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Great b ands gather.
to help free Tibet
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By Ryan Malkin
Daily Arts WGriter
Mother Nature was not listening to
the non-violence message being sent to
55,000 screaming fans at this years
Tibet Freedom Concert in Washington
I).C, the outdoor extravaganza held at
RF-K stadium on June 13 and 14.
Amidst the non-violent message and
the amazing lineup of acts and speakers
weas an unexpect-
; ed and unpre-
dictable tragedy.
Tibet During i-erbie
redm Hancock and The
Freeom eadhunters'
Concert performance
Washington D.C. xhat sounded
June 13 and 14, 1998 like a firecracker
came from the
upper balcony,
just before the
doxyn-pour of
rain began.
LThe fierce
sound turned out
to be abiot of lightning, wxhich resulted
in the rushing of several fans to the hos-
pital in critical condition.'The tragedy
caused the event to bc cancelled for the
remainder of the day. leasing fans wvon-
dering when their fav'orites would play.
M-iny fans came to RFK solely for
the music, but the puptIose of the
unprecedented gathering of talent had
to do wxith much more than great music.
Proceedis from the show wecnt to The
Milarepai Fund. a non-profit orgaization
that suppolrts non--violent social change
- eyactly what the -,truggle for freeom
in Tibet embodies. For this cause, several
of the world's most popular and beloved
bands came together to raise money for
The Milarepa Fundi In fact, the money
earned at this year's Tibet Freedom
Concert will allow~ the fund to continue its
work into the next millennium.
Although the first day included
music greats such as Live, Dave
Matthews and KRS-One, the second
day held much more audience interest.
After once again opening the show on
Sunday, day two, the Tibetan monks
and nuns stepped aside for Buffalo
Daughter and the rest of Sunday's jam-
packed acts. Pulp, Sonic Youth and
Luscious Jackson were among the
smaller acts of the day.
The intense heat or possibly the non-
violent message of the festival left the
fans dancing and jumping to the likies
of Wclef Jean, Blues Traveler and
Radiohead instead of moshing - cer-
tainly a rarity for the Beastie BoyS,
Nxhosc Adam Yauch, a practicing
Buddhist, started the festival in 1996.
After being canceled the day before.
R.E.M. played on Sunda', but the band
probably shouldn't hav,e performed at
all. The event was the bands frst with-
out Bill Berm', the long-time drumnmer
who contributed greatly to the band's
success.
As most acts play ed their 'hits" and
upbeat tunes to keep spirits high.
R.F.M. took another route, teasing the
audience xwith 'Losing my 'Religion,
and "Man in the Moon.' Michael Stipe
belted out new tunes that put most audi-*
ence members to sleep or sent them off'
to buy a bottle of wxater. Furthermore,
not maim were interested in seeing' a
bald Stipe' in a dress.
Mov ing to the second stage.,'1bribe
Called Quest took ov er. Possible the
best act of the festival, these guy s bust-
ed out hit after hit 1fter hit, including
such classics as "Scnario" and "Check
the Rhyme Ti be exited: leaving the
audience eager for IThe JBcpti lBov s too
tear up the stage.
The comnat ion wxas unprecedented,
and the audienc could not get enough.
Fans must have regained 'strength during
RI7 M 's set, asthe\ boUnccd up and
down like a bunch ol I ck-in the-boxes.
Pearl lam took the 'stage playiing such
hits as ' P.en FI hx-'ad lBetter Man.~
Pearl Jam was supposed to close the
show,. but just fas people. bgan to e~it
RFK. The Red I lot Chilli Pe'ppers ran
on stage tar a 15-mninute uncpcctd*
set, which included 'Give it Mway and
'Under the Bridge."
The Red I ot Chili Peppers \t ere sup-
posed to play Saturday, but afler the can-
celation, the band ,Nas bumped out of
Sunday's line up. Swarms of people fled
back to the stage as if people were giv-
ing away thousand dollar bills. The
Peppers' short but swveet set was a huge
success.
As the excitement continued through
Monday, the National Day of Action for
a Free Tibet on Capital Hill left Tibet a
notch closer to being free from the rile
of the Chinese government.
Aside from a bolt of lightening and a
truly depressing performance by REM,
the we~ekend proved to be a success for
both the artists, who played new materi-
al and well as their classics, and for the
Milarepa Fund, xwhich raised a great deal
of money for a good cause.
E1II -5f
lawI~
L~HE-0 FOR
Courtesof CapitolRcods
The Beastie Boys$ was just one- of many incredible bands that performed to raise
money to support the struggle for TlbetaR freedom from China.