TORONTO, Ca (AP) - The
Music Without Borders benefit concert that packed Toronto's Air Canada Center on Sunday night (Oct. 21) was a radically different event than the other celebrity benefits we've seen since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The all-Canadian lineup of Alanis Morissette, Barenaked Ladies, Our Lady Peace, the Tragically Hip, Bruce Cockburn, and Choclair was raising funds for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. The six-hour performance was also apolitical, designed to make money rather than take any particular stance.
If the intended message was one of human unity, many in the sold-out crowd of 20,000 embraced it. Dozens of Canadian flags mixed with "I Love N.Y." and peace sign T-shirts. A large banner reading "Canada (heart) USA" hung from the stands.
Onstage, outspoken singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn delivered a quiet set of socially conscious material. He was joined by Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page for a duet version of his "Lovers in a Dangerous Time."
BNL's performance was remarkably upbeat, the jocular five-piece staying true to its joy-through-laughter approach. They pranced about, freestyled, cracked jokes, and played the hits ("One Week," "If I Had a Million Dollars"). Taking a moment to speak out, guitarist Ed Robertson said, "It's a rare match that you can do something good and have a good time. This is a good deal."
Barenaked Ladies |
Our Lady Peace was notably more solemn, singer Raine Maida looking even more anguished than usual. The band's earnest modern rock roused the crowd, which in turn stirred Maida's emotions. A passionate version of the current single "Life" (with its chorus, "It's all messed up/but we'll survive") was the evening's most appropriate and poignant musical moment.
Surprisingly, Morissette did not perform her new track "Utopia," written in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. The singer, who spearheaded the Music Without Borders event, instead played a relatively subdued set, save for her trademark twirling and spastic dance moves. An otherwise moving performance of her hit "Thank You" was somewhat offset by the lyric "thank you, terror."
Clearly, the main attraction for ticket holders was headliners the Tragically Hip. Canada's most popular rock band was greeted with a thundering roar, then launched into a collection of fan favorites. After a 40-minute performance, the Hip was joined by the all the evening's entertainers for an all-star jam of Neil Young's "Keep on Rocking in the Free World."
Ticket sales from event brought in $750,000 (CDN) for the United National Donor Alert fund, which provides emergency assistance to Afghan refugees through agencies such as UNICEF and the World Food Programme. The concert was also broadcast live on MuchMusic and CBC, which accepted telephone donations, the total sum of which will be announced later this week.
