Sing a song and save the earth

The marathon music event Live Earth got underway on Saturday, with aboriginal dancers leading the way at the day's first concert in Sydney. The dancers took to the stage in Sydney's Aussie Stadium under a clear bright blue sky and former US vice president Al Gore later appeared on a screen urging some 50,000 fans to be better global citizens and do their part to reduce global warming — the overriding theme of all the day's concerts.

Shortly after Sydney's opener, the fun moved on to Tokyo where 10,000 fans streamed into Makuhari hall on the outskirts of the Japanese capital. An evening concert is also planned at a temple in Kyoto.

Gore, one of the principal organisers, is hoping to persuade fans to adopt a seven-point pledge to reduce their own carbon footprint and to press for meaningful legislation that would cut carbon output by 90 percent by 2050.

Rock stars planning to take the stage in Sydney included Crowded House and Jack Johnson while Linkin Park and Rihanna were among the groups headlining Tokyo's spectacle. From there, the 24-hour event is set to spread to official venues in Shanghai, Hamburg, Johannesburg, New York, Rio de Janeiro and London, with more than 7,000 local events also taking place including one in Antarctica.

Proceeds from the event, subtitled Concerts for a Climate in Crisis, are to benefit the Alliance for Climate Protection, a group chaired by Gore.