Marrying ‘Live Earth’ with Woodstock mojo

On July 7, a group called Save Our Selves plans a 24-hour concert, Live Earth, to be presented sequentially at seven venues around the globe. The goal of the event, which they call “a concert for a climate in crisis,” is to energize the people of the planet to recognize, and do something about, global warming. Organizers, the most prominent of whom is Al Gore, aim to reach a staggering two billion people through a combination of traditional and internet-based media.

For some time the location for the U.S. concert had been left up in the air, because the original choice of Washington, DC had been stymied by political opponents. We saw that as a huge opportunity: why not invite the concert to Bethel Woods?

Yes, the New York Philharmonic is already scheduled for that date, but why couldn’t they be included as part of the event? But it was not to be. On Tuesday morning, it was announced that the concert would be held in Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

It’s obviously too late to push for Live Earth to be held at Bethel Woods. But we still think there might be a way to integrate the Bethel Woods concert on July 7 with the Live Earth event, and that the benefits of such an integration would be enormous.

Sullivan County, after all, is aspiring to become a center for green industry and sustainable energy. And Bethel Woods, after all, is the site of the original Woodstock Festival. Woodstock was all about summoning the energy of the grassroots, creating a revolution from the ground up and plugging into the renewable resource of people power. It was about going back to the garden. That’s exactly the type of mojo Live Earth aims to evoke. The marriage of energies seems perfect.

But how could the two events be combined at this point? Well, how about working with Live Earth organizers to set up large screens at Bethel Woods showing performances from the Giant Stadium concert before, or after, the Philharmonic performance. Individual concerts supposedly will last from four to eight hours, meaning that there should be a significant period when there is no overlap between the Bethel Woods and Giants Stadium event. Any portions of the Giants Stadium concert during which climate crisis videos are screened or issues discussed could also be shown on screen. The Bethel Woods concert would become a multi-media event. It could also become an all-day affair, with booths, games and activities sponsored by green vendors held early in the day, leading into the music in the evening.

The possibility of broadcasting in the other direction, from Bethel Woods, could also be explored—including some of the Philharmonic performance, either simultaneous with or sequential to the New Jersey performances, as part of the Live Earth lineup. After all, if you’re trying to reach two billion people, doesn’t it make sense to give classical music fans an option?

Money, of course, would be a consideration. Live Earth is meant to raise funds as well as consciousness. But perhaps separate tickets could be sold to those who attended the full event, as opposed to just the Philharmonic portion, with a portion of those proceeds going to the Alliance for Climate Protection, the beneficiary of the Live Earth event.

We recognize that the logistics would be complicated, but there are so many beneficiaries it still might be worth a try. Live Earth wins by connecting to the Woodstock energy. The New York Philharmonic, if it were broadcast as part of the event, would win by getting more audience exposure than it could otherwise ever hope for. Bethel Woods would win by getting a huge slug of international publicity, as would Sullivan County tourism. The county’s green initiative would get an enormous boost from its association with a pan-global environmental phenomenon.

So okay, it’s a crazy, wild-eyed, long shot of an idea. But if climate crisis is indeed upon us, crazy, wild-eyed long shots may be just what we need. Trying to make a match between Live Earth and Bethel Woods could be one place to start.

Also in this issue:

• CP2: a comprehensive flow solution

Dr. Punnybone

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