July 2007
A last minute surprise show has been
added to Saturday's Live Earth concert lineup, bringing to the nation's
capital the global day of music to raise awareness of the climate crisis.
The concert at the National Museum of the American Indian will feature
former U.S. Vice President and Live Earth organizer Al Gore, and country
music stars the husband-and-wife team of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.
The show features bands such as the reggae band Native Roots from
Albuquerque, the Cheyenne and Lakota band The Reddmen, and speakers such
as educator Henrietta Mann.
Live Earth is a 24 hour, seven continent series of concerts taking place
on July 7, 2007, bringing together more than 150 music artists and two
billion people in a global movement to solve the climate crisis.
Live Earth will reach this worldwide audience through an unprecedented
global media network covering television, radio, Internet, and wireless
channels.
With the addition of the Washington concert, there will be two Live Earth
shows happening tomorrow in the United States.
The concerts will start in Australia with Live Earth Sydney and circle the
globe, ending at Giants Stadium for Live Earth New York on Saturday night.
There was no show planned for Washington, DC because of the objections of
a small group of Republican lawmakers, led by Oklahoma Senator James
Inhofe.
Inhofe blocked a bipartisan resolution that would have permitted Gore to
choose the Capitol's West Front as a Live Earth concert venue.
"There has never been a partisan political event at the Capitol, and this
is a partisan political event," said Inhofe in March.
Live Earth maintains that it is not a partisan political event but is
supported by people of all political stripes.
"The calvary didn't ride to the rescue, the American Indians did," Gore
told CBS TV today.
Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee, told reporters on a conference
call today that climate change is an issue that "unites humankind."
"Global warming is the challenge of our generation," said Boxer. "People
all over the world understand that action on global warming is needed now,
and the American public is far ahead of the government when it comes to
this critical issue. After serious engagement on this issue since the
beginning of the year, we have begun to build the consensus necessary for
action."
"If we don't act, we are in so much trouble it will just be disastrous,"
she said. "But I am optimistic. We will take the steps necessary to
preserve our only home, this planet.
"This great concert is going to wake up the world," said Apollo Alliance
President Jerome Ringo, who serves on the board of directors of Gore's
Alliance for Climate Protection, the group organizing the Live Earth
concerts.
"We are beyond the point of just protecting the environment, we need to
heal it," Ringo told reporters on the call. "That requires nothing less
than what it took to put a man on the moon, but this time it can't be just
a national commitment, it needs to be a global one.
MoveOn.org Political Action executive director Eli Pariser said the Live
Earth concerts have prompted house parties across the country and around
the world.
"For the past year this has been one of the top issues for people,"
Pariser said on the conference call. "This is our biggest set of house
parties since 2004, bigger than the 2006 election.
At the MoveOn parties, people will not just be watching the concerts, said
Pariser, they will be watching the Democratic presidental candidates in a
town hall meeting.
"Our members have submitted questions by video. [John] Edwards, [Barack]
Obama, and [Hillary] Clinton will be answering the questions on video.
Then we will ask our members to vote on whose is the strongest plan for
addressing this climate crisis," Pariser said.
"It's about new leadership," he said. "Our members will pivot from
watching the concert Saturday night to voting on the leaders' plans on
Sunday morning."
Live Earth Rides a Rollercoast of Last Minute Changes
The concert in Rio was called off earlier this week but is now back on.
The only free Live Earth show, it is expected to attract upwards of one
million people to Copacabana Beach and a judge blocked the event on
security grounds.
Live Earth Communications Director Kristina Schake said Thursday, "We met
with authorities and addressed their concerns, and the concert will
continue as planned."
Mondo Entertainment, the local Live Earth promoter in Rio, said, "The
Military Police feels that they can guarantee the security of the show.
The Military Police will guarantee the security of all the sites in Rio
with the same efficiency that is required for all events."
After the opener in Sydney, concerts will be staged in Tokyo, Japan;
Shanghai, China; Hamburg, Germany; Johannesburg, South Africa; London,
United Kingdom; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before concluding at Giants
Stadium in New York.
The Turkish leg of the Live Earth concerts planned for Istanbul has been
scrubbed due to insufficient sponsorship and lack of time, the organizers
have confirmed.
Instead of live performances, Istanbul will see concerts from other cities
around the world on giant screens.
At the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Research Station the science
team's indie-rock house band, Nunatak, will perform, filling the slot for
the seventh continent and perfecting the numerical formula - July 7, 2007
on seven continents - that was the producers' vision.
Darkness and freezing temperatures isolate the Antarctic continent during
the Southern Hemisphere winter so the only people who will attend the
Antarctic concert will be Nunatak's 17 over-wintering colleagues. But two
billion people worldwide will hear the five-piece band through the
broadcasts on TV, film, radio and the Internet.
Madonna to Perform Newly Written Live Earth Song
Inspired by the Live Earth concerts, Madonna has written a new song, "Hey
You." She is scheduled to perform "Hey You" live at the Wembley Stadium
Live Earth concert in London, it was confirmed by her record label, Warner
Bros. Records, who have announced that they will release a live CD/DVD of
the Live Earth Concert Series.
"Hey You," recorded in London, was produced by Pharrell Williams and
Madonna. The song can be downloaded in MP3 format on Microsoft's home
page, http://liveearth.msn.com. The first million downloads are free as
Microsoft has pledged to donate $0.25 per download to the Alliance for
Climate Protection for the first million downloads.
Madonna is one of 17 headliners that have been announced for Live Earth
London, including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, and the Beastie Boys.
Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign to inspire
individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve the
climate crisis.
Live Earth is partnering with Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, The
Climate Group, Stop Climate Chaos and other international organizations in
this ongoing effort. Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, CEO of Control
Room, the company producing the concerts globally.
Official Live Earth concerts will be streamed live at
http://liveearth.msn.com. MSN's 39 localized web portals worldwide attract
465 million monthly users.
To see a complete lineup of artists for all Live Earth concerts, visit:
http://www.liveearth.org
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