Charity Gigs

I do differentiate between charity gigs and the shit that celebrities spout about politics. The gig itself has a function- to raise money for a charity, and I don't see anything wrong about that at all.

The guff that comes from people, though, is despicable. They inevitably fall into two types: a)The Star Appearance, who only ever pops up at things like Live Aid or Children In Need, and are merely irritating due to their shiny stupidity and obvious promotional push, and b)The Intellectual, who can be quite severely damaging with their surface reading of weighty texts, and simplification of complex matters.

LondonIndieNYC is a great thing to my mind, not only because the money will be put to a good cause, but because the actual event will be good, there's no over-carping about how great we all are (yessir, we do alotta work for charidee) or false 'sincerity', and it's bringing people together who would otherwise feel helpless at their inability to do anything.

Generally, I'm wary of them. I DO believe in raising awareness, of publicising causes that people might not have otherwise heard about. But if we're talking about benefits to raise money, I start to feel uneasy.

Reasons:

-the controversies therein. For instance, why is one charity "better" than another? Is there any point to it? Will it do any good? How much good? To whom, exactly? Is Mary Archer involved? Is the event being publicised enough? Are all the takings going straight to the charity? Gross? Including the bar takings? Should the charity even exist in the first place, and wouldn't it be better to ask why such a need is not met with tax money? Some might even question being asked to donate money to help the richest country in the world.

The very nature of charity also implies choice: ie you can give or you can choose not to give. If a need is so obviously A Good Thing in the eyes of every sentient being, surely there should NOT be a choice NOT to give. Ergo, tax money should be used, not the post-tax disposable income of a limited amount of people.

If money is needed to help those whose suffering is connected with the recent atrocities in the US, then surely it should come directly from the tax budgets of the US government and the governments of all sympathetic nations. If it doesn't, if they aren't giving enough, ask WHY. If Messrs Bush and Blair are taking your tax money and giving it to Israel who are currently using it bomb Palestinians RIGHT NOW while the rest of the world is looking the other way, when it should be going to help the victims of the US attacks, then surely it's better, if you feel helpless and need to do something, to channel your energies and passions towards correcting THAT?

-egos using such events to both absolve their consciences and benefit their own hypocritical careers. Tracy Chapman's album sales rocketing after her appearance at that Mandela show. Stereophonics playing the Hillsbrough concert before they had a record out: can't have done their career any harm playing a capacity stadium gig at that point. U2 and Radiohead playing charity gigs at the same time as releasing records on record labels affiliated with companies that make bombs. The Manics doings benefits for Amnesty International while sucking up to Cuba. It's all so dodgy.

-emotional blackmail. ie, the implication that if you don't attend an event or turn it down or disagree with the event or the charity or Charity per se, you are a Bad Person and you don't Care.

-the patronising "school play" atmosphere at charity gigs of bands playing to a venue full of people who are pretending to like them simply because it's for a good cause.

-cheap ways of appearing self-righteous. Like the Tom Lehrer song... "We're For Good Things! And Against Bad Things! Unlike Everyone Else!"

-people walking out of a benefit gig and avoiding the eyes of homeless beggars on the way home.

So, I'm keen on awareness-raising for causes that deserve more coverage (eg fanzine writer Paul Robinson being jailed in Gothenburg). Everyone is all TOO aware of the recent events in the US: to the point of numbing saturation. If one must feel the need to do a charity gig, I think one should at least pick a cause that gets less column inches than others. Don't let the media do your thinking for you.

So, no, in general, I'm not keen on benefit gigs. Likewise appearing on or buying charity compilation albums (no one deserves to listen to the Levellers). Or wearing trainers. Or going on demonstrations. Actually, that last one's more to do with me being allergic to loud whistles. And being beaten up.