I enjoyed watching Live Aid, or Earth Aid, Farm Aid, Farm Earth, or whatever it was called, on Saturday. It was entertaining watching Sting as he watched Kanye West, the Police-man wondering if West’s freestyling would turn their joint performance into a train wreck. I loved it when Roger Waters brought the local Trenton kids onstage for "Another Brick in the Wall," and apparently Waters did too–it was the first time I’d ever seen him smile.
My one gripe, however, was how the action going on at Giants Stadium in New Jersey was constantly said to be taking place in New York, which is around 12 miles to the east. This geographical faux-pas was most galling when Bon Jovi performed. There, on the screen, it said "New York" and "Bon Jovi" as Jersey’s cherised homegrown product–JBJ is up there with Springsteen and Tony Soprano in the beloved Jersey Guy pantheon–led the crowd (the Jersey crowd) through a singalong of "Wanted Dead or Alive."
Yes, I was born in the Garden State. But that’s no one’s business.
