If we look at the anti-nuclear power movement of the late seventies, it's hard to say the "concerts on a mass scale" were "a distraction and diversion from mass organizing". Rather, they were a tool for doing so.
Back in '79 or '80, I went to a anti-nuke concert, "Survival Sunday, " at the Hollywood Bowl, organized by the Mobilization for Survival. Oh how the aging hippies roared when Crosby, Stills and Nash ("Crosby Steals the Cash.") sang. Then Stephen Stills went solo and for a good ten minutes sang a stupid song about picking up a woman at a bar.
"Left culture, " Holly Near singing, "No More Genocide In My Name." Not even Nazi folk singers like http://www.klang.com/ Carl Klang sing, "Gimme, Gimme More Genocide!"