July 05, 2007
Live Earth: Rocking, Rolling & Recycling
UPDATED.
If the prospect of shelling out $83 to hear the likes of John Mayer and Kelly Clarkson yell at you about SUVs doesn't totally float your boat, you are not alone. Ticket sales for Saturday's Live Earth megaconcerts have been underwhelming across the board, with the exception of London's sold-out Wembley Stadium.
The concert in Rio de Janeiro is the only one being held for free. Tickets for the show in North Jersey's Giants Stadium, for example, range from $83 to $362.95. That, as the enviros might say, is an awful lot of green.
The Live Earth concerts are the brainchild of former Vice President Al Gore. The producer, Kevin Wall, was also behind the 2005 Live 8 concerts to promote awareness of poverty in Africa. The Live 8 events were all free, and drew millions around the globe.
But the Live Earth concerts have less star power to tantalize than Live 8 did (The Police vs. U2, Cameron Diaz vs. Brad Pitt) and have not been heavily promoted. A leg scheduled in Turkey had to be scrapped after failing to attract commercial sponsors, Earthtimes.org reports.
Organizers also got a brief scare today when a Brazilian judge put the kibosh on the only South American leg of the concert because of security concerns. After police pledged they would be out in sufficient numbers to safeguard the event, the Rio de Janeiro concert is back on.
On top of sagging sales is the pesky disconnect between the pro-environment message of the concerts and all the fuel and energy that will be consumed just to stage them -- not to mention all the refuse to be disposed of afterward. British rockers Arctic Monkeys are among the artists who've refused to play the event on principle.
"Since the stage lighting alone would be enough to power 10 houses, it's all very hypocritical," said drummer Matt Helders, according to Sky News. "And also consider the long-haul flights and the carbon footprint to get rock bands to the concerts."
BBC News has a breakdown of the performers, with some details on why ticket sales are flagging in some venues. For those who can't make the concerts in person, they will be broadcast on NBC/Universal-owned channels as well as on satellite radio. MSN will be streaming the concerts live.
Posted at 3:24 PM
Posted to:
Al Gore, Climate Change
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