Fuddland

From Bob Geldof’s outbursts, he is seemingly blind to the notion that some people might want to attend one of the Live8 concerts primarily because they will feature some fantastic bands, and not because they want to show their support for the cause. For all the good intentions behind it, and the emphasis on raising awareness rather than donations, it really is just a show. If he’s going to kick up a stink because those people are willing to pay over the odds for tickets, then he needs to quiz each and every person who comes through the gates on their reasons for being there. If he thinks that everyone is there solely to show a united front to the governments of the world, I think he’s mistaken.

A friend of mine was lucky enough to win two tickets. She’s excited about going, and not because she’s going to be taught all about how she can “make a difference”. The media attention surrounding the concerts and the G8 summit itself has been more than enough to raise awareness; a concert isn’t going to make much more of an impact in that respect. And whilst I’m sure she’d love to see all of the bands playing, she might also appreciate a bit of a personal windfall — a lot of us would, whether we’d admit to it or not. So if I offered my friend £1,000 for her ticket, would any of us judge her for accepting? If you had a ticket, is there no price you’d accept in place of attending the concert yourself? What’s the difference between that scenario and offering up tickets for auction on eBay? It was incredibly naive not to predict that possibility.

If somebody wanted to win tickets solely for the purpose of selling them on, and did so, would Sir Bob not prefer to have an attendee who was willing to pay [at an unarguably extortionate price] to come along and see the show, as they perhaps might be a little more receptive to the issues about which he is attempting to educate the world?

eBay were right with their initial stance to not block the auctioning of these tickets, and it is a failing of the concert organisers that they did not make any attempts to do this futile [e.g. print the name of the winner on the ticket?]. That eBay caved in and decided to block the auctions after all was disappointing. I’m also supportive of their decision to ban any vigilante user who, at Geldof’s urging, attempted to sabotage the auctions with excessive bids, and agree with Damon Albarn that it would have been a good idea to charge the bands themselves to take part. If Geldof is going to lash out at anyone, perhaps it should be his fellow organisers for not thinking things through as much as they could have done, and for not listening more closely to their critics.

#1

Kav | 2005 / 06 / 16 – 17:46

perhaps it has something to do with those people who are profiteering from a concert that has been designed in an effort to help deal with poverty?

Not quite in the spirit of the thing.

#2

David | 2005 / 06 / 16 – 19:31

Re #1: I’m not condoning the sellers, far from it. But from what I saw, the outrage was targetted at eBay rather than the specific users who listed their tickets, which I feel was wide of the mark. The cries of eBay’s “sick profiteering” completely ignored the company’s offer to donate an amount at least equal to the profits they reaped from the sales.

#3

Dina | 2005 / 06 / 17 – 01:13

First bats, now Damon Albarn. A blog after my own heart.

#4

David | 2005 / 06 / 17 – 19:16

Re #3: I aim to please. :)

Commenting on this post is closed. Thanks to all those who left comments. If you'd still like to say something about this entry, feel free to email me.