Saturday at 8:30pm marks conservation organization WWF’s yearly celebration of Earth Hour — a period of time during which the denizens of the globe are urged to switch off the lights as a show support for the environment — and around the world, myriad musicians will be getting in on the action.
Earth Hour is an initiative that launched in 2007 and has since spread across the world — to 152 countries, to be exact. This year, the theme is “I Will If You Will” — a call for people to encourage each other to take care of the planet — and from the official video (featuring David Guetta and Usher’s track “Without You”) to the events planned for the day, musicians have stepped up to take part in the event. And by “take part” we don’t mean with your run-of-the-mill, average charity concert — these bands are getting creative.
Danish singer-songwriter Erann DD, for example, will be headlining Denmark’s Earth Hour 2013 concert — sans fancy stage lighting. “We will turn off the lights, turn on the candles,” he says. “Get people together and kiss them all one hundred percent without electricity.”
Erann plans to keep the message alive by challenging fans to drive electric cars. If 100 Danes test one out, he will drive such a vehicle from Copenhagen to Skagen.
Rapper Shaka Loveless — who will be performing with Erann — is also reaching out to fans this Earth Hour. Apparently, he’s primed to let fans decide which songs he will perform at the event if 130 Danes wash their clothes at 30 degrees.
Over in Sri Lanka, artists Bathiya and Santhush are promising their fans a return on their environmental investment. If 10,000 Sri Lankans sign up for Earth Hour at www.earthhour.lk, they will create an Earth Hour song, with the hope that other artists will work together to create a whole thematic album.
In Malaysia, fans will also get a chance to make music — musicians there are holding a battle of the bands of sorts to create an Earth Hour anthem. The finalists will perform at Sunway Pyramid in Kuala Lumpur.
These are only a few examples of music-related events going down tomorrow night — there will also be parties in the Netherlands, Uganda, Latin America, Jamaica, Sweden, the UK and several more locations. You can find out more about events around the world via the Earth Hour website.
Charity and music have always gone hand in hand — Live Aid, anyone? — but more and more, the music world has been asking fans to take social action in order to gain access to events. In September, the Global Poverty Project launched its Global Citizen Festival — featuring The Black Keys, Neil Young and more — and doled out tickets to those fans who completed altruistic, real-life actions related to eradicating poverty. And in October, fans were able to unlock a special Avett Brothers livestream of their Legendary Giveback Concert by pledging to give back to their community.
Will you take part in your local Earth Hour celebration?
Image © Geoff Wilson/WWF-UK