Look To The Stars News: Snow Patrol

U2 Plays Surprise Charity Gig

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:00:52 -0000

Over 250 people were glad they braved the freezing London weather last week to attend one of the Mencap Little Noise Sessions charity concerts. Those who traipsed through the drizzle on Friday, November 23, were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime show when two members of U2 played unannounced as a warm up act at the gig.

Bono and The Edge played a set of four songs when they surprised concert-goers at the Union Chapel in North London, including “Stay (Faraway So Close)”, “Desire”, “Angel of Harlem”, and “Wave of Sorrow”, a song originally written in 1987 for the Joshua Tree album, but never released or played live before.

“Don’t tell Larry (Mullen Jr) and Adam (Clayton) we’ve done this,” joked Bono, referring to his absent band mates.

Rumors had reverberated around the music industry for a week that some special guests would appear at the gig, which also featured Scottish group Biffy Clyro. But no one in the audience had any idea who it would be until the duo walked on stage.

“They were actually really nervous beforehand,” said event host and BBC Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley. “After they came off stage, Bono asked me if they’d been OK, and they were also wondering whether the ‘new’ song had gone down well.”

The Mencap Little Noise Sessions are a series of concerts being held at the Union Chapel on 8 consecutive nights from November 20-27. Other artists to be involved in the acoustic gigs include Will Young, Snow Patrol, and Keane, and proceeds from the shows will go to help Mencap with running arts programs to help people with learning disabilities grow in confidence and ability.

Mencap, a non-profit organization founded in 1946, works with adults and children affected by learning disabilities, and fights to end discrimination and provide a wide range of services. Over 1.5 million people in the UK suffer from learning disabilities, which can cause difficulties in communication and doing everyday things. However, Mencap maintains that a learning disability will not prevent someone from achieving their dreams if they are given the right support.

More information on how to donate to Mencap or attend one of the remaining Little Noise Sessions can be found at www.mencap.org.uk.

Celebrities Lend Their Hands To Charity

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:58:29 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Over 40 celebrities from around the world are featured in a special new book to be released in time for Christmas.

“Celebrity Handprints”, set to be published on December 1, is the culmination of two years work for author James Preston. Since November 2005, Preston has scoured the globe in search of famous names who were willing to dip their hands in ink and leave a lasting mark on paper. And his peculiar pursuit opened doors to some of entertainment’s biggest stars, including Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Matt Damon, and Keira Knightley.

Over the course of his travels, Preston collected more than 100 handprints and accompanying photos of some of the brightest stars in film, television, music and sports, 42 of which are to be included in the new book. All of the proceeds from the publication will go to benefit two British children’s charities – Children in Need and the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Also available is a series of limited edition prints of the handprints, suitable for framing. The cost for each print, which also includes a photograph of the star involved, is $100. 30% of the total will go to both charities.

Other stars involved in the project include David Beckham, Robbie Williams, Will Smith, Joss Stone, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Sir Richard Branson, Sir Tom Jones, Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne, Snoop Dogg, Samuel L. Jackson, Wyclef Jean, the Kaiser Chiefs, the Smashing Pumpkins, Snow Patrol, Star Wars creator George Lucas, and many more.

The book will be available for $40 from bookstores and Amazon, and both the book and the prints will be able to be purchased from www.celebrityhandprints.org.

It's Never Too Crowded For Charity

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:35:18 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Half of the band is American, yet they originated in Australia, and the lead singer is a New Zealander. Veteran pop band Crowded House can truly be considered as one of the most international music groups ever to grace the airwaves. And even though they are currently halfway through a world tour to promote their latest album, they still find time to be part of a new collaborative CD to raise money for Oxfam.

“The Cake Sale” ([CD] /[MP3]) is a new record featuring a loose and expansive collective of musicians and writers, including Crowded House founding member Nick Seymore, who have combined to create a 9 song CD of previously unreleased recordings. Profits from the album, which also features Nina Persson from The Cardigans, Damien Rice, and Snow Patrol, will go to Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign, as well as to their overseas program work. It was released in Britain in September, where it has already raised almost $300,000, and was made available in the US on October 16.

Crowded House formed in 1984, as a result of the demise of an earlier band called Split Enz. Ex-Enz singer/songwriter Neil Finn, and drummer Paul Hester, joined bass player Nick Seymore to form the new band, then travelled to Los Angeles. There they were signed to Capital Records. Over the next 12 years, the band released four albums, and garnered a loyal fan base with a strong repertoire of hits on both sides of the Atlantic, including “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, “Weather With You”, and “Four Seasons In One Day”.

In 1996, the band called it a day, and played a final Farewell To The World concert to 120,000 people in front of the Sydney Opera House. Proceeds from what many regard as one of the most emotional gigs ever all went to the Sydney Children’s Hospital.

The following years saw the members of the group pursue new musical directions. Finn released two solo albums, and also travelled to Africa with Oxfam, a trip that resulted in him becoming an Oxfam Ambassador. In 2005, he was part of Oxfam’s Big Noise program, an international petition of more than 10 million signatures which called on decision makers to change unfair global trade rules so that people in developing countries have the chance to work their way out of poverty. He has since been part of a number of concerts to raise money for Oxfam, and also took time time entice his fellow New Zealanders to be a part of Oxjam in October 2007.

“You can do something,” said 49 year old Finn. “You can use your voice and tell the world that we won’t stand for people living in poverty any more. It’s not just about charity, it’s about justice. So stand up. Get singing, get playing. Make as much noise as you can and support Oxjam.”

Finn, who was awarded an OBE in 1993 for services to New Zealand music, also supports other charities in his native country, often contributing to celebrity auctions. One of the most popular of these is the annual auction held for the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust, New Zealand’s only dedicated music therapy centre catering for special needs children. In 2005, the hand-written lyrics to his most popular songs raised $15,000 for the charity.

In February 2007, Neil Finn played a charity show for Scope, England’s largest organization for people living with cerebral palsy. The concert was held at Stowe School in Wales, and also featured Aussie rocker, Jimmy Barnes. The event was followed by a celebrity auction featuring items donated by Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Elton John, and Australian cricketer, Shane Warne.

2007 also saw the reforming of Crowded House as a band, with the release of their new album, “Time On Earth”. The album, dedicated to the memory of drummer Paul Hester, went straight to the top of the charts in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, and was in the top twenty in many parts of Europe. One of the first gigs the band played together to promote the album was Hyde Park Calling, a benefit concert festival held in London on June 23 and 24. Organized in conjunction with Hard Rock Cafe, it was the first concert in the second annual Ambassadors of Rock Tour, a global concert series featuring top artists and bands, benefitting charities worldwide. The London concert, which also featured Peter Gabriel, Chris Cornell, and Aerosmith, raised funds for the Nordoff-Robbins Foundation, a charitable organization that provides music therapy to autistic children, and Global Angels, a charity that acts as an umbrella fundraising mechanism for children’s projects throughout the world.

A few weeks later, Crowded House played at the Live Earth concert in Sydney, closing the show in memorable fashion, despite a power failure that meant most of their set was played in the dark.

“It feels right to us that the band should re-emerge at this time,” said Finn before the Live Earth concert. “We aim to make this show as vital and spirited as what has come before.”

More information about “The Cake Sale” album, which Hot Press describes as being “the album other charity records aspire to be”, can be found at www.thecakesale.com, and the official Crowded House website can be viewed at www.crowdedhouse.com.

Richard Branson Attends Virgin Festival in Baltimore

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:55:09 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Soaring temperatures of over 100°F did not stop 80,000 music lovers from attending a massive two-day charity concert held at the Pimlico Raceway in Baltimore on August 4 and 5. The Baltimore Virgin Festival was part of a series of concerts being held this year, partly organized by Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin brand.

Concert goers were treated to performances by 40 groups and artists, including Sting and The Police, Ben Harper, The Beastie Boys, Iggy Pop, and The Smashing Pumpkins. $1.50 from every ticket sold was donated directly to Virgin Unite, the charitable arm of the Virgin Group, dedicated to “tackling some of the tougher social challenges by uniting people and Virgin’s global resources.”

The concert also featured a huge tent village which housed a mall of philanthropy booths, where concert attendees could find out more about non-profit organizations such as Oxfam, The Living Classrooms Foundation (which uses maritime settings to train at-risk youth), StandUp For Kids (which helps homeless children), and Youth Noise (a website where teens can talk about significant issues and raise money for their chosen causes).

Branson joined actress Daryl Hannah at the event, and stated that the festivities were extremely eco-friendly, with 99% of the fuels used to power the concert being the cleanest biofuel available.

The Virgin Festival in Baltimore followed a similar concert held in Vancouver in May, and the next event will be in Toronto in September.

Also rocking out on August 4 and 5 was another huge concert, the Lollapalooza Festival, an annual event founded in 1991. 165,000 people crammed Grant Park in Chicago to see 140 acts, including Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, and Snow Patrol. A portion of every ticket sale went to the Parkways Foundation, a non-profit organization working with the Chicago Park District.

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