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  The Straits Times 6 Jul 07
World Music

Yahoo News 5 Jul 07
Arctic Monkeys shiver at Live Earth 'hypocrisy'
by Adam Plowright

British rock group Arctic Monkeys have become the latest music industry stars to question whether the performers taking part in Live Earth on Saturday are suitable climate change activists.

"It's a bit patronising for us 21 year olds to try to start to change the world," said Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders, explaining why the group is not on the bill at any of Al Gore's charity concerts.

"Especially when we're using enough power for 10 houses just for (stage) lighting. It'd be a bit hypocritical," he told AFP in an interview before a concert in Paris.

Bass player Nick O'Malley chimes in: "And we're always jetting off on aeroplanes!"

Large parts of the band's hometown of Sheffield, an industrial city in northern England, were flooded at the end of last month after a deluge of mid-summer rain that some blamed on global warming. Two people were killed.

But the band wonder why anyone would be interested in the opinion of rock stars on a complex scientific issue like climate change.

"Someone asked us to give a quote about what was happening in Sheffield and it's like 'who cares what we think about what's happening'?" added Helders. "There's more important people who can have an opinion. Why does it make us have an opinion because we're in a band?"

The group, whose first record was the fastest-selling debut album in British history, will clock up thousands of air miles -- in normal airliners not private jets, they say -- during their tour to Asia and Australia in the next few months.

They are not the only stars to take a cynical view of Live Earth, which aims to raise awareness about global warming but which will require many longhaul flights and thousands of car journeys to and from the music venues.

Many of the biggest acts have questionable environmental credentials -- the car-loving rapper Snoop Dogg appeared in a Chrysler commercial last year -- and there are doubts about the ability of pop stars to galvanise the world into action.

Bob Geldof, the architect of Live Aid and Live 8, the two biggest awareness-raising concerts in history, had a public spat with Al Gore about the need for the event.

"Why is he (Gore) actually organising them?" Geldof said in an interview with a Dutch newspaper in May, adding that everyone was already aware of global warming and the event needed firm commitments from politicians and polluters.

Roger Daltrey, singer from 1970s British rock band The Who, told British newspaper The Sun in May that "the last thing the planet needs is a rock concert."

And the singer from 80s pop sensations The Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant, attacked the arrogance of pop stars who put themselves forward as role-models.

"I've always been against the idea of rock stars lecturing people as if they know something the rest of us don't," he was reported as saying by British music magazine NME.

Live Earth takes place Saturday in seven cities -- Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hamburg, London, Johannesburg and New York -- and organisers hope for a television audience of two billion. An eigth show in Rio de Janeiro was cancelled by police due to security concerns.

"Live Earth is going to bring together a massive audience around the world to take action against the climate crisis," says Live Earth organiser Yusef Robb. "Some may say that rock stars tend to be conspicuous consumers, but if we can get those people to turn the corner then we're happy to do so."

Planners have put an enormous effort into minimising the environmental impact of the event in an effort to pre-empt sniping from critics about hypocrisy and the pollution caused by the concerts.

Fans are being encouraged to share cars or use public transport to attend, all lightbulbs will be energy-efficient and the food will be sourced locally where possible.

All the signs from the New York show and the stage in Tokyo will be recycled or composted. "Where we can't use biodegradable materials, there'll be comprehensive recycling programmes," said Robb, who says the Live Earth gigs will set new green standards for the events industry.

After the shows, the organisers, with the help of accountancy group PricewaterhouseCoopers and an army of consultants, will calculate the volume of carbon emissions created and will then "offset" the difference.

Carbon offsetting means investing in carbon-reducing initiatives such as planting trees or making donations to renewable energy projects.

Robb highlights the good work being done by many artists. British ska-rock group The Police and US funk-punk band Red Hot Chili Peppers are examples of "people who practice what they preach."

Meanwhile, nu-metal headliners Linkin Park have their own climate change charity and Hawaiian artist Jack Johnson tours in a biodiesel-fuelled bus.

The Straits Times 6 Jul 07
World Music
Seven cities around the world will sound the call to save the Earth with concerts round the clock tomorrow. Catch the 24-hour telecast on Channel 5 from 7pm

NEW YORK - Live Earth is ambitious by any standard: seven concerts featuring the biggest names in music, playing for a 24-hour period across the globe, all for the cause of global warming.

But like its template - 2006's Live 8, the global concert devoted to poverty in Africa - the mission of Live Earth is somewhat amorphous.

Its aim is to 'trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis'. Whatever Live Earth's accomplishment tomorrow, it will be difficult to measure.

Former United States vice-president Al Gore, who teamed up with Kevin Wall to set up Live Earth, believes the world needs to rise up as one giant public voice to influence 'a new political reality'.

'The tipping point in the political system will come when the majority of the people are armed with enough knowledge about the crisis and its solutions that they make this cause their own,' he said in an interview.

'Then, you will see the entire political system shift dramatically.'

Wall, an Emmy-winning concert producer who produced Live 8, hopes Live Earth will change attitudes about global warming.

'This concert is not the solution,' he said. 'This concert is providing, hopefully, that global tipping point to start to get us into empowering people, get them into the tent.'

Live Earth will send proceeds to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit organisation chaired by Gore. Tickets for the US concert range from US$83 (S$126) to US$348.

Wall was originally inspired to put on Live Earth after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, the Oscar-winning documentary on Gore's global warming slideshow. It made him ask himself 'what can I do?', he said.

Concerts are scheduled for New Jersey, London, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney and Hamburg. An eighth show in Rio de Janeiro was cancelled by the police due to security concerns.

More than 150 artistes will perform, including Madonna, the Police, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Alicia Keys. Sixty short films and 30 public service announcements have been produced, which will be broadcast between performances.

Also planned are more than 6,000 parties in 119 countries - ranging from home viewings to museum festivals.

Live Earth organisers have been mindful of lessons learnt from Live 8, which was planned just weeks in advance by Bob Geldof to rally support for Africa.

Envisioned as a sequel to 1985's Live Aid (which benefited famine in Ethiopia), Live 8 did not charge for tickets and generally kept to a vague message urging help for Africa.

The underlying point of Live 8 was to pressure world leaders who days later met for that year's G8 Summit in Scotland.

Some success could be claimed: The G8 nations committed to doubling aid to Africa, from US$25 billion annually to US$50 billion by 2010. The leaders also endorsed a deal to cancel the debt of 18 of the world's poorest nations.

Since then, Geldof has created the website www.thedatareport.org to audit how faithfully the G8 nations keep to their promises.

This time around, Gore says they are making particular efforts to sustain any momentum gained by Live Earth. 'We've listened to the advice of Bob Geldof and others who have been such great pioneers, and we've taken their advice in designing this event as not the end in itself, but the beginning of a three- to five-year campaign,' he said.

But Geldof has been critical of Live Earth.

In May, he told a Dutch newspaper: 'Live Earth doesn't have a final goal. 'I would only organise this if I could go on stage and announce concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates, Congress or major corporations.'

Other music stars like rock group Arctic Monkeys question whether Live Earth performers are suitable climate change activists.

'It's a bit patronising for us 21-year-olds to try to start to change the world,' said drummer Matt Helders, explaining why the group is not on the bill at any of the concerts. 'Especially when we're using enough power for 10 houses just for lighting. It'd be a bit hypocritical.' Bass player Nick O'Malley added: 'And we're always jetting off on aeroplanes.'

At a news conference last week, Gore and Wall mapped out some of their goals for Live Earth.

They unveiled a '7 Point Pledge' that concert-goers will be asked to sign. Those who sign it promise to pressure their country to sign treaties to cut global warming pollution, personally reduce carbon dioxide pollution and plant trees, among other things.

Part of the thrust of Live Earth is to communicate what consumers can do to minimise their impact on the environment.

'The problem with it is that it's a very complicated issue,' Wall said. 'When you think about yourself recycling a piece of paper, how does that connect to an iceberg in the North Pole?'

Wall and Gore have also taken measures to maintain the concert's green integrity by enlisting the support of the US Green Building Council and John Picard, a former member of former President Bill Clinton's Green White House task force.

Live Earth is intended to be an eco-friendly event with power supplied from renewable energy sources and ground travel from hybrid or high-efficiency vehicles where possible.

'This is going to be the greenest event of its kind, ever,' Gore said. 'The carbon offsets and the innovative practices that are being used to make this a green event, I think will set the standard for years to come.'

While the former vice-president has repeatedly said he will not run for president next year, he said it is a 'main goal' of Live Earth to make climate change an important factor in the election next November and beyond.

'We're prepared to carry this on for three to five years,' he said. 'I'm optimistic that we'll reach the goal before then.' AP, AFP

Catch Live Earth on Channel 5 from 7pm tomorrow to 7pm on Sunday, with a break for News 5 Tonight from 9.30 to 10pm. Not the entire show will be carried live. The concerts will also be broadcast online at LiveEarth.MSN.com and on XM satellite radio.
links
Live Earth set to rock the world on July 7
by Catherine Hours Yahoo News 4 Jul 07

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