By DPA
Sydney/New York : Hoping to galvanize world public opinion against climate change, rock performers took the stage at venues around the globe Saturday for the Live Earth concert series expected to be viewed by some two billion people.
Hundreds of thousands of fans gathered at live venues in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Hamburg and London for one of the largest music and media events in history.
Concerts in New York and Washington were set to target US audiences later in the day for a 24-hour barrage of information about the causes and possible remedies to the planet-threatening ecological crisis. Elsewhere thousands of local events hoped to magnify the impact at smaller venues.
"Live Earth will jump-start an ongoing global effort that will drive a critical mass of people to stand up and make challenging global warming a priority in their lives," said organiser Kevin Wall.
Proceeds from the event, subtitled Concerts for a Climate in Crisis, are to benefit the Alliance for Climate Protection, a group chaired by former US vice president Al Gore.
The events, dubbed "concerts for a climate in crisis", started with a show in Sydney. Aboriginal dancers opened the performance before Gore appeared on a screen urging all to be better global citizens and sign the event's seven-point pledge urging government and personal action to cutback on the causes of global warming.
The concert was headlined by the band Crowded House, making a long awaited comeback, and drew 45,000 people to the Aussie Stadium. But ticket sales were slow and Sydney's dailies consigned concert coverage to the middle pages.
In Tokyo, 10,000 people danced to Los Angeles band Linkin Park at Makuhari Messe on the outskirts, while some 3,000 people gathered at a second venue outside a Buddhist temple in Kyoto.
Linkin Park's vocalist Chester Benington said on a television interview that car pooling, using energy-efficient light bulbs or buying recycled products would help slow down global warming.
"You become more conscious (of the environmental issues)" when you participate in such an event as Live Earth awareness concerts, Benington said.
"The worst case scenario is it's a cleaner place for us to live," he said. "We will not be able to survive as a human race" otherwise.
The Tokyo concert came to a close with Rihanna, while the Kyoto one was highlighted by world-renowned Ryuichi Sakamoto and his band Yellow Magic Orchestra.
In Hamburg, Colombian sensation Shakira opened the show blowing kisses to a sparse audience that braved showers to cheer her opening act.
Performers were sheltered from the weather by a big sound stage on the pitch of the big HSH-Nordbank Arena football stadium, but close-up spectators on the pitch had to hold umbrellas, pull on rain hoods, or simply get wet.
The British leg of the Live Earth concerts began Saturday afternoon with a reformed Genesis, including singer Phil Collins, among the first performers at London's Wembley Stadium.
Other acts due to perform included the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Duran Duran and the Beastie Boys.
The Live Earth event has been dogged by controversy. The concert in Rio only went ahead after Gore intervened with local authorities to overcome safety concerns about the venue on Copacabana Beach.
A concert in Washington DC was scheduled only at the last minute when Native American leaders agreed to lend their museum as the concert site.
The concerts, and many of the musicians involved, have also been criticised for generating huge amounts of carbon via transport, lighting and other needs, though organisers have issued guidelines to offset the damage by using renewable energy sources and other tactics.
"This is going to be the greenest event of its kind, ever," said Gore. "The carbon offsets and the innovative practices that are being used to make this a green event will set the standard for years to come."