Jimmy Page in Beijing to Promote Show of Peace

Dan Edwards | Jan 13, 2010 6:58 pm | 6 comments | 7181 reads

Last week we reported on the Show of Peace concert scheduled for April 17, and expressed doubts about whether an event featuring so many high-profile international acts would be allowed to go ahead – in the Bird’s Nest of all places. It seems the organizers at least are firmly convinced it’s going to happen, and they brought former Led Zeppelin guitarist and all round legend Jimmy Page to Beijing for a press conference to prove it.

Before the press conference this afternoon, Page was spotted yesterday at the Plastered 8 t-shirt shop on Nanluogu Xiang. He good-naturedly agreed to be photographed with owner Dominic Johnson Hill, despite the fact Dominic greeted him with, "You're Robert Plant, right?" "I get that a lot," replied Page ruefully. Apparently it wasn't Page's first visit to the shop - he purchased some Plastered 8 gear when he was in town for the Olympics back in 2008.

Later in the evening Page popped into the Pass By Bar and D-22, where local band Birdstriking were gracing the stage.

This afternoon Page appeared at the Show of Peace press conference at the Ritz-Carlton, along with a range of other luminaries and the concert organizers. Sharing the stage with Page were Michael Jackson’s Australian guitarist Orianthi, organizer Rick Garson, United Nations Pathways to Peace representative Michael Johnson, representatives from CCTV and the Ministry of Culture, and British TV Producer Ian Stewart, who will be producing the event and its worldwide telecast.

In the audience lending their support were local rockers New Pants, veteran rocker Xie Tianxiao, and pop stars Ai Jing and Cheng Lin.

Rick Garson clarified that contrary to earlier reports the Show of Peace wouldn’t actually be in the Bird’s Nest, but rather “in front of” the stadium. It was also announced The Black Eyed Peas, Joey Kramer and Joe Perry from Aerosmith, Lady Gaga and 50 Cent have confirmed they will appear at the concert.

Garson said funds from the show would be administered by the Show of Peace Foundation, with a board including Laura Turner (daughter of Ted Turner, founder of CNN) and Mark Victor Hansen (author of Chicken Soup for the Soul). “We’re here to make a difference,” declared Garson. “And we will!”

Page was also given a "Global Peace Award."

The Show of Peace will be the biggest international lineup China has ever seen – if the show is allowed to proceed. If 50 Cent is given a permit to perform in China, I’ll eat my copy of the Beijinger. Although I can’t think of a better album title for the contemporary PRC than Get Rich or Die Tryin'.

Stay tuned.

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guitaristinbj's picture guitaristinbj Submitted by Guest on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 10:02

what i didnt understand was that why didnt someone invite a decent band to play at d-22 when he came.

i mean they had some lame-f#$king experimental noise crap on the stage there when he arrived.

it turned my stomach that I had to tell my friends that i was leaving.

I sat upstairs with Powell young and drank until i couldn't handle that "music" anymore.

no wonder why he didn't play anything for us.

next time he comes to beijing someone please take him to some other bars.

hope he didn't get the wrong impression of the music scene here.

d22 is not a bad place but that noise art was a freaking pathetic onslaught of creepy ooze from the sewer.

if you work for a living why do you kill yourself working?

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 09:42

first bad sign: the rationalization of why this event is going to be held in front of the bird's nest and not in it ... obviously someone palm wasn't greased to get the proper permits for it to happen inside.

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

xiaomaomao's picture xiaomaomao Submitted by Guest on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 10:50

Euuuugghhhaaaarrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh bleeuugh bleeeugh *retch retch retch*

Sorry. Let me compose myself once again *slaps face*

Show…of…PEACE…concert.
How? How is it a show of PEACE? Explain. Someone.
What has Lady Gaga got to do with Peace, I mean other than turning off her music to get some peace and quiet? I mean, maybe I’m wrong, and actually if you play Lady Gaga’s music backwards you hear her reciting a torrent of vitriol against the Chinese government’s treatment of Xinjiang nationals.
Are there any artists involved who actually give a rats arse about peace or activism?
Benjamin Zephaniah? RATM? Bjork?
No, just air headed singers who will attract the kind of people who don’t question anything in life and will go just to get a little wristband that says, ‘PEACE’ on it. All they need now is Lyndsey Lohan, who just returned from saving people in India (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/6790305/Lindsay-Lohan-attacked-over-claims-she-helped-rescue-40-Indian-children.html), to host the show and it will be complete as a shallow representation of nothing.

“Garson said funds from the show would be administered by the Show of Peace Foundation, with a board including Laura Turner (daughter of Ted Turner, founder of CNN) and Mark Victor Hansen (author of Chicken Soup for the Soul). “We’re here to make a difference,” declared Garson. “And we will!”

So how is the author of the most shallow and drivel filled book ever to see print (Chicken Soup for the Soul) going to ‘make a difference’? Free human rights activists by playing music so loud it destroys the building foundations of the jails that hold them? Parachute 50 Cent into Tibet, so that they can help defend the honour of Tibetan citizens and restore the Dalai Lama as the leader of the country? Insist Jimmy Page gives a slideshow presentation on how the death penalty doesn’t actually reduce crime?

Brilliant. These words can be found on the website.
Peace= Green+ no war+ water+ food +health+ education
What does this mean? It’s just a string of words. Where do Human Rights fit in? Oh oh, right, sure, you can’t put that, because a big red rejection stamp will appear on the permission form. This is brown nosing to the most extreme and it’s looks ridiculous compared to Googles recent stance.

Why don’t they just own up and be honest. It’s not a Concert of Peace, it’s a music concert. A free music concert with no message. There doesn’t have to be a message. If you are going to attach a sodding message, then attach something as airy and plastic headed as the music you play, not something as important as Peace.

"Who knows what will be remembered of this century in 5,000 years time. It may be Stalin or Islamic fundamentalism or it may just be the stock cube" - Armando Iannucci

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