It's Token8 !

Margin8'ed: Baaba Maal

by Lester Holloway
13/6/2005

LIVE8 have announced that Africa's top artists are to perform... in Cornwall.

Token8, as the event will inevitably branded, comes after an avalanche of criticism about the mostly-white line-up for the main London gig.

International superstars like Baaba Maal and Jamie Catto won't be performing at Hyde Park, but they will be on stage at the Eden Project.

Just days after Live8 insisted their mega-concert was "not Womad", an annual world music festival, the organisers have turned to the founder of Womad, Peter Gabriel.

"Token8" promises to feature the creme de la creme of African artists, but the event was overshadowed by news of another Live8 super-concert, this time in Edinburgh.

Once again the line-up at the Murrayfield rugby stadium looks 'hideously white'. Robbie Williams, Travis, Snow Patrol, Dido, Annie Lennox, The Thrills, Ronan Keating, and McFly are set to headline at the 21,000-seated gig.

In a concession to diversity Lenny Henry is ear-marked to entertain at the Scottish stadium. Main organiser Sir Bob Geldof was quoted as joking that he will be the "ethnic Irishman" at Murrayfield.

There may not have been room for African artists at Hyde Park or Edinburgh, but there was space found for a late addition to the bill in London, as it was announced that ageing rockers Pink Floyd are to reform for one last performance.

There are also unconfirmed reports that UB40 will bring their brand of reggae music to a worldwide TV audience of a billion