Tibi Puiu
[tag]Live Earth[/tag] London, the biggest concerts in terms of names in my opinion, started a mid-day at the fabulous Wembley Stadium.The Festival’s openers were a group of all stars drummers, composed by the likes of Taylor Hawkins from the [tag]Foo Fighters[/tag], Chad Smith from [tag]Red Hot Chili Peppers[/tag] and Roger Taylor from [tag]Queen[/tag] all backed up by a orchestra of drummers titled SOS Allstars. Their performance was overwhelming, with extraordinary drumming, while images and clips where shown on the gigantic screen placed all over Wembley depicting environment key spots from around the world.
After this unprecedent performance the actual artists scheduled to play follow. The list with the stars playing Wembley, chronological ordered is:
- Genesis
- Razorlight
- Snow Patrol
- Damien Rice & David Gray
- Kasabian
- Paolo Nutini
- Black Eyed Peas
- John Legend
- Duran Duran
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Bloc Party
- Corinne Bailey Rae
- Keane
- Metallica
- Spinal Tap
- James Blunt
- Beastie Boys
- Pussycat Dolls
- Foo Fighters
- Madonna
Homeboys from London, indie rockers [tag]Razorlight[/tag] took the stage soon after [tag]Genesis[/tag] finished their gig. To mark his solidarity with the Live Earth cause, Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell (photo courtesy of NME), sacked his usual all white outfit and settled for a toe to neck all black clothing.
Razorlight setlist was:
In The Morning
America
Los Angeles Waltz
Leicester boys [tag]Kasabian[/tag] soon followed and rose the crowed with their 15 minute performance. “Hello Wembley Stadium and the world, how are you?” asked frontman Tom Meighan, before the band played their opener “Empire”. Between songs, Kasabian showed their support for the eco cause and urged the audience to recycle, save energy and such, Meighen even launched a distress call for the endangered species of the planet. “Let’s put a message out there, let’s try to save the polar bears so our children’s children can see ’em.”
Kasabian setlist was:
Empire
Club Foot
LSF
Live Earth head organizer Al Gore appeared, at this time, on the giants screens of Wembley, speaking from Washington DC, indulging people to participate in ecological and humanitarian activities. After Gore’s small appearance Scottish singer [tag]Paolo Nutini[/tag] played 4 beautiful tracks, including a cover of Louis Armstrong’s “What A Beautiful Day”, on which he asked the audience to sing with him.
[tag]Black Eyed Peas[/tag] soon followed, sometime in mid-day, after they were introduced by June Sarpong. After performing their classic track “Let’s Get It Starting”, Fergie took a minute to talk to the crowd, saying: “You know sometimes, walking away from situations or old habits is a hard thing to do. But that’s because it’s the right thing to do.”
Black Eyed Peas setlist was:
Let’s Get It Started
Don’t Punk With My Heart’ / ‘Big Girls
apl.de.ap’s theme
Where Is The Love?
After the fast rhythm tracks of Black Eyed Peas, that got the crowd all dancing on Wembley, a touch of retro had to came in the form of British pop stars [tag] Duran Duran[/tag]. They started out with a suggestive track, suitable for the event in cause “Planet Earth”, before playing “Ordinary World”, during which frontman Simon Le Bon told the folks at the stadium “the ordinary world is inside yourself, you’ve got to sort that out before deal with the rest”.
Duran Duran setlist was:
Planet Earth
Ordinary World
Notorious
Girls On Film
At this point the long awaited performance of [tag]Red Hot Chilly Peppers[/tag] finally came, as they were introduced by fellow LA comedian star Chris Rock, after which they began some warm-up jaming. RHCP had the people stoned from their first track “Can’t Stop”, with their magnific funky sound. Bassist Flea, in a very cheerful way, addressed the public: “I have something to say. If there’s a single thing that I can say, that’s the most important thing you’ve ever heard – but I can’t remember it”. I honestly think he was really high when he said that, but whatever.
RHCP setlist was:
Can’t Stop
Dani California
So Much I
By The Way
Here we are, halfway through Live Earth London and to fill the gap on the stage left by RHCP are London’s own art rockers, [tag]Bloc Party[/tag]. The band started off with their 2004 hit song “Banquet”, after which, before proceeding to “So Here We Are” frontman Kele Okereke wished to say a few words.
“How are we doing? I’m not one to speak to you particularly, but this next song is about remembering to do something that’s important. And it’s important that at the end of the show, you guys make the call, everyone here and everyone watching at home. The power’s in your hands”. Nice speach Kele.
Bloc Party setlist was:
Banquet
So Here We Are
The Prayer
[tag]Corinne Bailey Rae[/tag] followed and, as a highlight, performed a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me”. “This song was written in the 60s by Marvin Gaye, when people had the same concerns,” she said. “Nothing’s changed.”
The crowd down at Wembley got ecstatic as [tag]Keane[/tag] walked down the catwalk in front of the venue’s stage. Frontman Tom Chaplin didn’t waste a moment and had the crowd with their hands in the air and singing along.
“I don’t care if you can’t sing or don’t know the words please we need you today,” the frontman told the people before of opening song ‘Somewhere Only We Know’. “We need to fill Wembley Stadium with your voices so please sing as loudly as you can.”
Keane setlist was:
Somewhere Only We Know
Is It Any Wonder
Bed Shaped
Wembley metal fans had their moment of glory when metal legends [tag]Metallica[/tag] entered the stage, unintroduced. The band will also play their own concert tomorrow, on the same Wembley Stadium, part of their “Sick Of The Studio Tour”, but found the time to play a 3 track gig today too. Fans were plunged into ecstasy as, one by one, Metallica played hit songs, after hit songs. At the end of “Enter Sandman”, frontman James Hetfield adressed the audience and gave them a piece of solid advice”think for yourselves, my friends!”.
Metallica setlist was:
Sad But True
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
The semi-fictitious heavy metal band [tag]Spinal Tap[/tag], delivered an awesome performance, with great theater animatronics, especially while playing “Stonehenge” when little Stonehenge figurines were flying above the stage.
Also they’ve organized a really cool feature, dubed “bass off”. The best bass players, who played today/were about to play, were invited on the stage. Among them Foo Fighters’ Nate Mendell, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Bloc Party’s Gordon Moakes and Madonna’s bass player and producer Stuart Price.
Spinal Tap setlist was:
Stonehenge
‘Warmer Than Hell
Big Bottom
Love him or hate him, [tag]James Blunt[/tag] is back in the UK and he means business.
“Thank you, thank you, what a thrill to be here” said James to this listeners as he was prepping himself for his show. James decided it was best to stick to his old and rather known tracks and not to play any songs from his new album, due sometime later this year.
James Blunt setlist was:
Wise Men
Wild World
Some Mistake
After James, came some of my favorite artists, the New York rappers [tag]Beastie Boys[/tag]. They surprised me, and the entire stadium as a matter of fact, with their cloths: sleek suits, blue ties and sun glasses. Cool!
They started off with some of their best tracks of the 90′ “Sure Shot”, “Whatcha’ Want” and “Intergalactic”, but with out pausing one sec. At the end of the 3 track set, not only did they pause, but they’ve turned from a rapcore trio into a uber rock band, each band member picking up a guitar,bass and drums, before letting it rip in a rock version of “Sabotage”.
Beastie Boys setlist was:
Sure Shot
So Whatcha’ Want
Intergalactic
Sabotage
Your favorite superficial girl group, as if i didn’t had enough with Spice Girls, [tag]Pussycat Dolls[/tag] took the stage, after being introduced by Doctor Who star David Tennant. After which the Dolls began to play their “thang”, performing a 3 track set spanning their greatest hits, this includes some fancy R&B dancing schemes.
Pussycat Dolls setlist was:
Buttons
Stick Witchu
Don’t Cha
Oh yeah! The moment, i’ve been personally waiting for, came. [tag]Foo Fighters[/tag] took the stage by storm. Dave Grohl was looking very cool, with a rugged, nifty beard, apparently the Foo’s are in who-has-the-biggest-beard contest, as we reported before. Anyway the band simply rocked, the crowd were on their knees as “All My Life” played through, after which he ask the people at Wembley to join him. “I want you to sing-a-long if you know it,” he shouted at lung-busting volume. “It’s called ‘My Hero’.”
Next, Dave took the time to say a few words and to dedicate the next song to the man behind the whole series of events: Al Gore. “How you guys doing? I want to sing a song write now and I want to dedicate it to Al Gore because it’s time like these your times like these you learn to live again,” said Dave, quoting the lyrics from their own “Time Like This”.
Foo Fighters setlist was:
All My Life
My Hero
Times Like These
Best Of You
Everlong
The brilliant Foo performance was then followed by a symbolic “turn off of all lighting”, literally plunging Wembley in darkness, except of course for mobile phones, cameras etc. A well thought moment i might add. Actor Terence Stamp soon after addressed the crowd : “Let’s not be endarkened by this, let’s be enlighteened by this. Let it be the beginning of an adventure!”
Alas! Live Earth London has come to an end, but who better to close it then the pop diva [tag]Madonna[/tag]. She opened her act with “Hey You” accompanied by a hugh chorus. “Hey You” is a brand new track composed especially for Live Earth, that’s actually the event’s theme. People could hear “Hey You” all day long in between acts.
Soon after she finished Hey You, Madonna broke into her hits, picking up a guitar and playing “Ray of Light”. Before playing she told the crowd: “There’s been a lot of talk about conserving energy tonight, but right now I don’t want to hear any one of you save any of your energy right now! C’mon motherfuckers! If I’m playing a guitar, not one of tour feet can touch the ground! I wanna see this whole city jumping!”
Her last track in her setlist was the smash hit “Hung Up”, at the end of which she addressed Wembley. “This is your last chance to show that you care about the planet,” before leading the crowd toward a chant of the song’s finale, “time goes by so slowly”.
Madonna setlist was:
Hey You
Ray Of Light
La Isla Bonita
Hung Up
That’s all folks, our full coverage of Live Earth London has concluded. Hope we didn’t bore you with such a long post, be sure to tell us what you thought of the whole Live Earth event by commenting. Thank you!
