It's Not Easy Being Green, A Ginormous Concert
Today's the day for Al Gore's little-concert-that-could, a multi-national effort to raise awareness for global warming by turning up the amps to 11 and flying artists all over the world. The event's under a lot of heat (HA!) for its mixed messages (AP cites critics' complaints that it lacks "achievable goals," concerts require a lot of power, etc.) but Stereogum won't be cynical today. Leave that to Roger Daltrey and Arctic Monkeys, who have already blasted the concerts' hypocrisy. (But really -- there won't BE any more Arctic monkeys if we don't reduce CO2 emissions!) Anyway, what were we saying ... oh, if you see any good performances on the Web, or Bravo (airing 18 hours of the concert today, already underway!), shout out in the comments. As for the line-up, a band rocking Antarctica is certainly something we'll be looking for on YouTube. But we will not be taking any recycling advice from Fergie.
Let's help find this guy's friend, yeah?
So turn down the AC, hug a polar bear, and take the jump for the today's schedule of eco-friendly artist performances. Sadly, no Diddy ... which means there will be a tragic lack of "If you miss the polar ice caps make some noooooise!" call-outs.
CONCERT LINEUP
Scheduled order of appearance (subject to change)
LIVE EARTH NEW YORK at Giants Stadium
2:30 p.m. EDT 7/7
KENNA
KT TUNSTALL
TAKING BACK SUNDAY
KEITH URBAN
LUDACRIS
AFI
FALL OUT BOY
AKON
JOHN MAYER
MELISSA ETHERIDGE
ALICIA KEYS
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
KELLY CLARKSON
KANYE WEST
BON JOVI
SMASHING PUMPKINS
ROGER WATERS
THE POLICE
LIVE EARTH LONDON at Wembley Stadium
1:30 p.m. Local Start 7/7
8:30 a.m. EDT 7/7
GENESIS
RAZORLIGHT
SNOW PATROL
DAMIEN RICE AND DAVID GRAY
KASABIAN
PAOLO NUTINI
BLACK EYED PEAS
JOHN LEGEND
DURAN DURAN
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
BLOC PARTY
CORINNE BAILEY RAE
TERRA NAOMI
KEANE
METALLICA
SPINAL TAP
JAMES BLUNT
BEASTIE BOYS
PUSSYCAT DOLLS
FOO FIGHTERS
MADONNA
LIVE EARTH SYDNEY at Aussie Stadium
11:10 a.m. Local Start 7/7
9:10 p.m. EDT 7/6
BLUE KING BROWN
TONI COLLETTE & THE FINISH
SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM
GHOSTWRITERS
PAUL KELLY
ESKIMO JOE
MISSY HIGGINS
JOHN BUTLER TRIO
WOLFMOTHER
JACK JOHNSON
CROWDED HOUSE
LIVE EARTH HAMBURG at HSH Nordbank Arena
2:00 p.m. Local Start 7/7
8:00 a.m. EDT 7/7
SHAKIRA
SNOOP DOGG
ROGER CICERO
MIA.
SASHA
STEFAN GWILDIS
MARQUESS
MARIA MENA
SILBERMOND
MICHAEL MITTERMEIER
REAMONN
SAMY DELUXE
ENRIQUE IGLESIAS
JAN DELAY
KATIE MELUA
LOTTO KING KARL
REVOLVERHELD
MANDO DIAO
JULI
CHRIS CORNELL
YUSUF
LIVE EARTH TOKYO at Makuhari Messe
12:00 p.m. Local Start
11:00 p.m. EDT 7/6
GENKI ROCKETS
RIZE
AYAKA
AI OTSUKA
AI
XZIBIT
ABINGDON BOYS SCHOOL
COCCO
LINKIN PARK
KUMI KODA
RHIANNA
LIVE EARTH JOHANNESBURG at the Coca-Cola Dome
6:00 p.m. Local Start 7/7
12:00 p.m. EDT 7/7
THE SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR
DANNY K
BAABA MAAL
ZOLA
THE PARLOTONES
VUSI MAHLASELA
ANGELIQUE KIDJO
JOSS STONE
UB40
LIVE EARTH SHANGHAI at the Oriental Pearl Tower
7:00 p.m. Local Start 7/7
7:00 a.m. EDT 7/7
EVONNE HSU
ANTHONY WONG
SOLER
HUANG XIAO MING
WANG CHUAN JUN AND WANG RUI
12 GIRLS BAND
JOEY YUNG
WINNIE HSIN
PU BA JIA
SARAH BRIGHTMAN
WANG XIA OKUN
EASON CHAN
LIVE EARTH RIO DE JANEIRO at Copacabana Beach
4:00 p.m. Local Start 7/7
3:00 p.m. EDT 7/7
XUXA
JOTA QUEST
MV BILL
MARCELO D2
PHARRELL WILLIAMS
O RAPPA
MACY GRAY
JORGE BEN JOR
LENNY KRAVITZ
LIVE EARTH WASHINGTON, D.C. (Special Broadcast Event)
10:30 a.m. EDT 7/7
(not representative of running order; TBA)
GARTH BROOKS
TRISHA YEARWOOD
BLUES NATION
LIVE EARTH KYOTO (Special Broadcast Event)
11:00 p.m. Local Start 7/7
10:00 a.m. EDT 7/7
(not representative of running order; TBA)
BONNIE PINK
MICHAEL NYMAN
RIP SLYME
UA
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA
LIVE EARTH ANTARCTICA (Special Broadcast Event) TBD
NUNATAK
Posted at 12:29 PM
Tags: Live Earth
I find the Tokyo line up hilarious for some reason. Linkin Park looks so out of place in that lineup. And I like the fact that the band playing in Antarctica is called "Nunatak", that was a good move...
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Oh my, let's burn some energy to promote global warming. We humans work in mysterious ways...here's some thoughts of mine on this stuff - Co-opting green - read it here - www.pampelmoose.com/mspeaks/?p=801
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With those lineups, it almost makes me want to support global warming.
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The level of masturbatory hypocrisy is absolutely astounding and deafening compared to the sound of the music.
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I find it ironic that Al Gore has picked the world's most irrelevant bands to raise awareness for the world's most relevant issue.
He should have asked his son for some input about the performers: That kid knows how to party.
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"...we will not be taking any recycling advice from Fergie."
The only advice that Fergie should give is make-up tips for trannies.
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That polar bear laying on his back is so darn cute!
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Spinal Tap kicked ass, no joke.
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Spinal Tap killed.
The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'
That's what I said
The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand
Or so I have read
My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo
I'd like to sink her with my pink torpedo
Big bottom, big bottom
Talk about bum cakes, my girl's got 'em
Big bottom drive me out of my mind
How could I leave this behind?
I met her on Monday, twas my lucky bun day
You know what I mean
I love her each weekday, each velvety cheek day
You know what I mean
My love gun's loaded and she's in my sights
Big game is waiting there inside her tights, yeah
Big bottom, big bottom
Talk about mud flaps, my girl's got 'em
Big bottom drive me out of my mind
How could I leave this behind?
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Hm... as much as I dislike AFI (wtf was up with him pushing veganism?), I have to agree with them saying Bowie is the greatest man in rock n roll. But my dislike for AFI is kinda ruining my enjoyment of this song.
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A totally fabricated cause designed to trick people into giving up rights and hinder progress. Too many morons on this earth.
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Madonna? Lenny kravitz? Genesis? Who gives a fuck? If they wanted to have cross generational artists they should've gottten Bob dylan, the Who, and the Rolling Stones. All they have is artists who are desperate for exposure to revive their thankfully dead careers and the laughable music of black eyed peas
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They are showing the band from Antarctica on the UK channel. Nanatak is the name. They are showing a real small video of the screen though.
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Maria: I hope you're kidding.
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thers a sut down on myspace
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yeah yeah, there is some hypocrisy...but sadly Americans care more about celebrity and music more than politics, so the only way to get the a large amount of Americans to understand and do "action" is through these musicians and celebrities. yeah, the concert emits a lot of carbon dioxide, but if their goal is accomplished then it will do hault catratrosphic climate changes sooner then later.
at least they're trying to do something NOW, instead of you sitting in your office chair being cynical and pessimistic.
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Duran Duran doing a Notorious>Wanna Take you Higher>Notorious segue/medley was semi-rad
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Ha ha, the band in Antarctica gets to play to an audience of penguins and it looks like they are visibly shivering but good-naturedly sucking it up.
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Melissa Etheridge did a passionate version of "An Inconvenient Truth". The Smashing Pumpkins and The Police's sets were solid.
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you can still catch the tail end of the police show
http://entimg.msn.com/i/LiveEarth/player/altplayer/q.html?StreamName=US.smi
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Here's the Spinal Tap video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJchUEz9IgE
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Mayer on stage with The Police.
As if millions of adult contemporary listeners suddenly shrieked with delight...
Now Kanye up there free-styling about The Police rockin' the hood. Presumably without irony.
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Those Polar Bears are HOT!
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oh right, just because i'm sitting a behind a computer on my "office chair" and not buying how this gargantuan concert is going to help the planet, means that i don't care about the environment and that i've never or am not currently doing any conservation efforts on my own.
so anyone who has an opposing opinion to Live Earth means that they don't care and are not saving the planet?
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Live Earth is a joke. Lets get as many mediocre bands as we can to bring awareness to an issue we all see and read about every day. Listen Al, we get it. You harping on it doesn't make us do more, it just makes us hate you more, and shrug it off as a political topic. I would rather hear it from the scientists rather than Fergie and Ludacris.
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Zack Branff just introduced John Mayer. That's like one of the seven signs of the apocalypse, right?
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Is Stereogum telling me to turn down the Animal Collective?
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The bands for the most part may have sucked, but I think Al Gore should be saluted for sticking to his convictions and trying to make a difference.
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You suckers, and by that I mean the bands and the audience.....
There's this thing in the center of our universe, and it's called The Sun.
The Sun occasionally puts out more energy than it has in the recent past. Sometimes the opposite. This occurs over a long period of time.
If you look at other planets, like Mars and Neptune, you'll find that scientists have discovered that *shock* those planets are warming, too!
That fat loser liar hypocrite Al Gore can stand on a stage and sweat all he wants. He's a fucking loser and I hope his fucking Gulfstream crashes into his fucking $12,000-a-year natural gas billed mansion and takes out his fucking depressed wife and his crazy ganja-smoking, more-drugs-than-Rush-Limbaugh-doing and 100 mph Prius-driving dirtbag son of his. Fortunate Son, indeed. Piece of shit.
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Are you a rapper, Tony G?
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I think the concert was a good idea. It's at least attempting to stir up a little passion and pride for environmental issues, which is really what's missing from the equation. The lineup could have been better, but you can't avoid using a lot of household names or it won't get enough attention.
CNN aired footage the day before about how the stages were set up to be as eco-friendly as possible, so it's not like they didn't make the effort.
If some don't agree on the importance of global warming, the very least we can all do is accept that we are a very wasteful society that is doing a lot of harm to the environment (Have we forgotten that pollution and endangered species are part of this too?) and we need to change somewhat. We'll run out of landfill space eventually.
Anyway, I hope I can find Abingdon Boys School's and Angelique Kidjo's performances online . . .
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Look at the bright side of global warming: The islamofascists in the middle east will die of heatstroke before we do.
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Having a monster, intercontinental rock concert to decry the ills of global warming is like handing a menu to a starving man. No food, mind you, just the menu.
If Gore truly was committed to the idea, he would have organized a worldwide day of power conservation. That would have been something with an actual effect, albeit not as sexy or arresting as a big, big show. What do you expect? He's a boomer. He thinks anything can happen if you put up a big show.
Do you realize that U.S. air pollution actually had a marked decrease after 9-11? With all planes grounded and no incoming planes allowed in, just for the couple of days of air traffic shutdown, the air quality improved something roundabout 20% INSTANTLY.
Now, with this in mind, the U.S. keeps spending money on going into space. Why? What are we getting out of it? Haven't we learned enough about what Zero-G does to sunflower seeds and rats and the importance of keeping your straw in your Capri Sun pack? Is this knowledge worth burning holes right into the atmosphere both going out and coming back in? What about the carbon left right in the layers of atmosphere by doing this? I don't hear Mr. Gore talking about this either, but remember that the Space Race was also a boomer touchstone, so it's not hard to say why.
Look, I respect Mr. Gore. Of the politicos out there, he's the only one really trying. I haven't seen Mr. Clinton fired up about a subject since his end of term, have you? Maybe it's the tranq-darts Hillary keeps shooting at his testicles, I dunno... But again, Gore is trying. But it seems to me he's applying old ideas, failed ideas, to this problem. He needs to forsake his g-g-generation and think outside of boundaries.
DwD
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The Anarctica band was the best band of the day, sort of a Go-Betweens crossed with Romeo Void/Waitresses 80s honkin' new wave sax. Get that band of scientists a contract!
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Yeah DwD, I agree with you on the space exploration crap. It's all just a sad attempt to someday be more like Star Wars (but somehow I still have lost my hope to be a Jedi).
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there's a short movie about the last two polar bears, named harry and bob. go and watch it on youtube, it's one of my favourite so far.
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I'm not convinced that the bands that played Live Earth are irrelevant or bad. It's just that those of us who read music blogs and care about real music couldn't give a damn about mainstream music. However, if the goal is to appeal to the lowest common denominator, perhaps the lineup wasn't as bad as complained of.
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Maria, you must be joking. Please say you're joking.
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I think Geldolf was right about how there really isn't anything to make people aware of...if you don't know about global warming by now, you're probably living under a rock and the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing "Dani California" in England probably isn't going to change that. It seems more like a platform for Gore's impending presidential run than anything else.
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I hope to see the losers bitchin' on about Live Earth also crankin' up their vitriol the next time AEG & LiveNation roll out their latest array of mind-numbing garbage acts at a NFL football stadium near you for $95 a pop.
Yesterday wasn't the Monterrey Pop Festival or Lolla'93, but would you rather have another Kenny Chesney show? Retards.
Until we see some concert promoters putting together international shows which attempt to raise a sense of awareness and togetherness for improving our world, I'll take Al G. over any of the trashy money-grubbers any damn day.
But then again, you've gotta have actual bands that are willing to sing meaningful songs which are about society and not themselves. Most of today's superficial bands don't have the balls to spearhead such movements.
Respekt.
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Mars is heating up because wind on the planet is blowing light colored dust/soil, away exposing dark colored rocks and changing the planets albedo. The darker areas would absorb more heat, while the lighter areas reflect it away. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070404_gw_mars.html
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Live Earth Shanghai (I was there) was very underwhelming, except for rock band Soler's performance - they totally rocked flawlessly blew everyone away....!!!!!
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I love Bob Geldof's statement about everybody already being aware of global warming. Is he implying that nobody knew poverty existed prior to Live 8? My only real problem with Live Earth is that it inspired 40+ douchebags to come here and copy and paste their favorite global warming talking points from whatever political website they frequent when the question was actually about the PERFORMANCES. This is a music blog, right?
As far as performances they were mostly underwhelming with a few great ones mixed in.
The Foo Fighters at Wembley were pretty great.
Toni Collette (yes, Olive's mom) was unsettlingly good at the Sydney show.
The Pumpkins and Kelly Clarkson both did well in NY.
The Police were THE SHIT despite allowing John Mayer and Kanye West onstage during "Message In A Bottle."
Do I even need to mention that Spinal Tap ruled?
But Saturday's best performance had to be Prince at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Not part of Live Earth, not televised, but I was there. So, I get to mention it nonetheless.
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does anyone know if al gore made any money off of this event? i mean personally - did al gore take home a check as a promoter or producer or some such? i assume the artists were paid, too? is sos (the organization that, um, organized the concerts) even a not-for-profit?
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The artists were not paid. Proceeds (when applicable, some shows were free) will be used to fund some sort of global warming foundation. The exact details escape me. Being an internet savvy kind of guy, I would recommend heading to the Live Earth website for more info. But I guess posting the question here and expecting a totally unbiased response makes more sense.
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@Dwd: not heard anything from Clinton? Please do get some information from the Clinton Climate Initiative: http://www.clintonfoundation.org/cf-pgm-cci-home.htm I think he does care about our planet!
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kudos to maria and tony g. the rest of you who are offended at their difference of opinion are sheep who did not study science or engineering in college
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NEWSFLASH: "tony g." was just spotted tailgating from the back of his V-12 Ford F(U)-150 prior to a Toby Keith show.
Apparently he's finally found a concert worth supporting.
Can anyone explain to me how a live music event staged to simply raise awareness of living more efficiently and co-habitatively as human beings can actually be a BAD thing?
Fucking morons. Only in America.
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