Prepping For MTV Greece’s One-Of-A-Kind Launch Party
By Ocean MacAdams
All of Athens was gearing up for the launch of MTV Greece. They were expecting more than 70,000 people to pack Panathinaiko Stadium to celebrate and watch performances from R.E.M., the Kaiser Chiefs and C:Real.
Our very own Tim Kash was hosting the Sunday night event, and on Saturday we rehearsed with VJs from MTV France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and, of course, Greece.
My job has allowed me to see some pretty amazing venues over the years. I got to run on Soldier Field the day before the Rolling Stones kicked off a tour. I’ve seen Bon Jovi at Giants Stadium. I saw the the Fugees play in the center of Port-au-Prince. But I don’t know if I’ll ever see anything like Panathinaiko Stadium again. Also known as the Kallimarmaron (”beautifully marbled”), it’s a massive stadium built completely from white marble. According to our hosts, it was originally built in 329 BC to host the Panathenaic games in honor of the goddess Athena. It was cleaned up for the first modern Olympic games in 1896.
We finished our prep for the show with gyros and kebab. I always assumed asking for a gyro in Greece would be like asking for General Tsao’s chicken in China — a complete American invention. But no, we found ourselves in a crowded square near our hotel surrounded by hundreds of Greek families out for a stroll and enjoying some of the best (and, if possible, even less healthy than the kind you get in New York) street food we’ve ever had.
It’s All Greek To Tim Kash
This weekend the MTV family gets a new addition, and its name is MTV Greece. So this morning, after a nine-hour flight, we touched down in the beautiful city of Athens.
Athens is almost the polar opposite of the hustle and bustle of New York City: The first thing that hits you when you arrive (apart from the abundance of MTV signs all over the airport) is a real sense of calmness and serenity.
It’s all too perfect. As MTV News’ grand poo-bah Ocean MacAdams, resident Greek god Nick Neofitidis and I sit here eating breakfast on the roof of our hotel — with a view that overlooks the city and the magnificent Acropolis — it’s almost too easy to forget that we’re actually here for work.
On Sunday, I’m hosting our big launch party with a concert at the Panathinaikos stadium (a huge soccer arena) in the heart of Athens. R.E.M. and the Kaiser Chiefs are just two of the acts performing on the big night in front of thousands of music fans — all of them gathered to celebrate the launch of our 105th MTV channel.
But that’s on Sunday. For now, it’s all fun!
Rage To Record? Tom Morello Shoots Down Online Rumors
For months now, we’ve been hearing rumors about Rage Against the Machine that suggested the band, who’ve reunited for a spate of successful gigs, would soon be hitting the studio to write and record the follow-up to 2000’s cover-filled Renegades. Obviously, you’ve got to take such rumors with a grain of salt, considering Rage’s history. But then again, stranger things have definitely happened.
MusicRadar, citing a “source” within the band’s label, Sony, reported that rumor, saying that Rage was prepping new material for an album to be released next year. “We’re hopeful,” the source apparently said, “but a new album is far from definite.” The story was picked up by several sites, and fans responded with a great deal of skepticism — as well they should have.
We decided to go straight to the source and reached out to guitarist Tom Morello — who has been busy with his solo project, the Nightwatchman, and will make an appearance on Cypress Hill’s upcoming LP — by e-mail this morning, asking him whether there was any truth to these rumors. He got back to us a few minutes later with exactly the kind of response we were anticipating. “Nope,” he wrote. Short, sweet and concise. Let’s hope this denial puts these Rage recording rumors to rest once and for all.
The VP Debate: Who Do You Think Won? Seriously, We Want To Know
He won. She totally won. At least she didn’t fall on her face. Thank God he kept it brief. Does anyone really buy all this “betcha, gosh, golly wow, Joe Six-pack” crap? What was that dude even talking about? It’s kind of hard to fail when the bar is set below the bar. Is winking a debate tactic? What about crying? Does it count as an answer if you don’t really answer the question and just talk about whatever you want to talk about? Do vice-presidential debates even matter? Is anyone seriously going to be swayed by either of these two?
Those are just some of the rants, raves and rhetorical questions that came up in the MTV News editorial meeting on Friday morning following Thursday night’s vice-presidential debate between Republican Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Democratic Senator Joe Biden. Except for the copious cursing, it was probably not unlike a million other conversations that took place at those now famous Average Joe and Jane Six-pack breakfast tables all across the country.
By our count, the debate that had the potential to be a Lindsay-Lohan-meets-Britney-Spears-during-their-dark-years train-wreck on top of a shipwreck turned out to be, for the most part, a tie. But you’d never know it if you slipped into the spin alley/zone/corner/vortex of the media. The homepage of the unabashedly left-leaning HuffingtonPost.com currently reads: “The Verdict: GOP Strategist: Palin’s Performance Will ‘Help Stop The Bleeding… It Won’t Change The Trend Line’ … CNN: Biden Dominated Among Undecideds… CBS Focus Group: Biden Won.” The blog’s founder, Arianna Huffington, has a decidedly more partisan take in a column titled, “VP Debate: McCain’s Big Gamble Comes Up Snake Eyes.”
Over at the conservative Drudge Report, there is a poll that has Palin beating Biden by a 70 to 28 percent margin. CBSNews.com says, “He Looked Presidential, She Looked Mayoral.” The Boston Herald smirks, “Smilin’ Sarah Palin Sinks With Winks.” The New York Times‘ TV critic praises Palin for recapturing her image, and the Washington Post goes so far as to say everyone won (including moderator Gwen Ifill, who wasn’t even running for anything), even as one of its chief political writers claims in his column that Palin is a “Hockey Mom on Thin Ice.”
For the most part, outside the conservative blogosphere, Biden is considered the winner. Former Clinton White House insider George Stephanopoulos told “Good Morning America” that Biden’s strategy edged out Palin’s. Time magazine’s Joe Klein states that “Plain Was Fine, But This Debate Was No Contest,” and a commentator on CNN.com decides that “For Palin, a tie is a win.”
So, what do you think? Tell us your verdict on the debate now!
Cypress Hill To Return With Help From Slash, Tom Morello And Mike Shinoda
Long-running, sweet-leaf-loving rappers Cypress Hill are in the process of making their first new album in four years, according to founding member Sen Dog, who told Billboard.com that the group has finished 30 songs for the untitled project. Dog described the album as “definitely hard-core hip-hop” and said the trio hopes to have the album out by the spring, though they’re currently looking for a new record deal.
Sen Dog boasted that it would include writing and production collaboration with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello on the song “Rise Up” and a cameo from Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda on another untitled track. Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash is slated to appear on a tune called “Front Line.”
All of which begs the question, “Wait, Cypress Hill are still together?”
Shepard Fairey And Other Street Artists Go Mainstream For Barack Obama
By Joseph Patel
Whether you’re a Republican, Democrat or Independent, there’s no denying that one of the most ubiquitous images to emerge from the 2008 presidential campaign is the red, white and blue Barack Obama “Hope” poster. Created by one-time street artist Shepard Fairey, the poster features an austere portrait of Obama, manifest in a screen print that looks like one of those funny 3-D magazine pictures, with one of the primary slogans of his campaign written boldly underneath: hope.
For supporters of the Illinois senator, the poster has become a symbol of the potential of an Obama presidency as it adorns windows, billboards and the sides of buildings all around the country. For supporters of John McCain or Hillary Clinton, the portrait has sometimes earned derision for being emblematic of Obama’s “celebrity” status.
Fairey — who created and proliferated the image on streets and online, independent of the Obama campaign — organized a gallery show called Manifest Hope in Denver to coincide with the Democratic National Convention in August. The exhibit highlighted several of the artists who have come out with paintings, T-shirts, stickers, action figures, sneakers and more in support of Obama.
We interviewed Fairey and many of the other artists who were showing at Manifest Hope about what inspired their support for Obama and how they decided to express it artistically.
We probably should’ve rolled this out the week of the DNC but, you know, there were other, more pressing things happening in the country that week.
For me, the most amazing thing about the whole movement has been not only how Shepard Fairey’s singular idea has managed to propagate throughout all corners of the country, but how “rebel” artists — those who previously worked outside the bounds of popular art — have joined the bandwagon. David Choe, one of my favorite painters and illustrators, is one such example: a sort of loose cannon, often lewd and provocative visual artist who is onboard for a mainstream political candidate. None of the other major candidates for office this year has come close to having the same impact in the world of street art (although Complex magazine’s McCain/Palin-inspired mockups are pretty genius).
Wyclef Jean, Jay-Z And Bruce Springsteen Add To Pro-Obama Shows
Wyclef Jean announced on Thursday that he’s joining the bill for Jay-Z’s “Last Chance for Change” free voter-registration concert in Miami’s Bayfront Park Amphitheater this Sunday. The show, hosted by Obama for America, will encourage young attendees to get involved with the Obama campaign. Jean will not be on the bill the previous night at Jay’s free show in Detroit, which like the Miami show, is open to fans 18 and older.
And it looks like that other staple of Obama’s playlist, Bruce Springsteen, is upping the ante in supporting the candidate. In addition to the Obama benefit with Billy Joel on October 16 in New York, Springsteen has also announced a series of free solo acoustic dates that will double as Obama rallies and voter-registration drives, Billboard.com reports. The Boss will play an open-air rally on Saturday in Philadelphia, followed by a Sunday show on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus.
He’ll also perform next Monday at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. Anyone interested in attending the Philly show has to sign up on Obama’s Web site. Tickets for the Eastern Michigan show will be available on campus on Friday, and Columbus residents can get tickets at the Obama campaign offices on the OSU campus.
