Scorched Earth Concert Running Thread.

(Also has significantly decreased our entertainment costs, as no restaurants will allow us in the door.)

 

My daughters are now dizzy from being forced to bop around the living room during Genesis.
And Katie is a good air drummer...

 

Sarah Brightman just knocked Conte Por Tido (sp) out of the park, sans Boccelli, in Shanghai.

Is that where Wang Chung is playing?

Assumedly, the Police will go last at Giants Stadium. Where does Bon Jovi go? Second last? First? So much for home field advantage.

 

Wow, the plebianistic environmentally correct concert. I didn't realize organizers went to those kinds of extremes. Now if one was mad jonesing for some rock in Antarctica, would they be forced to swim? Energy efficient transportation is a bit out of the question.

 

Hopefully all the awareness generated by this series of concerts will far outdo today's carbon footprint.

 

Ordinary World..... love that fucking song.

And SLB still has a few drops in the tank.

 

The "concert" in Antarctica consists of one band formed by scientists stationed there.

 

Heard the Black Eyed Peas-- Fergie announced that she was selling her Hummer and donating procedes to Live Earth fund. She did not seem to see the irony in that her Hummer will still be driven around -- by the new buyer.

I was hoping BEP's would play "Glamerous" - Lyrics certainly counter to today's events.

 

Interesting take from the Daily Mail:

Daily Mail investigation has revealed that far from saving the planet, the extravaganza will generate a huge fuel bill, acres of garbage, thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions, and a mileage total equal to the movement of an army.


The most conservative assessment of the flights being taken by its superstars is that they are flying an extraordinary 222,623.63 miles between them to get to the various concerts - nearly nine times the circumference of the world. The true environmental cost, as they transport their technicians, dancers and support staff, is likely to be far higher.


The total carbon footprint of the event, taking into account the artists' and spectators' travel to the concert, and the energy consumption on the day, is likely to be at least 31,500 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, who specialises in such calculations.


Throw in the television audience and it comes to a staggering 74,500 tonnes. In comparison, the average Briton produces ten tonnes in a year.


The concert will also generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites.


Moreover, the pop stars headlining the concerts are the absolute antithesis of the message they promote - with Madonna leading the pack of the worst individual rock star polluters in the world.


Sepermodel Kate Moss, another profligate polluter through her use of private jets, is producing a T-shirt for the event. Yet, Gore is touting the concerts as 'carbon neutral'. So how can that be?


Let us start with some facts. Worldwide, an audience of around 1,268,500 is expected to attend the concerts - making it one of the largest global events in history.


Dr Andrea Collins, an expert in sustainability from Cardiff University, has researched the impact of such mass gatherings on the environment.


"An event of this size at Wembley - which holds 65,000 at a rock concert, will generate around 59 tonnes of waste," she says. "That is largely composed of the rubbish from food and drink consumption."


She found that a Wembley-sized football match generated an 'ecological footprint' of 3,000 global hectares - an area the size of 4,166 football pitches. This is the amount of bioproductive land required to absorb the C02 emissions produced by such an event.



The concert organisers are preaching carbon neutrality - but isn't that just a guilt-free excuse?


Dr Collins estimates that the global audience for Live Earth will generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste. An extraordinary one million people are expected at the free concert at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach, featuring Lenny Kravitz, Macy Gray and Pharrell Williams.

Other venues including the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg - where Joss Stone is performing - will cater for audiences of tens of thousands.


Live Earth say that they will recycle much of the waste generated. Fine talk, but in fact some of the concert venues are struggling to keep up with their commitments.

A spokesman for Wembley says they only have the capacity to recycle around a third of waste produced - the rest will go into landfill sites.


Travel forms the vast majority of the 'carbon footprint' talked of by ecological campaigners - contributing up to 90 per cent of the environmental 'cost'.


Collins says: "It is patently absurd to claim that travel of this nature doesn't have an impact. Each person attending the event will have to make a return journey to the venue, be it by air, rail, bus or car. This burns fossil fuel - precisely what we are trying to reduce.


"There is also the environmental cost of these artists flying around the world - that is absolutely huge."

Indeed, an audit of the lifestyles of the A-list performers appearing at Live Earth, reveals that they are among the worst individual polluters in the world, as their world tours and private jets billow thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. One hour in a Gulfstream jet burns as much fuel as driving a family car for a year.


The Daily Mail has found that five of the top performing acts together have an annual output of almost 2,000 carbon tonnes. Madonna alone has an annual carbon footprint of 1,018 tonnes, according to John Buckley.


Remember, the average Briton produces just ten tonnes

 

guess i was dreaming when I was hoping for Supper's Ready, Musical Box and The Knife

 

His son, he works for the Daily Mail
It's a steady job, but he wants to be a paperback writer....

 

Next up in the UK: Spinal Tap (following Metallica).