Live Nation To Run Gore’s Climate Show

There’s been no big announcement or press release but Live Nation managing director Stuart Galbraith has confirmed his company will be running the London leg of some Live Aid-style shows planned to highlight the issues of climate change and global warming.

Responding to a February 9th article in The Independent, which said a London show would be likely to happen July 7th at either Wembley Stadium or Hyde Park, Galbraith told Pollstar that Live Nation will be producing it.

Like Live Aid and Live 8, the PR for the project s being handled by Bernard Doherty of LD Publicity. He couldn’t be contacted at press time to confirm the details as he was at Earls Court for the February 14th Brit Awards, another event that his company helps publicize.

The story in The Independent said the series of concerts was announced by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore – now a figurehead of the campaign against climate change – and is expected to include shows in London, Washington, D.C., Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Kyoto.

The paper quoted a spokesman for an unnamed promoter saying the organizers are hoping that up to 3 million people will turn up for the live shows and there will be a global TV audience of about 2 billion.

Another unnamed promoter was quoted telling Financial Times the event was to be modeled on Live Aid and Live 8, but the source also said that the talent involved is "exponentially bigger" because the issue itself is bigger.

"Live Aid was about asking people to stump up money, this is about affecting systemic change. The aim is not just to drive awareness but to get people to take action," the anonymous representative added.

The event is expected to be branded "SOS" – although the date can be written 07/07/07 – and U2, Coldplay, and Scissor Sisters are among the acts being named by the U.K. papers.