On July 2, a free concert attended by thousands of people and featuring some of the top acts in music captured the world's attention in recognition of a huge, important event. That was Live 8, a worldwide concert in nine cities that sought to raise awareness about poverty in Africa and pressure the leaders at the upcoming G8 summit to approve debt relief for Third World countries.
Here in Vegas, we celebrated a slightly less lofty occasion: the 100th birthday of our city; and our concert, while also free, was not about pressuring world leaders to do anything. It was about us, and how great we are. Some 50,000 tickets were given away for a concert by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer, which was originally slated to be held in the parking lot of the Convention Center.
Given the traffic nightmares and acres of parked cars at the concert's eventual site, the Silver Bowl Park across from Sam Boyd Stadium, one can only imagine the disaster that the Convention Center parking lot, right off the Strip and with nowhere to park, would have been. After spending an hour in a barely-moving line of cars attempting to exit the 95 at Russell and parking what seemed like two miles away from the venue, I wasn't exactly feeling in a celebratory mood. Old-school punk band The Adolescents, who were added to the bill at the last minute, opened the show at 6:30 and I completely missed their set, which I had been strongly encouraged not to do by one of my music-obsessed co-workers. Judging from the line of cars trying to exit the freeway, most of the rest of the audience missed them as well.
At least all the time wasted in the car meant that the sun was slowly inching down the horizon as I walked with my brother up to the concert entrance. A light breeze was blowing (someone in front of me noted that it was like being blown by a hair dryer) and the strains of Weezer's "Undone (The Sweater Song)" could be heard as we made our way onto the field. Somewhere in the distance there was a band on a stage, but with 50,000 people, you either get there five hours before the show starts, or you settle for watching the action on a giant monitor. I shudder to think how the people at Live 8 shows, with four times this many in attendance, managed.
What I caught of Weezer's set was polished but unexciting, and coupled with the visuals on the monitor led me to think that popping in a Weezer DVD at home would be more enjoyable. This many people on a giant field in the middle of summer in Las Vegas kick up a ton of dust, and it was already getting tough to breathe by the time it got dark. My friend called to say that he and his girlfriend were leaving, and my sister called to say that she was staying home. I stood in line for 10 minutes to buy a $6 hot dog, and started to think that, free or not, this experience was not worth the trouble.
But after the sun went down, it wasn't all that hot, and after an hour-long break, the Chili Peppers came on and played a great set, even if I watched most of it on monitors. They debuted two new songs from a forthcoming album, mixed hits and album tracks, covered '70s soft-rock staple "Brandy" (and dedicated it to our illustrious mayor, whom they referred to as "that guy with the red nose") and pleaded for assistance for Africa, even though this wasn't Live 8. Singer Anthony Kiedis joked that he was going to set up a craps game with proceeds going to Africa, and bassist Flea said that if all the hookers donated their fees, we could solve African poverty completely. I bet Bob Geldof never thought of that.