The line-up for the Australian leg of the July 7 Live Earth concerts has been unveiled.
Sydney’s Aussie Stadium will feature performances from Crowded House, who reformed this year for a world tour; hard rock trio Wolfmother; Missy Higgins, whose “On A Clear Night” (Eleven The Music Company/EMI Music Australia) debuted at No. 1 this week on the Australian Recording Industry Assn. albums chart; John Butler Trio; actress Toni Collette with her band The Finish; The Ghostwriters, which features former Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst; guitar band Eskimo Joe; singer songwriter Paul Kelly; dance act Sneaky Sound System and Melbourne roots band King Brown.
Hawaiian surf-roots performer Jack Johnson — who spends so much time Down Under that he has bought a house near Byron Bay in the state of New South Wales — is also on the bill.
The Live Earth shows, which are intended to raise awareness of climate change, will be staged in Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and New York
“Live Earth will touch over two billion people with 24 hours of live music across seven continents and with an urgent, hopeful message to trigger a worldwide movement to combat the climate crisis and successfully solve it,” Al Gore, a partner in Live Earth and former U.S. vice president, said in a video link to a press gathering today in Sydney.
Higgins told reporters, “I think we all know that we’re not experts on climate change, we’re just trying to raise awareness on something that we all realize is probably the most important issue of our lifetimes.”
The Australian concert will be staged by Sydney-based promoters Michael Chugg, managing director of Michael Chugg Entertainment; Mark Pope, event producer of the ARIA awards; and Joe Segreto, a director of IMC Agency. The three had earlier teamed up for the WaveAid tsunami benefit concert in Sydney in 2005.
“We’ve all been involved in putting on some big gigs over the years but nothing rivals the scale of this one,” Chugg said.
The 24-hour international event will be broadcast in Australia by cable channel Foxtel, Web cast on the entertainment website NineMSN, and broadcast through metropolitan markets through the Austereo radio network and regional areas by Macquarie Radio Networks.
