DANIEL RUBIN | Commentary Philadelphia lineup is lame

PHILADELPHIA _ Why don't we just call it Bland Aid?
No, that's taken, by WOW Report, one of the many bloggers and Web sites that sounded less than wowed about the initial lineup announced for Live 8, the free, Africa-aid show July 2 on the Ben Franklin Parkway.
& quot;McCartney, Sting, Bono? Bor-ring. Wouldn't it be an end to world poverty if they (and others, like Will Smith) just forked over some of their cash? & quot; asked WOW.
Here in Philadelphia, we don't even get those aging A-listers. We get & quot;others, & quot; like homegrown Will Smith and Bon Jovi, rappers Jay-Z and P. Diddy, fresh-scrubbed rockers Dave Matthews and Maroon 5, and so on. Strong on hip-hop, but what about the rest?
There must be room on the bill for Fabian. Is Joey Bishop in the house?
Last time around, on July 13, 1985, Philly hosted Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, the Pretenders, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Run DMC _ nearly three dozen acts in all.
Next month's Philly bill will grow. Since promoters weren't showing their hand Tuesday, readers chimed in online.
A budding impresario named Burbguy wrote:
& quot;Does this city screw up everything??? A better lineup w/ mass appeal would have been: The Roots, Outkast, Jay-Z (w/ Linkin Park), Beastie Boys, The Pixies, Dave Matthews Band. & quot;
Get big names
Bill Walsh added Velvet Revolver, Audioslave, and Van Halen to that list. (Also the Rolling Stones, U2 and Bruce Springsteen, but that's a little greedy.)
That Dude From Philly, an ex-Philly blogger living in Charleston, S.C., bristled at news that Sir Bob Geldof had nixed a Spice Girls reunion in London because the group wasn't political enough.
& quot;Not that I even remotely care about their music, & quot; That Dude wrote, & quot;but it reminds me of why I hate the type of acts who are political. ... pretentiously arrogant and smug. If he really cared about raising money he'd have them there; they'd generate tons of pub. & quot;
The potential for heavy messaging troubled Undertoad as well. & quot;Dave Matthews talked about the whole point of this being outreach over the issue of African debt relief.
& quot;Yeah, I just can't wait to stand for hours in the midday sun on the Parkway with a million other people, to be lectured at by Dave Matthews. Rock OUT man! & quot;
The announcement of a reprise, to be held 20 years after the first benefit for famine relief at JFK Stadium, made Citizen Mom wax nostalgic: & quot;I'm still sick over missing the first Live Aid. There I was, all of 13 years old, sitting on the beach in Cape May cursing myself for not being at JFK.
& quot;Anyway, you know there can't be a concert anywhere in Philly without Patti LaBelle ... Hall and Oates would be good, too, to bring the Philly flava. I'd like to see Bruce (duh), They Might Be Giants, the Pixies, Beck, REM, Ben Folds, Franz Ferdinand. & quot;
Sherri W. nominated Common, Alicia Keys, Amos Lee and the Killers. Two votes arrived for the Paul Green School of rock kids.
Over at The Rittenhouse Review (http://rittenhouse. blogspot.com), Jim Capozzola let the acts speak for themselves:
& quot;The good news: Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway will play host to one of five Live 8 concerts to be held worldwide (well, not really worldwide) on July 2.
& quot;The bad news: Scheduled acts include Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, P. Diddy, Stevie Wonder, Keith Urban, Il Divo, Rob Thomas, the Kaiser Chiefs, 50 Cent, and Sarah MacLachlan. & quot;