Live Earth Hits London And The United States

A 24-hour music marathon spanning seven continents Saturday reached the Western Hemisphere with rappers, rockers and country stars taking the stage at Live Earth concerts to fight climate change.

The New York show, which is actually in Giants Stadium in New Jersey, opened with the artist Kenna asking the crowd of 52,000: “You guys realize we’re a part of history now?”

With other shows in London, Sydney, Tokyo, Kyoto, Shanghai, Hamburg, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro — and even a performance by a five-piece band of scientists beamed from a research station in Antarctica — organizers promised the biggest musical event ever staged, dwarfing the Live Aid and Live 8 concerts.

Live Earth venues featured aboriginal elders, virtual-reality performers, a holographic Al Gore and more than 100 of the biggest names in music — including Madonna, the Police and Kanye West — who sought to raise awareness about climate change. The concerts are backed by Gore, whose campaign to force global warming onto the international political stage inspired the event.

The Material Girl was flaunting her eco-friendly side as the headliner of an eclectic show at London’s newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium that included the Beastie Boys, the Pussycat Dolls and the Black Eyed Peas.

The drummers from Queen, the Foo Fighters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers began the London concert, leading a battery of percussion set to flashing images of endangered animals, landfill heaps, wind farms and the Earth seen from space. They performed against a map of the world made from the painted tops of oil barrels.

The crowd immediately rose to its feet as the reunited Genesis used its hit “Land of Confusion” to send an environmental message with Phil Collins urging fans to make the world “a place worth living in.”

Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas was among a handful of stars to write a song specifically about the climate crisis for Live Earth.

“The world is dying,” he rapped. “If people say it’s all right, they’re lying.”

The 24-hour music marathon started in Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney, Australia, where the show opened with a traditional welcome by a group of white-painted Aboriginal tribal leaders.

CLICK HERE for a detailed breakdown of the Asian and Australian shows!

Country stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood opened the concert in Washington with a rendition of “We Shall Be Free.”

Gore 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.

“Global warming is the greatest challenge facing our planet, and the gravest we’ve ever faced,” said 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 neighbors, 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. Organizers promised the huge shows were made eco-friendly by using recycled goods and buying carbon credits to offset the inevitable high power bills.

Critics say Live Earth lacks achievable goals, and that jet-setting rock stars whose amplifier stacks chew through power may send mixed messages about energy conservation.

Problems and changes to the series continued right down to the last minute. A ninth concert — in Washington, D.C. — was added Friday, and a Brazilian judge rejected a last-minute bid to shut down South America’s Live Earth concert after a prosecutor had argued safety could not be guaranteed for an audience of 700,000 on Rio’s Copacabana beach.

Bob Geldof, who organized the Live Aid and Live 8 anti-poverty concerts, thought Gore’s energies were misplaced.

“I hope they’re a success,” Geldof said. “But why is he (Gore) actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody’s known about that problem for years. We are all…conscious of global warming.”