Sorry, couldn't help referencing Supertramp after watching the other recent mega-concert-the snooze inducing Tribute to Diana. For the most part, the Tribute was dull with English native Joss Stone providing the only modicum of excitement. The only part of the show that really stood out was watching Roger Hodgson of Supertramp fame dragged out of hibernation to play a greatest hits medley. Apparently, Princess Di was a huge Supertramp fan (who knew?) and watching Hodgson stumble over his words with his puffy shirt and long, wavy unkempt hair reminded me of a mad scientist who hadn't seen the Sun in a few decades. The bordom of the show brought on some dread for the upcoming 24 hour version, Al Gore's Live Earth.
Fortunately, Live Earth was leaps and bounds ahead of Tribute to Diana. Live Earth took the original Live Aid / 8 format of placing concerts in arenas on all of the major continents for an all day bash. Also, live Live 8 the show was intended to raise awareness rather than money resulting in an endless scroll of names flashing on the screen throughout the day. In another nod to Live Aid / 8, a huge load of talent was used with both musicians and Hollywood stars to fill all the programming needed. So, what was the difference?
As a concert, Live Earth beat the recent Live 8 at their own game hands down. Maybe inspired by Al Gore, all of the artists tried to bring their "A" game for this show. Even perfomers that played Live 8 faired better this time around, particularly Bon Jovi (with a newly sober Richie Sambora) and Dave Matthews Band. Madonna, Kanye West and Duran Duran are among the other repeat performers. Madonna wrote a song just for the event, the Roger Watersish "Hey You" (Waters performed later that day as well). Like Live 8, there were special combos such as Country star Keith Urban teaming up with R&B singer Alicia Keys for a fiery version of the Stone's "Gimmie Shelter". And though they couldn't boast a reunion on scale with Live 8's Pink Floyd, recently reunited bands like The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Genesis and Crowded House brought some hype in.
So, other than the quality of performances, how did Live 8 differ from Live Earth? For one, Live Earth had way better television coverage. Live 8 frustrated the viewer by showing only segments of a song instead of a whole song or whole set. To make it worse, Live 8 was treated as one big infomercial. Live Earth showed whole songs and/or whole performances. In the US, the coverage leaned towards rock creating a series of rock anthems being played in a row making one person (me) very happy. A brief synopsis of the performances I saw:
Genesis: "Land of Confusion" and "Invisible Touch" happily bounced along and had the audience involved. Phil Collin's was the least likely to get censored, but he was when he used the F word during "Invisible Touch".
Keith Urban with Alicia Keys: "Gimmie Shelter". Kick. Ass.
Pussycat Dolls: Everything was fake but the lead singing. "Buttons".
AFI: Unexciting goth rock
Joss Stone: A soul live wire just like her Tribute to Di performance. "Tell Me 'Bout It."
Madonna: Pleasant, but what was with her stradling power stance during the songs? My wife accurately pointed out she looks like Shelly Long now. "Hey You" and "Ray of Light".
Duran Duran: After playing Princess Di's show as well, they should just start living at Wembley Stadium. I really wonder if "Girls On Film" really makes people think of global warming though.
Dave Matthew's Band: The most "on" I've ever seen them anywhere. I even enjoyed "Don't Drink The Water". The rest of the set was mostly slow, but they blazed through "Too Much" like a house on fire.
Kelly Clarkson: Continues to push her career as that of an artist by giving strong perfomances of "Never Enough" and an acoustic ballad. Seemed to sleepwalk through her obligatory delivery of "Since U Been Gone". Hate to say it, but Clive was right: Clarkson is too lightweight a talent to be an artist with a capitol "A". She has talent, but she's no Chrissie Hynde.
Red Hot Chili Peppers: fine take of their hit "Dani California"
Rhianna: She played the hit with the Soft Cell sample to good effect. Nice body suit straight out of the Salt & Pepa "Push It" collection.
Lenny Kravitz: Tore through "Are You Gonna Go My Way" with a vengence.
Metallica: Strong performance of "Enter Sandman" with James Hetfield sporting a ZZ Top Beard.
Bon Jovi: His country tinged Arena Rock translated well in Giant's Stadium. Richie Sambora looked alive and alert for the first time since 1990. Rehab helps! "Lost Highway", "It's My Life", "Wanted Dead Or Alive", "Who Say's You Can't Go Home" and "Livin' On A Prayer" were all played.
Roger Waters: Came up with a good pastiche of Pink Floyd, "Money" and "Another Brick In The Wall" with a child's choir.
Foo Fighters: This band seems forgettable until you hear them. Dave Grohl led his band through a rousing rendition of "Best Of You".
Smashing Pumpkins: Together again...sort of. Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chaimberlan team up with another girl bass player and bowl hair cut guitar player. To her credit, the girl was a better player than the original bass player despite her Courtney Love get up. The whole enterprise reeked of 1994. "Revolution" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
Beastie Boys: Decked out in green suits and real instruments, they banged their way through "Sabotage".
The Police: At least they found a mutual beat they could agree upon. Decent, but not spectacular. Lacking in fun until John Mayer and Kanye West came on stage for "Message In A Bottle". Other songs-"Driven To Tears", "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You".
In a way, Live Earth did fail below Live 8 in terms of achieving an actual object beyond the music. Live Earth existed only to bring awareness to the Greenhouse effect which was successful, but apparently there were seven points we were supposed to get as well. The points are:
1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become 'carbon neutral;'
3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.
The goals all sound good, maybe I'll try them out. Live Earth did not really shed much new light on the situation of global warming, but in terms of a global rock concert it was fantastic. I was happy to see Tipper Gore keep a low profile as she spent the 80's trying to stop some of these bands. If it's one thing these Gore's no how to do it's think green (Gore junior was probably high on pot the whole time) and Al pushed his message to the people.
Live Earth did not make me feel there was a crisis of any type (the red and white circles did make me feel this was a Target commercial) but was the best world wide concert ever. So, it was both a failure and a success. That's gotta be Inconvenient!
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