Show Notes
Episode 4: After two years of near misses, Erin, Adam, and a young team of organizers finally bring the first Tibetan Freedom Concert to life, with one of the most talked-about lineups of the 1990s and a bold new model for turning music into action. Note: This episode includes discussion of torture, plus a cuss word or two.
IN THIS EPISODE
After years of failed attempts, Erin, Adam Yauch, the Milarepa Fund, Tibetan organizers, and volunteers bring the first Tibetan Freedom Concert to life.
A tiny San Francisco office becomes the nerve center for one of the biggest benefit concerts of the 1990s.
Adam announces the concert in D.C. — and suddenly it has to become real.
Golden Gate Park fills with prayer flags, stupas, Tibetan musicians, monks, nuns, and 50,000 people a day.
Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, Björk, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Sonic Youth, Beck, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Yoko Ono, and more come together for Tibet.
Deyden Tethong remembers seeing Tibetan culture and 1990s music culture come together in a new way.
Palden Gyatso speaks after escaping Tibet with the torture devices used against him.
The next day, Erin, Adam, and others take the energy to a protest at the Chinese Consulate.
The first Tibetan Freedom Concert becomes the biggest U.S. benefit concert since Live Aid — and proves this was only the beginning.
VOICES IN THIS EPISODE In order of appearance:
Erin Potts — co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts and the Milarepa Fund, expert on music and activism, and executive producer of Freedom Needs a Soundtrack.
Adam Yauch — co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts and Milarepa Fund, member of the Beastie Boys, heard through archival audio.
Serena Altschul — Journalist and longtime MTV News correspondent, heard through archival audio.
Kurt Loder — Journalist, author, and longtime MTV News anchor who helped define music news coverage in the 1990s, heard through archival audio.
Rebecca Rankin — Music journalist and television host/correspondent associated with MuchMusic, heard through archival audio.
Björk — Artist who performed at the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, heard through archival audio.
Yoko Ono — Artist, musician, peace activist, and longtime cultural figure known for her avant-garde work and activism, heard through archival audio.
Tom Morello — Guitarist with Rage Against the Machine, who performed at the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, and activist.
Deyden Tethong — Tibetan activist, producer, and executive producer of Freedom Needs a Soundtrack.
John Norris — Music journalist and longtime MTV News correspondent, heard through archival audio.
Palden Gyatso — Buddhist monk who escaped imprisonment in China and spoke at the concert.
Dave Grohl — Singer and guitarist with Foo Fighters, who performed at the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, heard through archival concert audio.
Biz Markie — Hip-hop artist who performed at the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, heard through archival concert audio.
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This series is a Rangzen production, produced by Adonde Media and distributed in partnership with KALW Public Media in San Francisco.
More from Freedom Needs a Soundtrack
Episode 6: Just two weeks before President Clinton’s trip to China, the D.C. concert becomes the biggest and most consequential yet. After lightning injures concertgoers, the movement carries its message to the Capitol, Beijing and beyond. Erin and others look back on what it set in motion, and ahead to what the fight for freedom needs now.
Episode 5: The Tibetan Freedom Concerts head to New York, where the team faces slow ticket sales, city bureaucracy, and the pressure of turning one breakthrough concert into something bigger. But even as the concert nearly breaks them, U2’s surprise appearance fulfills Erin’s teenage promise and helps carry the movement toward Washington, D.C. Note: This episode includes a cuss word or two.
Episode 3: After protest photos and freedom songs are smuggled out of Tibet, Erin returns home, where a dinner with Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys transforms what she witnessed into a new kind of action. Together, they begin imagining what music, culture, and activism could do for Tibet, leading Erin to attend Lollapalooza with the Beastie Boys and a group of Tibetan monks. Note: This episode includes discussion of torture, plus a cuss word or two.
Episode 2: After studying Tibetan in Nepal and meeting Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys in Kathmandu, Erin Potts travels inside Tibet for the first time. In Lhasa, she and Sam Chapin leave their government-assigned tour, move into the Tibetan part of the city, and come face to face with life under Chinese occupation. When they witness a protest, tear gas, gunfire, and a violent police crackdown, they are left holding proof the world needs to see. Note: This episode includes discussion of a violent response to a peaceful protest, plus a cuss word or two.
Episode 1: Before the Tibetan Freedom Concerts became one of the biggest shows of the 1990s, teenage Erin Potts dreamt of a concert for Tibet featuring her favorite band. Meanwhile, imprisoned Tibetan nun Nawang Sangdrol reveals what it meant to resist from inside Tibet. Their stories meet in the same place: the power of music. Note: This episode includes discussion of political imprisonment and torture, and a cuss word or two.