Live Earth is the name for a series of concerts of pop and rock music planned to take place on Saturday July 7, 2007 to promote action to confront global climate change. [1] The umbrella organization for the event is a new global movement under the name Save Our Selves (SOS). The intention is to present seven concerts on the same day - one concert on each of Earth's seven continents. The plans for the concerts were announced at a media event in Los Angeles on February 15, 2007 by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and other activist celebrities. The inspiration for promoting the cause using the vehicle of benefit concerts comes from many similar events over the past 25 years including the 1985 Live Aid concerts and the 2005 Live 8 concerts.
Media transmission of the concerts
The concerts will be broadcast live on NBC in the United States, on the BBC in Europe. It will be broadcast on local TV and radio stations from each continent and on the Internet via media sponsor MSN. Organizers have stated a goal of reaching an audience of over two billion. The subject matter is also talked about on PhillyBlog.com[1]
In the U.S. Premiere Radio Networks, along with Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, will be broadcasting the concerts live on the radio on July 7, 2007. [2]
In Europe, the concerts will be broadcasted on the radio by BBC Radio One
Locations
The organizers intend to present concerts on all seven continents. They have stated that the venues will utilize on-site power generation, efficient methods of energy utilization and sustainable facilities management in an effort to minimize environmental impact.[1]
- Shanghai, China (___location to be decided)
- Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Tickets
Tickets for the US Live Earth concert are priced at $348, $173, $83 and $53 and went on sale on Monday April 16th via the Live Earth website and Ticketmaster. A special block of tickets was set aside for AlGore.com members.
Tickets for the UK concert became available via a ballot. Those wanting tickets registered via the Live Earth website from 12pm Friday April 13th. This was only possible for 72 hours. Successful applicants was invited to buy tickets from Wednesday April 18th. This was done to prevent what the organizers call "ticket misuse". Organizers said on April 17th, that 200,000 people had registered to get tickets.
Ticket information for other venues coming soon.
Inspiration for the style of concerts
The concert series draws inspiration from many benefit events staged in the past three decades:
• The aspect of multiple concerts on a single day is modeled on the two Live Aid concerts staged in 1985 - an event conceived by Bob Geldof - and the eight Live 8 concerts staged in 2005 - a series also conceived by Geldof and Bono. (SOS founder and Live Earth producer Kevin Wall was a co-producer of the latter event.)
• The aspect of a series of rock concerts for a single cause taking place in multiple nations across the planet is based on the twenty concerts presented in 1988 on Amnesty International's Human Rights Now! World Tour - a tour conceived by Amnesty's Jack Healey and Martin Lewis.
The deployment of multiple pop and rock musicians and entertainers to promote awareness of a single cause has many antecedents - the principal inspirations being:
• The two 1971 Concerts for Bangladesh - conceived by George Harrison
• The multiple Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows staged 1976-1981 - conceived by John Cleese and Martin Lewis
• The four 1979 No Nukes concerts - conceived by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and John Hall
• The four 1979 Concerts for Kampuchea - conceived by Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim
Confirmed performers for Live Earth
The intention of the organizers is to invite over 150 of the world's most famous artists to perform on the concerts. So far, the artists who have confirmed their performances are the following:
To be announced by the organisers/Rumoured
Controversy
There is currently some controversy in respect of one of the seven concerts. The organizers wish to hold the concert for the North American continent in Washington D.C. in front of Capitol Hill where many concerts and public rallies have been held. However Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who is a self-proclaimed skeptic about global warming (“the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people”) [2], has vowed to prevent the concert taking place at the Capitol by using parliamentary stalling tactics to prevent the organizers being granted permission for the event. [3] The US concert has moved and it will take place at Giants Stadium near New York City.
There have been reports that Led Zeppelin would be reuniting for Live Earth. So far, nothing has been confirmed or denied by the band nor the organizers.
The concerts have drawn a lot of criticism over the use of private jets. One of the people criticizing the concerts is Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy, who told BBC 6 Music, that it seems hypocritical to support an event that could have an opposite effect on the climate. "Private jets for climate change, not sure about it that seems to be a bit on edge really – that’s an issue really, so we need to think about it!”. Organizers have defended the use of jets on the music events by saying that the concerts will have eco-friendly electricity and sustainable lighting. Ashok Sinah, the director of Stop Climate Chaos, a group involved in the event, said that criticizers should not put the finger of blame towards the music stars taking part in the event. “They have to reduce carbon emissions, we have to reduce carbon emissions, and in just the same way that we may look at a pop star and say, ‘you use more carbon than I do,’ then people from Africa could look at us and think we don’t go flying around everywhere, I have met people in Africa who haven’t even made a phone call let alone get on a plane.” He also reminds that every concert has a lot of local acts playing alongside the music stars. Rumors run wild as everyone from Paul McCartney to Bjork are rumored to appear. Singer Marianne Faithfull is also slated to appear during Metallica's Live Earth set. [4]
The legendary fictitious rock band Spinal Tap will be reuniting to play at London's Live Earth concert. [5]
There has been major critisism over the choice of venue for the Australian concert, Sydney. Melbourne traditionally hosts this type of event, has far greater capacity venues (Sydney's Aussie stadium holds 45,000 whilst the MCG holds 100,000), has far deeper history in this type of event, recently hosted the Make Poverty History Concert and regularly draws larger crowds to music events than anywhere else in Australia. Melbourne leads the country in terms of global warming and climate change awareness and has a far larger local music scene both mainstream and underground. Many argue that it would have been suitable to not only have a concert in Melbourne, but also one in Sydney, and it is not known why there is no event in Melbourne sceduled to begin with.
See also
External links
- Official Web Site
- Latest News about 'Live Earth' concerts and tickets
- News and discussion on the 'Live Earth' movement
- Reuters story announcing concerts
- Live Earth Concert - volunteer driven, community portal for sharing information on tickets, performers & events at the concert. an Open source project.
References
- ^ a b
"Al Gore, Kevin Wall, Pharrell, Maná, Cameron Diaz launch unprecedented campaign, concert to combat climate crisis". Live Earth. 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-19-2007/0004569212&EDATE=
- ^ Inhofe vows to put brakes on Gore’s ‘Live Earth’ concert at the Capitol, Elana Schor The Hill, March 28, 2007
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20070411_green.shtml
- ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=live-earth-s-tap-billing--&method=full&objectid=18958782&siteid=66633-name_page.html