If you're among the group of people who did not happen to see former U.S. Vice President (some say former President) Al Gore's documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, then you may not have any idea what this whole Live Earth concert is all about. See, a few years back, Gore put together this documentary about a thing called "global warming," which some people believe is a myth. The film was Gore's attempt to bring the problem to a larger audience to invoke positive environmental changes. It has since become one of the most popular documentaries ever released.
Now, Gore has placed his brand on a worldwide, 24-hour long concert dedicated to global warming called Live Earth. The show will begin in Sydney, Australia and will move around the seven continents until arriving at the final show in the U.S. Al Gore is quoted as saying, "Live Earth will help us reach a tipping point that's needed to move corporations and governments to take decisive action to solve the climate crisis." A noble concept indeed, which, like all other political topics, has its critics.
The U.S. leg of the concert, which was previously planned to occur in Washington, DC, has now been moved to a more leftist-friendly location at the Giants Stadium in New Jersey and will happen on July 7. Tickets for the event are set to go on sale at 10 AM EDT on Monday, April 16.
The U.S. show will feature performances from a James Iha-less Smashing Pumpkins, Roger Waters, the recently reunited Police, the recently immortalized Bon Jovi, Fall Out Boy, John Mayer, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Ludacris, and many other TMT favorites.
You can also expect to see acts such as Beastie Boys, Bloc Party, Madonna, James Blunt, Keane, Black Eyed Peas, and Duran Duran if you are living in the fabled Englands. Just for the record, Neutral Milk Hotel will not be playing at this or any of the other Live Earth events.
All of the concerts are set to be streamed thanks to your good friends at Microsoft/MSN and NBC in the U.S. More than 120 other television networks are also set to participate in airing the live event throughout the world. Here's to hoping that people can simply put down their ridiculous politics (including Gore's) to simply focus their collective energies on affecting positive change. Who really needs to drive an SUV anyway?