Joe Kavanagh's Music News

The big event in the music world last week was, of course, the series of Live Earth concerts thrown simultaneously around the globe last Saturday, in an effort to focus the world's attention on improving our interaction with our environment before it's too late. Although the event was considered a huge success, drawing literally hundreds of millions of viewers, it did generate some degree of controversy, not least because of the irony of preaching about the environment at an event whose very existence actually added to carbon emissions. The London gig was also somewhat controversial with several stars choosing to ignore the 'no swearing' rule. Comedian, Chris Rock had barely spoken ten words while introducing the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, when he swore and got his appearance cut out of proceedings in the process. Then Razorlight's Johnny Borrell and - of all people - Phil Collins, swore during performances by their respective bands, forcing the BBC to issue an immediate apology to their viewers. On the plus side, it was the first time the words 'Phil Collins' and 'excitement' had been in the same sentence for decades. Maybe ever. In all, the event was considered a major success, but quite whether it will actually change anything remains to be seen. Environmental campaigner and the driving force behind the event, Al Gore, hopes that the music can act as an instrument for change, saying: 'I remember when I was quite young, and the civil rights movement was beginning, listening to Bob Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind. It was unbelievable in its impact. And a lot of the music being written and performed for Live Earth is hopefully going to have the same kind of impact.' Far be it from me to question a man of Al Gore's intellect but here goes. That particular Dylan song came out ten years before the Vietnam War ended and even Dylan himself was out of the protest music game by then because he realized the futility and limits inherent in it. Let's hope it doesn't take over a decade for the environmental message to get across. Anyway, if Al's wife Tipper, and her PMRC cronies, were around in the early 60s, there's a reasonable chance that they would have banned Bob Dylan, for his offensive lyrics...

One man that definitely regretted his appearance at the Live Earth show was Snow Patrol keyboard player, Tom Simpson, who found himself banged up for the weekend almost immediately after the event. Simpson traveled to a local RAF airfield with the rest of the band after their performance, where they were going to catch a flight back to Scotland. Instead, Simpson was arrested on an outstanding drug-related warrant and sent to jail in London, forcing him to miss the band's headline performance at Ireland's Oxegen Festival on Saturday night, which is a complete bummer, given the fact that it was the band's biggest ever performance in Ireland. Simpson was finally released last Sunday, which was just in time for the band's performance at Scotland's T In The Park Festival...

The Live Earth event did also generate its share of goodwill with Kasabian and Keane burying the hatchet in their long-running feud, after both bands showed their support by appearing in front of the 70,000 people at the London gig. According to Kasabian vocalist, Tom Meighan: 'I'm over arguing about Keane. I'm trying to grow up in this world, man and that's like the green message.' We'll miss their barbs, especially considering Kasabian were well ahead on all of the judges scorecards...

There were several rock strops last week with The View claiming they are finished with Falkirk, Scotland, again after an incident at the band's show there last Wednesday night. The Scottish band were midway through their set when a member of the crowd threw a bottle, which shattered just off stage, severely cutting the sound engineer in the face and showering the band in glass. Lead singer Kyle Falconer immediately announced that the band would never play in Falkirk again, while bassist, Kieran Webster, dived into the crowd after the assailant...

Bright Eyes singer, Conor Oberst, was also in testy mood after a London show last week. Annoyed by constant-technical difficulties throughout his set, the award-winning singer picked up an amplifier and guitar at the end of his show and threw them across stage, much to the amusement of those on hand. Temper, temper...

Sinead O'Connor leapt to the defense of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears last week, claiming that the media are being too rough on young celebrities. O'Connor claims: "I think it's horrible the way those girls are treated by the media. I think it's appalling, Britney Spears especially. I've been watching lately the Paris Hilton thing with her being sent to jail and everything, and it's horrible to see how people are treating her, like laughing at her and making a big joke out of it. In Paris Hilton's case - OK, she's famous for being famous - but that doesn't give anyone the right to abuse and humiliate her." Personally, I think Paris Hilton and Britney deserve all they get, given the fact that they used the media as a vehicle for their own ends when it suited them. As the saying goes: Only whales that spout get harpooned.