Live Earth Confirms Giants Stadium For North American Event
Live Earth, Al Gore’s Summer benefit concert, will be held at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. This is the confirmed North American site for a 24 hour concert that will take place July 7 on seven continents. The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Roger Waters and Kanye West are among the 16 acts that will perform at the 77,000 capacity football stadium in the concluding event of the daylong series of concerts that will begin in Sydney.
Setting the North American location proved a bit troublesome for organizers, who had initially planned a Washington, D.C., event. But the Park Service said the National Mall was already booked, and Republicans blocked an effort to stage the concert on the lawn in front of the Capitol. Focus then switched to New York, where Prospect Park, Randall’s Island and Shea Stadium were considered. Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands has a greater capacity than the New York sites.
Live Earth co-chair Al Gore said the concerts are a massive public education effort, with the intention of getting “corporations and governments to take decisive action to solve the climate crisis.”
Other acts on the U.S. bill are AFI, Akon, Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews Band, Fall Out Boy, John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson, KT Tunstall, Ludacris, Melissa Etheridge and Rihanna. Bill represents a far greater R&B quotient than most cause-oriented concerts and, beyond the top names, a much younger than usual collection of acts.
Organizers have also set the 17-act lineup for the London show at Wembley Stadium: Bill will be toplined by Beastie Boys, Genesis, Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers. All the concerts will be streamed live at LiveEarth.MSN.com.
