Gore's Live Earth Disaster Down Under

Seems like the concert in Sydney was a bit of disappointment if not a public relations disaster as thousands were very upset about the price gouging and the money making exploitation of the "green" bandwagon that recording artists, promoters and would be Presidential candidates have jumped on.

Hey mate! Would you pay $50 for a Fosters?? Mass hypnosis and hysteria lining the pockets of promoters. Too bad that even on the left side of the political spectrum capitalism is alive and well fueling the exploitation of idealism and the people's general love of music.

Here is an article directly from the Sydney Morning Herald :

Joel Gibson

July 9, 2007

Out front, Crowded House were getting reacquainted, Missy Higgins made a cameo with Paul Kelly, and a beamed message from the "former next president of the United States", Al Gore, told the 45,000-strong throng they had the power to halt climate change.

But out back, where revelers go to buy their fluids and to get rid of them, and where big events often live or die, there was a different kind of drought. Faced with record beer queues, thirsty fans at Saturday's Live Earth concert at Sydney's Aussie Stadium were seen by the Herald offering others $50 for their beer rather than wait an hour to buy refreshments.

Thousands, deprived of the traditional rock 'n' roll accompaniment, went to a Coca-Cola stand, forgetting that its manufacturers had been under fire in India for allegedly creating water shortages and pollution around their bottling facilities.

Scores were seen leaving within the first two hours of the nine-hour festival, fed up with the lack of basic services, cutting their losses on a $99 ticket. Gate attendants were heard telling the human tide that they should complain to the promoter.

It was "unAustralian", one spectator protested. "This is what happens when you let hippies organize a big event," another said. One woman, asked by Missy Higgins "how you all are back there", earned a wry round of applause from the stands when she shouted: "Sober."

But Rina Ferris, a spokeswoman for the event's promoters, Michael Chugg and Mark Pope, said neither the venue nor the promoter had received a single complaint. And queues and sobriety were not enough to prevent the global party from being a roaring success for those who stuck it out until the dying strains of Crowded House.

"Live" Carbon Litter

Squads of pamphleteers handed out tips - on recycled paper - about tackling climate change. The stadium's hoardings were covered with the event's "seven pledges" for improving our carbon footprint.

Police charged 19 people with drug offenses.

The Sydney event was one of eight Live Earth concerts. . The others were in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hamburg, London, Johannesburg, New York and Rio de Janeiro, with a token gig in Antarctica.

In Britain, organizers had to explain Madonna's participation after the US Fox News Network revealed her links to some of the world's biggest polluters. Her Ray of Light Foundation has $US4.2 billion of shares in companies such as the aluminum giant Alcoa, the Ford Motor Company and Weyerhaeuser, a forest products company.

Kevin Wall, the founder of Live Earth, told London's Sunday Telegraph: "Madonna is here today, which shows her commitment. Today we're not focusing on what she or any of the artists may have done in their past; it is about the future."

Greenpeace criticized the German leg of the concerts because the carmaker Daimler-Chrysler had been chosen as a sponsor. --- [Hat Tip: Sydney Morning Herald]

Then this set of comments from Sir Bob Geldof the organizer of the Live Aid and Live 8 Concert was very revealing. Does anyone suppose that these concerts were engineered to give Al Gore greater exposure as a potential late Presidential candidate at the end of the Summer? Count on it...

Sir Bob Geldof has slammed Al Gore's upcoming global warming awareness concert Live Earth.

The musician - the organiser of the Live Aid and Live 8 concerts which raised money and aid for the Third World - is furious he has been linked with the eco-friendly event, and has branded it a waste of time.

Geldof raged to Holland's De Volkskrant newpaper: "It sounds like Live 8. I'm getting lots of responses from people who think I am organising it.

"I would only organise Live Earth if I could go on stage and announce concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates, Congress or major corporations.

"They haven't got those guarantees, so it's just an enormous pop concert or the umpteenth time that, say, Madonna or Coldplay get up on stage.

"I hope they're a success. But why is Gore actually organising them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody's known about that problem for years. We are all conscious of global warming."