Tibet Freedom Concert
Amsterdam Rai Parkhal
13-06-99
"There's lots of issues going on at the moment. So it is
understandable that Tibet is not getting the attention it deserves,
but there is an underlying issue. The issue is where world powers
choose to exceed their power and where they don't. The selective
amnesia that keeps going on around us and the media just keeps
portraying it as the truth. So that's why we chose to do this
gig..."
Thom Yorke's speech sounded well prepared but heartfelt, and
echoed the concerns of all those performing at this year's Tibetan
Freedom Concerts.
The organiser of the Milarepa Fund, Erin Potts, explained that
for the first time a whole 24 hours worth of live music was being
dedicated to a single important cause. The four concerts being
held around the world - In Sydney, Australia; Tokyo, Japan; Chicago,
USA; and in Amsterdam, Netherlands - spanned the whole day over
different time zones. The point of this effort was to draw more
attention to the situation in Tibet, a non-violent country whose
people have been denied their basic human rights for over forty
years under occupation by the Chinese government. This special
weekend was a chance for supporters of the Tibetan people to call
for negotiations between the Chinese government and His Holiness
the Dalai Lama.
Petitions and signed postcards were collected at each concert to send to national governments and the Chinese embassy in each country. The Milarepa Fund believes promoting the Tibetan philosophy of nonviolence is a combination of hard work and having fun. Thus the Freedom Concerts that since 1997 had taken place in the USA, were organised to broaden the scope of involvement.
Erin Potts said that as the Director of Programmes she was able to choose which of the four concerts to attend and she chose Amsterdam because it offered the best line up of artists. The crowd at the giant indoor Rai Arena would have been hard pressed to argue with her about that, as the bill offered some rare treats for lots of music fans.
After an introductory Buddhist prayer and a traditional good luck dance from some members of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Luscious Jackson were the first band to take the stage. They looked like tough New York women and they were brave to warm up a crowd who did not really know their music. They enjoyed themselves and played their funkiest songs, 'Naked Eye', a great track called 'Nervous Breakthru' and their newest material 'Lady's Fingers'. They had a DJ scratching in samples and adding a hip hop flavour to their punkier moments. By the end they had all swapped around their instruments at least once and the drummer had appeared from behind her kit to jump around at the front of the stage and encourage some pogoing from the audience.
By now we were in the mood to have a good time, but always with an eye to the speakers and representative of Tibet that spread their message in between the acts.
Next on were the day's only Dutch act, hardcore punks NRA. From out of nowhere a mosh pit formed near the front of the stage and their energetic fans started their ritual of berserk thrash dancing, causing the more reserved punters to catch a few flying elbows and boots which were received with irritation but friendly acceptance in the spirit of the occasion. When NRA were done shouting about riots in the street and jumping about, we got a short respite before the arrival of "Legend of Rock 'n' Roll" Joe Strummer.
The Clash singer was back with his new rabble rousing band, The Mescaleros. I never saw the Clash but I know their music and it was a great thrill to watch some of their songs being performed by the man himself. They started with 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' and rekindled a few more glories with several songs from the album 'Combat Rock'('Straight to Hell', 'Rock the Casbah') and a few songs that Joe had written more recently, still with a political theme. He asked for help from the crowd with their final song, a blistering rendition of the fantastic 'I Fought the Law', a song that it was brilliant to hear being sung on this occasion. The Clash are remembered as one of the only bands who pulled off the mixture of radical political statements with rock'n'roll and here was a fitting place to be reminded of it.
After this burst of exhilaration I am afraid to say that the gentle blues of Ben Harper, who plays a lap steel guitar, was rather yawn inducing. I found his songs over earnest and unconvincing but the kids in the rest of the crowd seemed to enjoy it. His version of Jimi Hendrix's 'Voodoo Chile' seemed tame and too laid back, but other people seemed to be getting excited by it.
By now the schedule was running a little late, but their was still time for a performance from the Tibetan folk singer who had amazed everyone who had been at the previous day's rally in the Dam square with her extraordinary voice and tales of life in her country.
Then came the act that I and most of the front three rows of the crowd had been waiting for, a rare performance from Radiohead's front man, Thom Yorke. Supported by the multi faceted Jonny Greenwood on Guitar and Hammond Organ, Thom began quietly with a new song to his own minimalist piano accompaniment and then picked up his acoustic for the crowd's favourite, 'Street Spirit (fade out)'. This was going to be a short performance but it was a shining light in the middle of the day. He strummed a chord and then began another song, but got stuck for words and called to Jonny for help. He pulled it back together and introduced it as Elvis Costello's 'I'll Wear It Proudly', one of his favourite songs and an inspiration to Radiohead. Jonny played the Hammond organ and it was up there with the original, a superb moment. They continued straight into 'Lucky', Thom smiling, Jonny playing two instruments at once and everyone singing along. Unlike for the other bands, there were no cameras on the stage during their performance to relay the picture to the big screens, for the fans near the front this made for a rare intimacy in a big venue, something which makes any Radiohead performance particularly special. They concluded with a rousing and pertinent 'Karma Police' then an effecting 'Exit Music'. "We hope that you choke"seemed a very fitting line after hearing about the abuse that the Tibetans have suffered at the hands of their oppressors.
Urban Dance Squad replaced Rage Against the Machine on the bill and picked up the pace with hip hop beats and angry samples. I took the opportunity to have a look around the hall, there were stalls where one could sample Tibetan, Japanese and Dutch foods and several examples of Tibetan craft goods for sale.
Meanwhile, Garbage had taken to the stage with their own brand of polished, layered loud pop. Garbage want to make radio friendly pop with a difficult edge, but they seem detached from their audience. You can look but you can't touch, as she sings in 'I Think I'm Paranoid'. The other acts so far had made some concessions to the cause being supported but during their set it felt like we were being allowed into a exclusive Garbage gig, as Shirley teased the crowd with her backless pink top and raunchy dancing. At least Garbage have some sense of humour, which is more than can be said for Alanis Morrissette.
While I suppose she is to be commended for lending her support to the good cause I still can't find anything to recommend about her musically. She played a set comprised of material from her newest album, which seems to have an Indian theme to it that reminds one of the kind of heavy rock of the 1970s that Alanis herself must be too young to remember. The sub-Led Zeppelin dirge of most of the tracks made the list song 'Thank U' sound catchy by contrast. Alanis has taken her experience of Indian and Buddhist culture and adapted it to fit her own psychoanalysed, overly verbose method of songwriting. She had a big fake tattoo down one arm and just enough hair left out of her plait to shake it around and cover her face. The problem with Alanis is that she tries too hard to be taken seriously and ends up sounding like an overwrought joke.
When Blur finally appeared, rather late and a bit dishevelled I was pleased to see them. I have not seen them since the Parklife era, but having really got into their new album, '13' I was looking forward to seeing how they had changed.
They played through it virtually track by track, beginning
with 'Tender', which worked a lot better in this stripped down
form than I had expected. Damon explained that in Amsterdam they
play everything at half speed as they rendered versions of songs
from the new album. Physically the members of Blur seem to be
filling out along with their sound, they have grown up and seem
to have freedom to be more adventurous while still keeping some
of their trademarks. They have found some soul in their new songs.
They played a never-before-performed 'Blue Jeans' from their second
album, 'Modern Life is Rubbish' just to prove that they have always
had this element. They returned for an encore and pleased the
crowd for one last song before they left -'Song 2' is one of the
simplest songs that Blur have ever done but it is also one of
the most immediate and popular. It left the crowd feeling on a
high and shouts of 'Whoo hoo!' mixed with those of 'Free Tibet!'
as everyone emptied the hall. We had had a good time but we had
not forgotten the reason why we were here.
Lucy Brouwer.