Andy Kershaw, the Radio 3 presenter and world music enthusiast, began the backlash against the largely white Live 8 line-ups when he said it would do nothing for "Africa's self-esteem".
He returns to the topic in the Independent, accusing Bob Geldof of "breathtaking arrogance" for inviting African artists to play at an "Africa Calling" concert at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
First, he dismisses the idea of having Africans on his bill since, supposedly, they are not big enough draws. Now, outrageously, he is planning to corral the Africans into Cornwall rather than allow them to appear on the same stage, on equal terms, with their European and American counterparts. And I thought apartheid was dead ...
Kershaw's language is strong and, as this blog has argued before, the extension others have made of his argument - that Live 8 is somehow a conspiracy to keep Africans down - is missing the point.
The idea is to create a populist upsurge to pressure the G8 leaders, not to change the public's attitude to Africa. That would be a happy consequence, however, and if - as Kershaw puts it - a "few African bands [may even be] refreshing after watching hours of clapped-out, over-familiar rock stars", that is no bad thing either.
