July 6, 2007
Live Earth Concert Comes to D.C. After All
Hope for a last minute hail mary. After the highs and lows of almost getting an installment of Live Earth in our town, then having Congress stomp all over it, Al Gore's figured things out in the final hour and is adding the District to the globe-crossing concert.
Live Earth will take place tomorrow, from 9 locations around the world. The purpose of the massive undertaking is to raise worldwide awareness of climate change. Musical performances, speakers, movies and more will be featured at each event, kicking off in Australia and working its way around the globe.
The Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian on the Mall is now hosting an event, coinciding with their Mother Earth event taking place at the same time. Performers will include Native American group Blues Nation, country stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, and more. From 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., the event will feature experts in climate change and Native American culture at the museum's Welcome Plaza.
If you can't make the actual event, or if the lineups in other cities are more your cup of tea, you can watch the whole thing at home on NBC, or, head to the Arlington Cinema & Draft House and enjoy it in the company of others, from 5 to 11 p.m. for $4. A country lineup might not be our top choice if we were picking, but we're thrilled that this worked out in the end.
Photo by Flickr user Jeff Kobina
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Bizarre location. The article says the plaza only seats 200. You and I may not like Garth Brooks, but the guy has more than 200 fans in this area.
I always thought this whole thing was mishandled from the start. Once it became clear that the Capitol lawn was out, the organizers should have gotten creative and looked for other areas where a large outdoor concert could be held. What about Hains Point with the band near the site of Awakening? How about Anacostia Park which has more than enough open space for a massive concert.
Not very bizarre at all, if all you want as the concert organizers is the shot of the Capitol in the background, doing it at the grounds of the Museum of the American Indian makes perfect sense. And clearly with a worldwide series of concerts, they just wanted the Capitol dome in the back of a shot.
What is less clear to me is why the Smithsonian is being allowed to be used in this way. It would be easier to understand if they were in a space that could host a few thousand. After all with Garth Brooks retired, many of his fans haven't had a chance to see him in like five years, there is going to be some major demand. It seems beneath what the Smithsonian stands for to be used in a political stunt like this.
I think Gore has always had a special place in his heart for Washington, DC. He practically grew up here after all. So it's nice to see he didn't back down on a DC concert despite the Congress' obstacle - Take that global warming naysayers!
No one I spoke to went to this. Did it happen and who played?
guest4 -
It definitely happened - I saw the pics on the Washington Post webpage on Saturday night. From what I could tell the space was completely packed with the 200 people that could fit. It appeared that it was just Garth Brooks and his wife Trish Underwood or something like that. The main thing was a shot of the capitol building was used for the televised concerts that night.
You can see the shots at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/070707/GAL-07Jul07-80522/index.html
It's easy for DCist hipsters to dismiss Garth Brooks and country music in general, but it's worth noting that Garth Brooks was active in making sure the country music world was decent to his openly lesbian sister, who played in his band.
So what? Dick Cheney loves his lesbian daughter and doesn't attempt to deny her or distance himself from her. That doesn't change the fact that Cheney's still a Constitution shredding, power mongering, idealogue.
I'm light years away from being a hipster and I loathe Garth Brooks for the same reason I hate Bon Jovi and Puffy: it's over produced crap music.