LIVE EARTH: Comment on the Show!

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Hey all, Live Earth concerts have been rocking the globe all day, and we’ve steered you towards the good stuff. Relive highlights with the text and pics below and keep the comments coming – we want to know what you think of this historic day.

5:14 PM – Over on the msn.com feed of the London concert, it’s Madonna (pictured, left) time! And so I leave you in the trusty hands of the Material Girl. Remember: you can catch the live feeds of all the concerts on MSN and tune in now on Bravo. Starting at 8PM EST, NBC will be featuring Live Earth all night. Enjoy the shows – and the planet! – Kate Spencer

5:02 PM – Akon really loves to take his shirt off, huh. I’m sure it’s only because it’s super hot out today here in the Big Apple. – Kate Spencer

5:00 PM – Oh Akon. The rapper just encouraged the men in the crowd to turn to the ladies near them and “Smack That.” That seems not very politically correct – and also possibly against the law? – Kate Spencer

4:57 PM – We’ve got the NYC show up on the msn.com live feed as we wait for Madonna to perform in London, and we’re joining the crowd in giving it up for Akon. Let’s hope he steers clear of those underage concert-goers tonight. Do your sexy dance moves for the planet, Akon! – Kate Spencer

4:47 PM – Before breaking into “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race” the boys gave a little shout out to their pals Panic At The Disco. That seems too sweet for rock n’ roll! – Kate Spencer

4:43 PM – Switched over to the feed of the NYC show, and we’ve got Fall Out Boy (right). Ever seen a bunch of boys look so cute in guyliner? Teenaged girls (and VH1 bloggers) everywhere are screaming with delight. – Kate Spencer

4:40 PM – Hmmm. Another dedication from Dave Grohl, this time to “you know who.” The Foo Fighters are playing “Best of You,” and I have no idea who he’s talking about. Any guesses? Paris Hilton? Barack Obama? Avril Lavigne? It could be anybody! – Kate Spencer

4:34 PM – Awww. The Foos just dedicated “Times Like These” to Al Gore. What a lucky guy! Not many people go from the White House to being BFFs with rock stars. Think Dick Cheney is a Foo fan too? – Kate Spencer

4:29 PM – Checking back in with the msn.com feed, and we’ve got the Foo Fighters in London, with the crowd clearly in the palm of their collective hand. Dave Grohl (left) is getting the crowd to join in on “My Hero.” He can barely get his mouth to the mike under all that hair! What a rocker. Swoon. Holy cr*p – he just played the eff out of that guitar. How did his fingers not fall off? – Kate Spencer

4:23 PM – Back over on Bravo, Ludacris is getting the crowd clapping with “Pimpin’ All Over The World.” Hey – even pimps care about climate change. When he’s rapping about “fancy cars,” he’s talking about hybrids! – Kate Spencer

4:20 PM – I’ve just jumped over to MSN’s live feed of the South Africa show, and a barefoot Joss Stone is doing a duet with Angelique Kidjo of “Gimme Shelter!” These two ladies are gettin’ down. Is this the unofficial Live Earth cover of the day? Am I missing something? So – who did it better, Keith and Alicia or Joss and Angelique? – Kate Spencer

4:10 PM – Bravo just showed a clip of the Black Eyed Peas performing “Let’s Get Retarded” across the Atlantic in London. They definitely win my vote for “Best Dressed” of all of today’s performers. So dapper! Fergie’s smart to wear those sparkly sandals with all the jumping around she’s doing. Gettin’ stupid indeed! – Kate Spencer

4:06 PM – Welcome to our last hour of live blogging Live Earth! We’re getting into the action on Bravo, where Keith Urban (left) was just joined by Alicia Keys (right) in a rockin’ rendition of the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.” Keith’s shirt looks kinda handmade, and it seems to be a message to us viewers to ask questions. So I must inquire – who’s been your favorite of the day so far? Did Al Gore rock it out as much as Taking Back Sunday? – Kate Spencer

4:00 PM – Speaking of raw, Luda’s doing it on the Jersey feed. Don’t miss “the very first song I ever came out with.” He wants to lick you from yr head to yr toes. On that note, say hello to blogger Kate Spencer.

3:59 PM – Know what? I wish my girlfriend was raw, like these fine ladies. I’m going to suggest that to my girlfriend when I get off of work tonight. Any guesses as to what her response will be? – Jim Macnie

3:50 PM – The ladies make tunes that sound like tanning-salon soundtracks. Find out what they’re all about - PICS, PICS, PICs - right here. – Jim Macnie

3:49 PM – How many couples in the stiff-upper-lip Wembley crowd are having some sort of sex right now? Certainly Mike D is. – Jim Macnie

3:45 PM – Guess this will be the only time EVER that the Pussycat Dolls (above, right) will open for Foo Fighters. Thanks Live Earth. – Jim Macnie

3:36 PM – Hearing a lot Biz Markie in the Beasties (left) today. That “from the Hudson to the Nile” line must have been their global shout-out. Get right with the master of the vapors here and here. – Jim Macnie

3:27 PM – Check the suits - these guys must have just finished watching The Blues Brothers for the 20th time. – Jim Macnie

3:26 PM – And it don’t stop. Here come the Beasties. Naw, they won’t be doing instrumental-only stuff like their new only-okay new disc. Check, check, check. Which disc is better, Paul’s Boutique or Licensed to Ill? – Jim Macnie

3:22 PM – Crowded House are a little more animated than I would have expected for middle-aged dudes (ditto for Duran Duran this morning - they had a Talking Heads vibe if you can believe it). If you want to hear Crowded House’s new disc, the whole thing is being streamed here.– Jim Macnie

3:12 PM – Sh*t, I think I saw Jewel doing a hippie dance to Blunt, somewhere out there in the Wembley nosebleed seats. Maybe it was just a blonde who loves A Night Without Armor.

3:04 PM – I’ll buy a lot of nonsense, but I won’t buy James Blunt covering Cat Stevens. Just because a song has the word “world” in it, doesn’t mean it has to be covered today. Blunt’s on the UK stage right now. – Jim Macnie

3:00 PM – Just a reminder as blogger Jon Durbin splits. Our comments are referencing the action on msn.com. Xzibit (left) is the first MC I’ve come across today. He’s chastising fake rappers right now from Japan. Did hip-hop get a short shrift on the programming today? – Jim Macnie

2:56 PM – This Russell Brand character just proposed a new British government based on sex appeal. Interesting. And now he’s introducing Boris Becker. Live Earth is like a late-night variety show that’s been booked by a crazy person. Now Boris Becker’s introducing James Blunt. Nutty. Who’s next? Arsenio Hall? Tom Wopat? Charo? – Jonathan Durbin

2:56 PM — Spinal Tap has brought out bassists from all the other bands playing Wembley to do a bass rendition of “Big Bottoms.” I can see most of Metallica, James Blunt, a stray Beastie Boy and maybe a Foo Fighter. Who else is up there? – Jonathan Durbin

2:46 PM — Rob Reiner just introduced Spinal Tap (right). Nigel Tufnel greeted the crowd by saying, “Hello, Wimbledon!” Then they played their 1975 classic, “Stonehenge.” Little people just brought those little stones out onstage and now they’re dancing a jig. Oh, goodness. – Jonathan Durbin

2:43 PM — The time between set
changes is slightly less exciting than watching paint dry, so I tried
checking the feeds from Germany, Brazil and New York, but I got the
“busy now, try again later” message. Anyone else having technical
problems? This seems like it’s going to be a coup for MSN. Hola,
traffic. – Jonathan Durbin

2:41 PM — The US show is up and running, and You Oughta Know artist KT Tunstall (right) is bringing a little Janis Joplin to her “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.” – Jim Macnie

2:39 PM —
Nothing against Jack Johnson, but Wolfmother gave us all the Zep we needed today. Jack just finished an acoustic “Whole Lotta Love” down under. Jack’s now rolling through a Greg Brown tune; Brown’s a folk hero. Find out about him here. – Jim Macnie

2:30 PM — Lars just screamed so hard I saw a blood vessel in his forehead pop its own blood vessel. – Jonathan Durbin

2:27 PM — People in the crowd appear to be beating each other with inflatable guitars. – Jonathan Durbin

2:26 PM — Didn’t realize that BillyGoat Gruff was fronting Metallica (right) these days. But leave to Hetfield to make “Sad But True” resonate on a global scale. Anyone here still into the band? - Jim Macnie

2:25 PM — “Enter Sandman” makes people bounce. – Jonathan Durbin

2:19 PM — Metallica is loud. The change of speeds from Keane to Lars Ulrich and company is a little extreme. But that seems to be the way Live Earth rolls. Of note: In terms of looks, James Hetfield has almost completed his transformation from metal god to Monster Garage host. (Also, we’d heard that the new facial hair he’s sporting had gotten him in trouble with immigration authorities — but these days, what won’t?) Surprisingly, however, as they ease into a sad, slow version of “Nothing Else Matters,” we start to think that maybe there isn’t as much difference between Metallica and Keane as we thought. Oh, wait. There’s a throaty scream. Never mind. – Jonathan Durbin

2:13 PM – Good afternoon. I join you while watching Live Earth’s British feed just post Keane (left), and I’m still flushed from their performance. What keyboard hustlers they are! How gently they sweated and swaggered across the stage! Those boys are the very definition of plaintive. I’d say they lie somewhere between Travis and Belle & Sebastian on the rock spectrum, you know, in terms of testosterone. But I digress. Following Keane, a comedian-gossip guy with big hair took the stage to make whale jokes and remind the crowd at Wembley that Metallica will be playing later. Can’t wait. – Jonathan Durbin

2:11 PM – The day’s cluckish celeb comment belongs to Kelly Clarkson. A couple hours ago she told Bravo’s Aamer she didn’t realize that AFI was vegan, and didn’t know know being vegan helped the green cause; she thought it was just a “weird food decision.” Our next blogger is in the house. Here’s Jonathan Durbin to take you through 3 pm. – Jim Macnie

1:57 PM – It’s pretty tough to get an arena rocking with a keyboard, but Keane make a noble effort. Lead singer Tom Chaplin is the first performer yet to really utilize the cat walk, and for that, I thank him. Lots of strutting and knee-buckling. — Lauren Harris

1:51 PM – Not sure who this Russell Brand fellow is, but he’s getting a mixed reception alright. Little known singer-songwriter Terra Naomi sings her ballad of social change “Say It’s Possible,” inspired by Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. She’s kind of like a cross between Ani Difranco and a Suicide Girl. – Lauren Harris

1:42 PM – Earlier today Bravo showed Rihanna’s (left) Tokyo performance, and it looked like her backup “Umbrella” dancers were winging it. Anyone who wants to see some cultural movement, head over the Baaba Maal channel on msn.com. The Senegalese master knows how to throw down. - Jim Macnie 1:40 PM –
Thoughts on that Madonna Live Earth interlude? In terms of annoyance, it’s ranking somewhere between the Nokia ring and my alarm clock. – Lauren Harris1:33 PM – Two doctors who seem fairly well-informed just came onstage, providing plenty of fodder for my nightmares (rising sea levels, evil lightbulbs). Ultimately, like most things, it’s the government’s fault.

And now, VH1-endorsed neo-soul siren Corinne Bailey Rae (right) kicks off her set with “I’d Like To,” an oddly prescient choice given that it’s all about a heatwave. Rae brings the ecology with a delightful rendition of the Marvin Gaye classic “Mercy Mercy Me,” joined onstage by John Legend. – Lauren Harris

1:25 PM –
Hey, multitaskers. Wolfmother’s rocking the Aussie feed on msn.com right now.
And though I don’t want to start using American Idol references today, singer Andrew Stockdale sure has his pitchy moments. Wonder what Randy Jackson would say? – Jim Macnie

1:21 PM – Our best weapon against global warming? Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong — he could power all the air conditioners in North America. The London post-punkers open their set with dancefloor anthem “Banquet.” Being virgins to playing Wembley, the band implores the audience to do a wave before launching into “The Prayer,” the first single off their latest album. It’s sweet to see the hometown boys make good. — Lauren Harris

1:05 PM – Greetings and salutations. We join you just following the live broadcast of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ performance at Wembley Stadium, and one thought and one thought only prevails at this concert: how the hell do the Red Hot Chili Peppers look so incredibly cut, given that they’re 70 years old and have taken every drug under the sun?

The boys bring a little So-Cal across the pond, closing their set with “By the Way.” Hardly an original thought — but Will Ferrell and drummer Chad Smith bear a striking resemblance to one another. Anybody ever seen ‘em in the same room? – Lauren Harris

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 7th, 2007 at 12:40 pm

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