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03/07/2005: "Change the world"

The G8 meeting kicked off Saturday afternoon in Hyde Park, working on solving poverty in Africa. Behind multiple police cordons, barricades and high walls, a group of unelected people was listening to pop rock stars and trying to change the world. Instead of spending money on tickets, they had spent it on SMS messages and were rewarding their kids with burgers and ice cream. A great number of us who attempted to take part in the debate about poverty were kept away by riot police. A few pranksters pretended to climb over the fences, causing panic amongst police who didn't know how to react. A security staff, who was sitting under a tree, even stood up, a confused expression on her face betraying her inadequacy.

Unfortunately, the park was too small for everybody to change the world, so I went to the day's real big rock event, Finch playing at the Astoria. The gig was breathtaking (not the least because it was so hot and sweaty). I have never been so wet before, keeping up with the pumped up crowd, as the performance was a permanent rush of adrenaline right until the lights went on again. The end was so abrupt that many of us didn't believe it was actually over, even after the security staff were shoving us towards the doors. That's when Randy went to a group of fan and gave out plectra, which was really cool. He changed our world, for sure.