In this corner: Bob Geldolf, former front-man of The Boomtown Rats and the man who organized the Live Aid and Live 8 benefit concerts. And in this corner: former vice-president and resident greenie Al Gore.
Both ready to do battle.
Ding. Ding.
Gore probably outweighs Geldolf by the equivalent of a dozen Sanjaya Malakars, but Geldolf is the one who has been getting in the most jabs.
Most recently Geldolf has come out swinging at the politician-turned environmental activist, criticizing the Live Earth music events Gore is putting together this summer, saying they lack a specific goal.
In a previous blog I wrote about the Gore directed Live Earth concerts, which will be held in cities around the world, including in London; New York; Tokyo; Shanghai, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 7, with proceeds funding a yet-to-be-named environmental group.
To set the record straight, Geldolf is not hoping the concert will fail. On the contrary, according to one German newspaper, the singer said he hopes the massive concert is a success. He’s just questioning its intent.
“Why is (Gore) actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody’s known about that problem for years. We are all (expletive) conscious of global warming,” Geldolf said.
You’ll recall Geldof is the brainchild behind the mammoth Live Aid concerts in 1985 that helped aid victims of famine in Ethiopia and the Live 8 concerts in 2005 for African debt relief. Over the years he has morphed into a high profile advocate of humanitarian causes.
“I would only organize (Live Earth) if I could go on stage and announce concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates, Congress or major corporations,” Geldolf told the newspaper. “They haven’t got those guarantees, so it’s just an enormous pop concert or the umpteenth time that, say, Madonna or Coldplay get up on stage.”
Oh, and by the way, that’s not the only thing setting Geldof off. He also told reporters he is taking offense to Gore’s choice of the name Live Earth.
“It sounds like Live 8,” Geldolf told the paper. “We’re getting lots of responses from people who think we are organizing it.”
Gore has yet to respond to Geldolf’s scathing criticism, but he has gone on record saying that the concert is only the first step in his journey to fight global warming. Personally, I thought his first step was writing the best-seller “An Inconvenient Truth,” and later starred in a documentary film of the same name, but perhaps not.
In any event, at this point it would stand to reason that Geldolf won’t make the guest list at the Live Earth concerts. (Not that he would show.)
What do you make of Geldolf’s comments? Do you think that his issues stem from his perceptions of Gore as a copycat?
Related Articles:
Arnold Schwarzenegger Goes Green
Celebrities, The Environment, and Human Rights
Rock Band Raises Green For Green