Concert With a Cause

I have been a concert enthusiast since I was still in Senior High School. My first concert was Craig David in 2003. After watching him live, I became obsessed with concerts and festivals. My heart beats faster and I can be caught smiling to myself everytime I find out an International musician I like will come to Indonesia. I can say that Adrie Subono and Peter Gontha are my heroes in music. Kidding.

In 2005, I heard about the Live 8 concerts. There were ten concerts held in industrial countries with performances from more than 1000 top-notch musicians, including Mariah Carey and Madonna. I was really excited to see the show on TV since it was impossible for me to see it live.

I looked for more information on the internet about the artist line-up when I stumbled upon the official Live 8 website. The concert was organized in the intention to support UK's Make Poverty History campaign and watched by approximately 3 billion people worldwide. It succeeded in raising awareness about poverty issues in Africa. Not only that, the concert also accomplished it's goal to make G8 leaders give more money to poor countries.

Growing up in a country where many of it's people live under US$2 a day makes me extremely concerned with poverty issues. I sometimes feel helpless because I couldn't do much when I see people eating from trash cans or children selling newspapers on a school hour. The concept of organizing a huge concert in different parts of the earth for a noble cause amazes me. Live 8 would certainly not exist if the British didn't establish the Make Poverty History campaign. This event is an inspiration for me to apply to UK universities for my master's degree and experience firsthand how it's education can create people who are concerned with humanity issues, and are actually doing something about it. I believe we need more people with qualities like that.

Check out this video of Live 8 concert in London