In the tradition of Farm Aid, Live Aid and more recently Live 8, Live Earth kicked off today with concerts on seven continents in order to fight global warming across the world. The brain child of Al Gore and founder Kevin Wall, the 24-hour event will gather over 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.
Broadcast on hundreds of stations all over the world (on television, radio and the web) Live Earth has gathered musicians, actors and leaders of various environmental causes to appear in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hamburg, Maropeng (near Johannesburg, South Africa), London, Rio de Janeiro, Antarctica, Washington D.C. and scenic Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (or rather, ‘New York’)
Sundance Channel in particular has done a decent job in their all day coverage. Hopscotching around the world to the various venues, they along with NBC (and related cable entities) are showing performances, PSAs and short films on the subject of climate change. NBC’s primetime (and Carson Daly-hosted) coverage was even more watered down and spliced to hell, but Sundance at least showed performances in whole.
It goes without saying that when musicians gather on stage for causes like this, it can easily become polarizing and smug. Or at very least come across as something less sincere. But at the same time, there is no denying what sort of affect Live Earth can have, bringing some big press visibility to the issue of climate change. Slowly it is moving to the forefront of the everyday and mainstream dialogue. And that is a start.
In the small amounts I managed to catch, the artist lineups came across a bit tepid with safe choices like Genesis, Black Eyed Peas and Red Hot Chili Peppers. But performances by the Beastie Boys, the Police, Spinal Tap and even in strange and cheesey collaborations (Keith Urban and Alicia Keyes singing The Rolling Stones classic ‘Gimme Shelter‘) it can all be surprisingly inspiring on some level.
In the months to come after today it will be interesting to see if more and more people adopt a more ‘green lifestyle.’ Perhaps Live Earth can help to make a difference.
To check out other good coverage check out the NYTimes ArtsBeat blog, NPR’s interview with Al Gore, and a discussion on NPR’s All Songs Considered about the role of rock in saving the world.
