Live Earth

by: carolh

Sun Jul 08, 2007 at 02:17:55 AM EDT

Many of the folks I talked to were there simply for the music - not the message - especially the younger ones.  I hope a lot of it did get through. 

Al Gore came out to personally introduce Bon Jovi and he mentioned that they were from New Jersey, JBJ didn't mind reminding everyone they were in his home state.  I'll tell you, Bon Jovi had the entire stadium on its feet and singing and dancing.  He was by far the crowd favorite here.  It was pretty intense to see Giants stadium that full and everyone singing at once.  The women all whipped out their cell phones and stood on the seats to get pictures and video of JBJ.  It was pretty funny.  One girl right in front of me had Bon Jovi tatooed across the small of her back. 

All day, I actually felt like a little kid who didn't want to miss anything.  From KT Tunstall to Al Gore coming out every so often to Roger Waters who was amazing.  The huge inflatable pig float with graffiti all over it was a surprise when it floated out from behind the stage. 

My favorite part of the show was when Melissa Etheridge just electrified the crowd.  She was incredibly moving.  She really was trying to wake up the crowd.  I think she did.

The sound could have been better for Kanye West.  The thumping bass during his set drowned out the orchestra musicians with him. 

Most of the under 30 crowd knew all the words to the rap and hip hop songs, but it was at the end of the concert where the older ones - like me, knew all the words to the Police and Pink Floyd songs.  There was truly something for every musical taste.  Alicia Keys was just beautiful and incredibly intense.  John Mayer was fantastic even when he came out again to play the lead on Message in a Bottle - the last song. 

There were just no bad acts.  The only thing louder than the music was the applause.  The applause was actually deafening sometimes.  I often turned around to get a view of the crowd because it was pretty intense seeing Giants Stadium that full. 

The music started at 2:30 and went on for 8 hours.  An unbeleivable show.  As a musician, I was just blown away by the talent on stage.  I don't think I'll ever see that many excellent performers on one stage again.  Truly historic. 

Lets pray that the message really gets through.  After the show, I admit I was dismayed at how much garbage people left behind, but trash cans were hard to find, probably for safety reasons.

Anyway, that's my report.  Gosh, am I tired.  Taking the shuttle buses wasn't bad getting to the stadium but they really need to work on the after the show crowd control.  Luckily environmentalists are a patient lot, but some folks were ready to punch someone after waiting for an hour and a half to get onto a shuttle bus from Gate A.  The crowd control guys in yellow only showed up an hour into the wait.  No rhyme or reason to it - just a really long disorganized wait.  Anyway, that's why it took me 3 hours to get home after the show.  During the show, I was proud to be from NJ, while trying to get on a shuttle bus, I was embarassed. 

It cracked me up that folks from NY said that nobody in the rest of the world would know where NJ was - that is how they rationalized having New York plastered all over everything official for sale.  No mention of NJ WHATSOEVER.  I felt like asking for my money back after I bought a program for 20 bucks.  The T-Shirts all say New York on them too.  Well at least Sting knew where he was when he said hello to the crowd.  And so did Jon Bon Jovi and Zach Braff, and Kevin Bacon.  Thanks guys for making this Jersey girl proud. 

It was uncanny how much Dave Mathews reminded me of Blue Jersey's very own Jeff Gardner.  Tell me you don't think so.

UPDATE: The spin is already beginning with Faux News spewing on the web.  IMHO the best article the MSM put out regarding the concert was the Boston Globe http://www.boston.co...  They even got the point that New Jersey's Meadowlands was the perfect  place to have the event. 

This concert really warmed my heart as a tree hugger. In 1994, I went to East Rutherford for my very first public hearing with Eric Nelsen who founded the Hackensack River Canoe Club in 1984 and "Ranger Ron" Vellekamp.  The hearing was about the "minicity" that was going to be built in the wetlands in East Rutherford. It was the first time I felt moved to speak in public about the environment.  I wound up writing letters to the editor in the Record that were printed.  I like to think that one letter is what made the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission drop the word "development" from their name. 

I met Captain Bill Sheehan - the Hackensack Riverkeeper - back then, when not many folks knew him.  Very few environmental advocates stood up against the loss of wetlands back then - I can count them on one hand.  When we would have environmental concerts at Laurel Park or wherever we could have them in the Meadowlands, my friend Peter Karp would play for free on a wooden platform that was our stage. One year we had to watch out for raw sewage when a pipe nearby broke.  That was what environmental concerts were like ten years ago in the Meadowlands.  I would help Karen Siletti and Steve Barnes line up the music acts.  At that time the environmentalists and the HMDC were at odds - it would take years of hard work by Captain Bill and a major National Geographic story with photos taken from a canoe paddled by Eric Nelsen to win the HMDC over.  Before that, we were only preaching to the choir and a few hundred people. 

But this time, this year, this event, Live Earth - East Rutherford had MILLIONS of new ears hearing the message of protecting the earth.  I was just tickled that that many folks at least heard the message.  Whether they listened, well, time will tell. 

As a water resources engineer, I am actually terrified about global warming. We can't design for what may be coming if we spent the past 150 years coming up with plans for what happened in the past.  We have to take care of this NOW.  The past year has been record breaking in a lot of ways.  Global warming is ALREADY affecting us in the Garden State.  9 inches of rainfall in a day is NOT normal and I don't know any engineers who design for that. 

At Bergen Grassroots, last year, a NASA scientist studying climate change explained why the scientists were late on agreeing about this problem.  The older scary computer models were correct.  The latest fancy temperature satellite information had not been adjusted for altitude.  The newer empirical data caused some scientists to doubt the older models.  When the numbers were properly calibrated, the numbers closely agreed with the scary earlier computer models.  The scientists then came into agreement - sadly a lot later than they should have.  That was probably why a lot of folks thought the scientists were still arguing.  But they aren't any more.  This NASA scientist also said she was one of the doubters before the numbers were corrected.  Climate change is not just a possibility anymore. She told us that polar bears are already DROWNING. 

That is why I went to Live Earth. I loved the music for sure, but we have to do something RIGHT NOW about climate change.  In 1988 I created the recycling program for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission with Jennifer March and remember pulling dirty diapers out of recycling cans back then.  I started saving plastic bottles BEFORE we even had a place to bring them before anyone knew they could be recycled.  If even a few folks start only today to recycle their garbage or turn off unused lights or contemplate their conspicuous consumption, I will feel that Live Earth was an incredible success.  I wasn't an environmental expert ten years ago.  I am now.   I heard Robert Kennedy Jr. speak and I met the Hudson Riverkeeper. They INSPIRED me to actually change careers.  Live Earth was about inspiration.  It wasn't about the past or who is more eco-friendly than who.  It was all about knowing the dangers we face collectively and about what we each do from this very moment on.