in the world, and the newest acts in the world." Sounds like a Barnum and Bailey circus but better, it features Brad Pitt.