Live Earth India Canceled

Organizers canceled Live Earth India in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, where the event was to take place.

“Everyone involved with Live Earth India, from our U.S.- and India-based staff, artists and crew to our India-based broadcast, production, non-profit and marketing communications partners, is stunned and saddened by the tragic events of the past few days in our host city Mumbai,” read a Nov. 28 statement from the organizers.

“We always felt very welcomed and safe as we spent more time on the ground in Mumbai to finalize plans for Live Earth India, scheduled for December 7.

“Due to circumstances far beyond our control, we are saddened to announce that Live Earth India has been canceled. We will continue to work for solutions to the climate crisis for the good of the people of India and around the world. But for now, our thoughts and our prayers are with the victims of this terrible attack, with the bereaved, with the people of Mumbai and with everyone in India.”

The Dec. 7 concert was to be broadcast on satellite television and webcast globally by MSN.

Among the artists slated to perform were Bon Jovi, Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, Roger Waters, sitarist Anoushka Shankar and Bollywood superstar Abhishek Bachchan.

As with the first Live Earth event that took place July 7, 2007, in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Hamburg, the purpose was to heighten awareness of global environmental problems and spur personal and policy solutions to the climate crisis.

Also canceled was Jazz Utsav 2008, a three-day jazz festival slated for Mumbai’s Bandra Amphitheatre the weekend of Nov. 28. Jazz Utsav is said to be the longest-running jazz festival outside of North America.

In addition, the Mumbai stop for the joint tour of Anoushka Shankar and Jethro Tull was postponed indefinitely.

Billed as “A Night with the Piper and the Princess,” the concert was scheduled at Mumbai’s Shanmukhananda Auditorium for Nov. 29. The tour, however, continued on to Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad the following week.

The Bangkok 100 Rock Festival, which was to be held Nov. 29-30 in the Thai capital, was also canceled on account of demonstrations by anti-government forces that have paralyzed the city’s airport. Manic Street Preachers and Hoobastank were the headliners.