NetAid Puts a Good Cause Before Good Showmanship

NetAid, the latest in a distinguished line of benefit concerts aimed at eradicating poverty, hunger or other global ills, was an ambitious and noble but poorly executed concept, at least on this side of the Pond.

With its endless breaks to check sound and set up bands, its succession of worthy but often dry infomercials and its incongruously perky banter from host A.J. Hammer, less than half of the Giants Stadium portion of the star-studded, tri-nation, 7 1/2-hour concert Saturday featured music.

Though several performances sparkled, sets were limited to two to four songs. Thus, no sooner was the audience revved up than the musician left, leaving listeners to the mercy of crews repeating “testing, testing” and videotaped speeches from executives of net-aid.com, the mammoth, poverty-fighting Web site that the benefit was for.

Occasionally, but not often enough, the crowd was treated to footage from the two NetAid shows in Geneva and London, including David Bowie sizzling on “Rebel Rebel” and the Eurythmics delivering a pounding “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” Organizers easily could have kept the momentum going by setting up two adjacent stages, allowing one band to set up while the other played.

But the production appeared to be geared toward those watching at home on VH1 or the Internet, not toward listeners in the half-filled stadium, who paid up to $75 a ticket.

Even the intended climax, billed as a “moment of unity,” was a letdown. The idea was for performers from all three shows to unite via the Internet and TV cameras to sing “New Day,” a hip-hop ballad about hope that was written by Wyclef Jean and U2’s Bono for NetAid. But listeners at Giants Stadium didn’t see or hear any musicians from the other concerts singing along on the video screens flanking the stage--just actor Michael Douglas in Geneva. What’s more, they’d already heard Jean, Bono and a host of celebrities including Meryl Streep and Michael Stipe sing “New Day” three times before the cameras started rolling.

If the staging left much to be desired, goodwill abounded as the performers, who played for free, urged listeners to take action to fight poverty. A few performers also chose songs that urged compassion--”Only kindness matters in the end,” Jewel cooed.

Bono was at his supplicating best with “One,” which he ended with the line, “All you need is love--and some comprehensive technology.”

And a lot less lag time between sets.