July 7^th 2007 was a Wembley Stadium concert, modelled after 1985’s Live Aid…except this one was Live Earth and it was to “combat climate change”. Because nothing combats climate change more than people (both on, off and behind the stages) travelling from far and wide to concert venues. Even if they did use energy-saving lightbulbs. And then there was a DVD…

The concert lasted 24 hours and the 8 stadiums were in New York, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney and Hamburg.

There is a 2022 flashback review here that acknowledges that UK ratings were not good, averaging around 900,000 (and US ratings were pretty bad too). But it did draw 149 complaints for artists such as Chris Rock and Madonna, both using motherf***** on the BBC!!!

According to The Mirror Chris Rock’s British debut lasted 10 seconds as he was cut after that outburst. Kudos!

Anyway – the point of this nostalgia trip (although I didn’t bother tuning in at the time – Wimbledon was on) was that Jimmy was one of the comics wheeled out to do band intros and a gag or two. Apparently, he cracked the “only good gag of the night” (The Mirror) when he quipped “The important thing is, we remember Diana”. After doing his bit for the planet he whipped off, up the road, to St Albans (gig on his Gag Reflex tour).

Jonathan Ross was trying to hold it all together in the backstage sofa area and had his hands full with pairings such as Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell and Jimmy. The Guardian reported that Borrell was telling JR how he’d seen Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth and phoned up to say “Can I help you guys out?”. Jimmy apparently stepped in with “If only you could harness the power of cynicism surrounding this event”.

I’ve got to say I’m with Jimmy on that one…2007 was a LONG time before Greta Thunberg and, from what I can tell, the only thing it achieved was that artists like Madonna received a massive bump in sales. And a LOT of extra carbon was generated. The road to hell being paved with good intentions and all that.

The week after this event 8 Out of 10 Cats was recorded and Live Earth was “one of the most talked about things this week” (and Jimmy took his Diana joke up a notch). See here.

Comedians (London)

• Jimmy Carr
• Ricky Gervais
• Dara O’Briain
• Alan Carr
• Jon Culshaw

Performers (London)

• Beastie Boys
• Black Eyed Peas
• Bloc Party
• Corinne Bailey Rae
• Damien Rice
• David Gray
• Duran Duran
• Foo Fighters
• Genesis
• James Blunt
• John Legend
• Kasabian
• Keane
• Madonna
• Metallica
• Paolo Nutini
• Pussycat Dolls
• Razorlight
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Snow Patrol
• Spinal Tap
• Terra Naomi