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washingtonpost.com  > Nation
> Green

More news on:  Environment  |  Climate
|  Science

Earth Day Climate Rally features music, speeches
and an assist from Mother Nature

Big classroom: Geneva Boyer, left, Susan Shamel and
Roger Shamel of the Global Warming Education Network perform a skit. (Bill O'leary/washington Post)

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By Chris Richards
Monday, April 26, 2010

Sting, Mavis Staples, the Roots -- some big stars came to Washington to
perform at Sunday's Earth Day Climate Rally on the National Mall. But there was
one unexpected surprise guest. Ladies and gentlemen, the sun!

It punched holes through the overcast sky early in the day -- a welcome
change for an annual concert that's been particularly soggy in recent years.
Last year's event was gray and drippy, and 2008's concert was thunderstormed out
before the Roots, who were headlining, could even walk onstage.

Mother Nature must have gotten the memo that this year's awareness-raising,
free-admission concert, organized by the Earth Day Network, marked the 40th anniversary of the
environmentalist event. Tens of thousands gathered on the grounds between the
Capitol and the Washington Monument to hear activists, celebrities and
Congress-folk speak about the importance of renewable energy, green jobs and
shrinking carbon footprints. (An Earth Day Network offered an estimate of
150,000 attendees.)

Oh, and there was some music, too. The Roots, the great hip-hop group that
recently, finally earned household-name status as the house band on "Late Night
With Jimmy Fallon," made a triumphant return to the Mall, backing performances
from Sting, John Legend and a slew of others.

They took the stage late in the afternoon, propelled by Ahmir "?uestlove"
Thompson's firecracker drumming and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter's dexterous
rhymes. But their set ended rather unceremoniously when the sound system blew
out.

Once organizers resuscitated the P.A., the Roots returned with Staples, the
great soul-gospel singer, in tow. After that came Fall Out Boy singer Patrick
Stump, who crooned Bobby Womack's "If You Think You're Lonely Now." As
surprising as this transformation from emo-dude to blue-eyed soulman: Stump has
slimmed down into quite the trim Fall Out Man.

Up next, micro-performances from the inimitable Booker T, the intolerable
Joss Stone, steel guitarist Robert Randolph and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead --
the Roots playing it cool throughout.

John Legend took the stage to screams, and premiered politically minded
material from his forthcoming album. Sting followed with the day's most nuanced
performance. He followed his lilting ballad "Fragile" with a zinger: "It's nice
to be at a tea party," he said. "A green tea party!" Oh, Sting.

As he played the old Police hit "Message in a Bottle," fans threw their hands
skyward. Clouds gathered overhead, but mercifully kept their raindrops to
themselves.

The only moisture launched from on high came from the rally's most fiery
speakers. More than a few barbs were chucked at Sen.
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who on Saturday withdrew his support for a
comprehensive climate and energy bill.

As frustrations curdled, issues blurred. "It is time to say no," Rep. Chris
Van Hollen (D-Md.) declared from the stage. "No to those that deny the
science, no to the flat-Earthers, no to the birthers!"

Backstage, Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers was more lucid but
equally frustrated. "We have a stunning amount of scientific information that
points to tragedy," Rogers said. "We're losing ground every single day in this
country and I think the American public deserves to know that we're taking a
back seat in the global economy by reducing efforts to go green."

Also backstage, a calm James Cameron was swarmed by reverent photographers as
if the director's work on the blockbuster film "Avatar" had transformed him into
some kind of eco-deity. His voice barely carried over the hyperventilating
camera shutters: SnapSnapSnap "Hopefully, this is a consciousness-raising
event . . . " SnapSnapSnapSnap.

Out on the grounds of the Mall, N'avi everywhere. A gaggle of attendees
roamed the grass-and-gravel in blueface, having just had visages painted like
"Avatar" characters in a tent promoting Cameron's Avatar Home Tree Initiative,
an organization committed to planting new trees.

"Welcome to Pandora," said one worker as she handed out seed packets to
passersby who seemed interested in saving a metaphorical planet -- or maybe even
their own.

Cameron spoke from the stage before Legend's set, encouraging the younger
members of the audience to bone up on climate change and get active in their
communities. " 'Avatar' is cool, it touches the heart," he said. "But it doesn't
tell you what to do."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson came earlier, leading a call-and-response: "Go green!
Let me hear you scream!" They were just two of the 60-plus speakers to grab the
mike over the course of the eight-hour event.

To make room for all of the soap-boxing, many of the musical performances
were cut woefully short -- most artists were allotted one to five songs apiece
-- but many sets remained remarkably sweet.

Boston indie-rock troupe Passion Pit slapped the crowd awake after a spate of
speeches, with young fans dancing wildly to the group's fat synthesizer riffs
and singer Michael Angelakos's thin falsetto.

Earlier, Honor Society offered some similar soul-inflected emo-rock
(R&B-mo?) and salsa icon Willie Colón performed with his nine-piece band,
horns blazing.

Reggae great Jimmy Cliff, hot off his recent induction to the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame, was joined by Legend for an impassioned rendition of "Many Rivers
to Cross." Almost on cue, the smell of marijuana began to waft on the breeze.

It was actually a bit of a surprise. Yes, the concert drew the requisite
shirtless bros kicking a hackey-sack, but this year, young indie rockers made
their presence felt. Ray-Ban sunglasses outnumbered tie-dyed T-shirts by a
considerable margin. Are hipsters the new hippies?

No matter. Dusk approaching, with the Roots keeping the beat for Sting, we
were all one planet under a groove.

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