Concert held on Everest to promote awareness of Cancer; Question: Who doesn’t already know about cancer?
Apparently a U.S. based anti-cancer group believes that there are people in the world who are not yet aware of cancer. However these very people can be finally informed of this terrible disease by holding a live concert in one of the most remote corners of the world with a collection of has been rock bands.
The Love Hope Strength Foundation said that they had staged the world’s highest rock concert on the icy slopes of Mount Everest featuring forgotten 80s bands The Alarm, Stray Cats, the Fixx and the Squeeze. The organization said that they had registered the even with the Guinness Book of World Records. However it is uncertain whether the record is for the highest concert on earth or perhaps the most futile exercise of all time. The most remarkable thing is that somewhere along the way someone didn’t say, “What in the world are we thinking?”
It’s hard to imagine how a concert at 18,000 feet helped any past, present or future cancer victims. Once again we see a stupid idea smacked with a charity label resulting in a group of people feeling good about themselves and not much else.
The source of this story should have been The Onion but sadly was Reuters.
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October 29th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
[…] Account wrote an interesting post today on Concert held on Everest to promote awareness of Cancer; Question …Here’s a quick […]
October 29th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
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October 30th, 2007 at 6:10 am
Glad you read about the concert, and sorry to hear you didn’t digest it all. Actually, it was not to raise awareness really…As you so deftly note, most people - at least in the west - are aware of cancer. The concert, and the Love Hope Strength Foundation, raised huge sums to turn the Bhaktapur Cancer Relief Hospital in Kathmandu into a world class cancer center which can provide treatment to those who cannot afford it. The whole thing was the brainchild of cancer survivors Mike Peters and James Chippendale. Cynicism is a great thing, and I am one, too, at times, but please be sure to get the whole story - not just the blip off Reuters and the wires - before passing judgment on the work of dedicated people.
Thanks,
Jake Norton
MountainWorld Productions
October 30th, 2007 at 7:48 am
Come on now this gets 3 comments (4 counting mine) and beer can crushing breasts only get 2. I submit our priorities are sadly misplaced people.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Yes, they raised $250,000, which is better than nothing. And yes, they were dedicated. But it still sounds like a spectacle. Here’s a quote from a post entitled “Highest Gig Ever”:
“Events since April’s launch of the Foundation include walks up the Empire State Building and Mt. Snowdon in north Wales (highest peak in the UK), plus a sea-level, flat NJ walk-a-thon. Concerts ended each effort and Everest was no different. Yesterday, on their ninth day of hiking, the group of several dozen cancer survivors, MTV producers and musicians ascended to Kala Patthar, Nepal (”Everest Base Camp”) with instruments in hand. (Sherpas of course were invaluable). Guinness Records agrees….”
Keeping in touch with the Guinness folks? Guarding the equipment of the MTV producers? And of course, the hardy, dedicated, invaluable Sherpas who shall remain nameless?
The whole thing just has a bit of a weird feel to it. Yes, I know that the purpose of the MTV producers and the Guinness campaign and the myriad sponsors (iTunes etc.) was to get more money for the campaign, but it’s no wonder that the fundraising purpose was drowned in the midst of all the other stuff going on. And even the goal of gaining individual sponsorships is lost in the categorization of Tour Managers and Groupies.
Well, technically LHS can’t “top” this one, but we’ll see what they do next.
November 28th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
well i hope to hell nobody close to you ever succumbs to cancer. with a closed mind like yours i won’t feel bad at all how it effects you. what i will feel is sadness for the person you know who is dying or has died from cancer. see, they won’t really know how you truly feel about the sickness because i am sure you will never tell them. enjoy your cancer free world.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Mike, chill out buddy, and don’t equate the questioning the relevance and validity of the “awareness” claim made by the “world’s highest rock concert” with empathy for people affected by the disease–something I share with you.
I appreciate the self-righteousness all those involved with staging the event must feel having done what no one has ever done before…taking bad 80s bands up to 18,000 for a “concert”. And while it was not your claim that only $250,000 was raised (it was another commenter) if true I don’t know how it can be seen as anything other than an exercise in futility. No wonder the spin is to focus on awareness as opposed to the money raised. Our local elementary school raises about that with booster drives though I guess they could also get sponsors to kick in money under the guise of “literacy awareness”, then spend a lot more doing some stunt.
Do I care about cancer victims? Yes. Do I think the $250,000 will help cancer victims? Yes. Do I think the “In To Thin Air” concert series was the best way to go about it? No. Do I give any credence to the “awareness” claim? No.
You want to challenge those assumptions then by all means go at it but don’t wrap the debate around caring for victims. As everyone else in the world, I have lost people close to me to the disease however I don’t feel better about it knowing that the Alarm and other 80s relics were able to play a sampling of their hits on the world’s tallest mountain in the name of the disease that took them.