User:F0rsaken/EarthAidUniteConcert
| EarthAid Unite | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Dates | January 14–19, 2001 |
| Location(s) |
Unassociated:
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| Attendance | 2,377,173 (Combined, and doesn't count set attendances) |
| Organized by | Doug Morris |
| Website |
www |
EarthAid Unite was a multi-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on January 14, 2001 to January 19, 2001 during peace talks between the Combine and United Nations representative, Wallace Breen. The event was organized by several high-level music executives, with Doug Morris being the self appointed lead member of the multi-venue event. Earth Aid was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, attended by 102,833 people, John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, attended by 193,773 people, Japan National Stadium in Shinjuku, attended by 174,731 people. Online concerts were also held by famous artists without the help of EarthAid, but were considered apart of it because they had used the same material to promote their solo efforts to spread peace.
Promotional material for the EarthAid Unite concert included photographs and audio and visual material from the Black Mesa Incident, the Xen Invasion, and then the Combine Invasion. The concert raised 394 million USD$ to support rebuilding efforts across the United States and Europe, which would be later left behind by the Combine as millions of North Americans and South Americans were evacuated to Europe by the Combine in an effort to create a massive multiple continent-spanning quarantine zone. Music created during the concerts were also sold online for the period of time that it stayed up, which lasted around 6 days until the internet was shut down by the Combine.
EarthAid Unite was one of the main movements of the Combine–Human Peace Movement that was created in the Seven Hour War by self proclaimed “Hippies” and former Black Mesa scientists including some political figures. Aperture Science was also one of the main supporters of the movement, citing their rivalry with Black Mesa as one of the driving forces of their efforts to create peace with the Combine, with the concert holders having received messages from an experimental Artificial Intelligence GLADos until all communications ceased from a Portal Storm demolishing an internet service in Michigan. A committee of former Black Mesa scientists and executives also sponsored the event, calling for peace while also realizing that this could have some minor effects in the peace treaty with the Combine.
EarthAid Unite was a controversial event because of the several events that were caused by Portal Storms, Combine attacks, and Xenian attacks. Several concert events were cut short by either evacuations done by the concert holders themselves or by the countries that held those concerts, having to be picked up and done somewhere else. The final event to take place, an exclusive concert by the former members of Pink Floyd, was cut short by the evacuation to Europe by the combine on January 20, 2001.
Background
Organization
Collaborative effort
Broadcasts
Stages and locations
Fundraising
Criticisms and controversies
Performances
Electronic Music Set
- Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) – Richard D. James was one of the first musicians to perform at the concert, having started his set at 12:12 A.M. (EST), having played his set in John F. Kennedy Stadium. His set lasted 2 hours, 58 minutes and 42 seconds, and featured 35 of his songs across eight of his albums. He represented the music genre, Intelligent Dance Music, and the set was opened by Intelligent Dance Music artist, Ilkae, who was advertising the release of their sixth studio album, Pistachio Island, which would've been released in December 2001 if not for the Combine. Aphex Twin's set was attended by 78,399 people, and had various audio-related issues as the aftermath of the Seven Hour War interfered with generator systems in the area.
- Sean Booth, Robert Brown (Autechre) – Autechre was the first music group to perform at the concert, having started their set at 8:24 A.M. (BST), having played their set in Wembley Stadium, and then online in Shinjuku, Japan. Their set lasted 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 22 seconds, and featured five tracks made specifically for the concert that included various remixes of songs by concert contributors Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, and Bjork, they represented the music genre, Glitch, their set was opened by Glitch artist, Jan Jelinek, previewing his debut studio album, Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records, which was to release February 2, 2001. Autechre's set was attended by 81,388 people, and also had the audio-related issues but also had musician-caused errors as some of the music they were displaying caused some of the audio systems to blow out.
- Alex Reece – Alex Reece started his set at 11:10 A.M. (BST), having played his set in Wembley Stadium, directly after Autechre after they were rushed out due to personal concerns stopping them from staying at the concert for the rest of the day. His set lasted for 1 hour, 50 minutes, and 14 seconds, and featured thirteen songs spread across three albums that he played during his set, he represented the music genre, Jungle, and His set was opened by Jungle artist, Electric Rudeboyz, playing a couple tracks off of their album, Kolejny krok, which was to release May 14, 2001. Alex Reece's set was attended by 83,001 people, and had the biggest "mosh pit" of the entire concert during his set as he played several of his own tracks near the end point of his set.
- Björk Guðmundsdóttir (Björk) – Björk Guðmundsdóttir's started her set at 8:10 A.M. (EST), having played her set in John F. Kennedy Stadium. Her set lasted 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 38 seconds, and featured twenty-seven songs from four of her own albums, she represented the music genre, Avant-Garde Pop, and her set was opened by the Avant-Garde artist, Gustavo Cerati, playing songs from his 1999 album, Bocanada, which was described by Cerati as "an amazing opportunity" because of his previous status as a fan of Guðmundsdóttir and associates like Aphex Twin. Björk's set was attended by 90,032 people, and was displayed in a newspaper written about the event in The Times.
- Brian Eno – Brian Eno's started his set at 3:34 P.M. (BST), having played his set at Wembley Stadium, and online for the rest. His set lasted 2 hours, 58 minutes, and 33 seconds, and featured twenty-seven songs from five of his own albums, and represented the music genre, Ambient music, and his set was opened by the Ambient artist, GAS, who played material from his albums Pop, and Königsforst, with GAS also being a fan of Brian Eno. This set was regarded as the one of most impressive and fascinating sets because of the efforts it took to get Brian Eno in the setlist, having lost everything at the time because of the Seven Hour War. Eno's set was attended by 101,378 people and was also displayed in a newspaper alongside Björk.
- Backstreet Boys – The Backstreet Boys' set started at 2:33 A.M. (JST), having played their set at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Their set lasted 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 43 seconds, and featured twenty-eight songs from three different albums, and represented the music genre, Dance Pop, and their set was opened by the Dance Pop artist, Britney Spears, who played music from her album, Oops!... I did it again, this was controversial because of the popularity of Britney Spears, but Spears herself disavowed the complain that she should've had her own set because "She didn't resonate with electronic music that much." The Backstreet Boys' set was attended by 120,388 people, by far this was the least-rated set through out the entire concert.
- Daft Punk – Daft Punk's set started at 4:59 A.M. (JST), having played their set at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Their set lasted 1 hour, 43 minutes, and 22 seconds, and featured nineteen songs from two different albums, and represented the music genre, Electronic Dance Music, and their set was opened up by the Electronic Dance Music artist, BT, who played material from his Movement in Still Life and ESCM albums, and an unknown album that remained untitled by BT himself, but was slated to be released in 2002, which was cancelled by the Combine taking over Earth during this time. Daft Punk's Set was attended by 140,003 people, and was one of the highest-rated sets throughout the concert.
- Merzbow / Pussybow – Merzbow's set started