By David Smyth, Evening Standard 22.09.08 "Again solo, Peter Gabriel sang an intensely personal ballad his 96-year-old father has asked him to play at his funeral"
Annie, Jude and friends give peace a chance
Following the massive suicide bomb in Islamabad on Saturday came a bold attempt to make peace break out around the world yesterday , if only for 24 hours.
The Peace One Day campaign for an annual day of global ceasefire started with one man - Jeremy Gilley, a minor actor and filmmaker from Southampton who left school with nothing but a D in pottery - who has been making slow but increasingly impressive progress over the past 10 years.
The 2008 focal point was this awareness concert, featuring Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Lenny Kravitz and John Legend. But far more importantly, all conflicting sides in Afghanistan made a written commitment to stay quiet yesterday, which allowed Unicef access to normally dangerous areas and vaccinate 1.8 million children against polio.
Other world troublespots have been slower to respond in such significant fashion, although symbolic gestures have been made. The Albert Hall audience also saw a screening of Gilley's film about his tireless endeavours, The Day After Peace, which he said will be shown in every school in America next year.
An uplifting story which was much more essential viewing than the rather subdued musical line-up, it revealed him to be a charismatic speaker who kept a cool head in the presence of both the League of Arab States and Angelina Jolie, and refused to give up on his idea despite overwhelming scepticism from media and politicians. If he was any more dogged he would have a collar and a tail. With the essential campaigner's knack of befriending celebrities, Gilley and Jude Law are virtually inseparable in the film, and Law also turned up to introduce the concert in the flesh. Bryan Adams was first up with an acoustic guitar and a violinist, setting a trend for low-key performances.
The charity gig always walks a fine line between being entertaining and trying not to have too much fun, and this struggled to hit the right tone. Annie Lennox was alone at the piano singing Pete Seeger's Where Have All The Flowers Gone? and Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down, in front of statistics of war and photos of ravaged buildings. Again solo, Peter Gabriel sang an intensely personal ballad his 96-year-old father has asked him to play at his funeral. Even Lenny Kravitz's raucous Are You Gonna Go My Way was transformed into a brooding blues slowie.
John Legend was the only one to bring a band along, adding much needed pizzazz but also committing the cardinal charity show sin of plugging his new album's release date. However, his new song If You're Out There was an altruistic anthem in the classic mode, and he sent many home inspired to work towards Peace Two Days.
Annie, Jude and friends give peace a chance
Following the massive suicide bomb in Islamabad on Saturday came a bold attempt to make peace break out around the world yesterday , if only for 24 hours.
The Peace One Day campaign for an annual day of global ceasefire started with one man - Jeremy Gilley, a minor actor and filmmaker from Southampton who left school with nothing but a D in pottery - who has been making slow but increasingly impressive progress over the past 10 years.
The 2008 focal point was this awareness concert, featuring Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Lenny Kravitz and John Legend. But far more importantly, all conflicting sides in Afghanistan made a written commitment to stay quiet yesterday, which allowed Unicef access to normally dangerous areas and vaccinate 1.8 million children against polio.
Other world troublespots have been slower to respond in such significant fashion, although symbolic gestures have been made. The Albert Hall audience also saw a screening of Gilley's film about his tireless endeavours, The Day After Peace, which he said will be shown in every school in America next year.
An uplifting story which was much more essential viewing than the rather subdued musical line-up, it revealed him to be a charismatic speaker who kept a cool head in the presence of both the League of Arab States and Angelina Jolie, and refused to give up on his idea despite overwhelming scepticism from media and politicians. If he was any more dogged he would have a collar and a tail. With the essential campaigner's knack of befriending celebrities, Gilley and Jude Law are virtually inseparable in the film, and Law also turned up to introduce the concert in the flesh. Bryan Adams was first up with an acoustic guitar and a violinist, setting a trend for low-key performances.
The charity gig always walks a fine line between being entertaining and trying not to have too much fun, and this struggled to hit the right tone. Annie Lennox was alone at the piano singing Pete Seeger's Where Have All The Flowers Gone? and Neil Young's Don't Let It Bring You Down, in front of statistics of war and photos of ravaged buildings. Again solo, Peter Gabriel sang an intensely personal ballad his 96-year-old father has asked him to play at his funeral. Even Lenny Kravitz's raucous Are You Gonna Go My Way was transformed into a brooding blues slowie.
John Legend was the only one to bring a band along, adding much needed pizzazz but also committing the cardinal charity show sin of plugging his new album's release date. However, his new song If You're Out There was an altruistic anthem in the classic mode, and he sent many home inspired to work towards Peace Two Days.
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