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Rockers out to save the world

They urge fans to fight global warming at Live Earth concerts across the globe

— Photo: AFP

Green cause: U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg (centre) performs during the Live Earth concert in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday.

SYDNEY: Live Earth in Asia started with an ancient Aboriginal instrument — the didgeridoo — toured through rehashed 1970s guitar rock and laid-back surfer music, and then touched the future with a holographic appearance by Al Gore.

Concerts in Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai kicked off 24 hours of music by more than 150 artists in a round-the-globe series of shows designed to raise awareness of climate change.

Madonna, Metallica, The Police and Kanye West were among the top-billed acts listed for the biggest concerts, in London and New Jersey.

Line-ups in seven other cities were more modest, with mostly local or regional acts.

Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, whose campaign to force global warming onto the international political stage inspired the event, made a live video appearance from Washington to open the first show on the other side of the world in Sydney. He took the technology a step further a few hours later, appearing on stage in Tokyo as a hologram to deliver his message.

“Global warming is the greatest challenge facing our planet, and the gravest we’ve ever faced,” said Mr. Gore — the only person in sight wearing a suit. “But it’s one problem we can solve if we come together as one and take action and drive our neighbours, businesses and governments to act as well. That’s what Live Earth is all about.”

For the most part, the diverse range of performers wholeheartedly backed the call. Organisers promised that the huge shows were made eco-friendly by using recycled goods and buying carbon credits to offset the inevitable high power bills.

In Sydney, an estimated 50,000 people grooved through a set by former professional surfer-cum singer-guitarist Jack Johnson, banged their heads to afro-haired 1970s retro rockers Wolfmother, and awaited the first home performance in more than 10 years by re-formed 1980s hitsters Crowded House.

Johnson made only one reference to the cause during his smooth-as-velvet set — referring the crowd to an environmental website — though his songs were infused with fishing, surfing and a love of the outdoors.

Wolfmother’s wild-haired Andrew Stockdale was more bombastic, in keeping with his Grammy-winning band’s Deep Purple-style stadium rock aesthetic.

“Saviours of the world raise your hands,” he shouted.

Aboriginal tribal leaders with white-painted bodies and shaking eucalyptus fronds were the first to take the stage in Sydney, singing and dancing a traditional welcome to the sounds of a didgeridoo, a wind pipe made from a hollow tree branch.

“It’s a rowdy rabble of green people out there,” said former Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst.

The Tokyo concert kicked off with a high-tech, laser- and light-drenched performance by virtual-reality act Genki Rockets. Later, popular Japanese singer Ayaka urged fans to take up the concerts’ theme of changing their daily habits as a first step to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. “I started to carry my own eco-bag so I don’t have to use plastic grocery bags, and use my own chopsticks instead of disposable ones,” she said.

Critics say that Live Earth lacks achievable goals, and that bringing in jet-setting rock stars in fuel-guzzling airliners to plug in amplifier stacks and cranking up the sound may send mixed messages about energy conservation.

Organisers say they’re using biodiesel for power, and recycled products where possible. Proceeds from ticket sales will go toward distributing power-efficient light bulbs and other measures to offset the shows’ greenhouse gas emissions, they say.

On the Net, the Live Earth website is at http://www.liveearth.org — AP

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