• Jay-Z gave an intimate performance of songs from American Gangster Wednesday night for an upcoming episode of VH1 Storytellers (the audience included Beyoncé and Beanie Sigel). VH1 Storytellers: Jay-Z: Life of an American Gangster, which was taped in Brooklyn, New York, and airs November 8th at 9 PM, will feature the MC performing and discussing eight songs from his new album with a twelve-piece band he named the Roc Boys.

• Live Earth has issued its final assessment report for this year’s inaugural multi-city concert event. The report finds Live Earth met its goal in “restraining carbon emissions to 19,708 metric tons, while of the 97 metric tons of waste collected, 81 percent was diverted from landfills via recycling and composting efforts” at the shows.

• It looks like the Courtney Love-sanctioned Kurt Cobain biopic may have found its leading man: James McAvoy, known for his roles in The Last King of Scotland and Shameless, is rumored to be the frontrunner to play Cobain.

• Britney Spears‘ August hit-and-run charges were dismissed yesterday at a hearing in California. Spears still faces the misdemeanor charge of driving without a California driver’s license, though she has since obtained one.

• Velvet Revolver have postponed tonight’s show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California, due to the fierce SoCal wildfires. The gig is rescheduled for December 12th at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, and fans can exchange their tickets for the new date or opt for a refund.

For anyone who somehow missed Rock Daily’s extensive coverage of Al Gore’s twenty-four-hour music marathon this past weekend, here’s a quick summary: A reported two billion people watched more than 100 artists perform on all seven continents. Attendance at the Washington, D.C. event (which was announced one day before the show) and in Rio were reportedly less than anticipated, and promoters in Johannesburg explained their lower-than-expected turnout by blaming climate change. Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose explained his band’s absence from the event, saying, “We were not asked until the last couple weeks while we were on tour in Australia and have upcoming sold-out dates already rescheduled in Japan.” And Madonna allegedly had some rigid requirements for her London interviews, stipulating journalists must look her in the eye.

What was it like to be a band at Live Earth? We asked Matt Rubano of Taking Back Sunday, who played Live Earth New York, to take notes. Here’s what he had to report:

Sunday, July 8th, 2007: It’s 11 AM the morning after the most intense event of my life. After playing numerous festival shows in the parking lot of Giants Stadium, our humble little rock band was finally invited inside to join a lineup of both peers and influences.

After our set I spent the day walking around the backstage area and talking to as many people as I possibly could. I have to give it to Kevin Bacon for the “man, what a cool guy” award. The vibe throughout the entire backstage was unlike any other concert this size. Attitudes and icy stares were replaced by people being, well, friendly. (more…)

Anyone who watched Live Earth on TV yesterday knows it was nearly impossible to catch any one city’s lineup in its entirety, so here’s a close-up look at who played and who was chatting it up backstage at Giants Stadium:

At 10:30 PM in Giants Stadium — more than twenty-four hours after Jack Johnson kicked off the Live Earth extravaganza in Sydney — Al Gore took to the recyclable-confetti-strewn stage. “Take all this energy in your heart and help us solve the climate crisis,” the former vice president said, straining to be heard above a rapturous packed house.

It remains to be seen whether Live Earth will go down in history as an important milestone in environmental awareness or an over-hyped, self-important spectacle, but for the 52,000 at the sold-out stadium last night, it was at least a pretty solid rock show.

(Who used a teleprompter during their set? Who was the most scantily clad presenter? Read on for a full report of what went down at Live Earth New York onstage and behind the scenes.) (more…)

What was it like to be in the crowd at Live Earth New York? Check out our video, including live footage of the Police, Roger Waters, Smashing Pumpkins and Kanye West. Plus, meet some of the fans who sweated out eight hours at Giants Stadium to support the cause.

There was no doubt about it: London had the most stellar Live Earth lineup. The Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, Spinal Tap … do we need to go on? And the Smoking Section was there, backstage at Wembley Stadium (or “Wembledon,” as the Tap’s Nigel Tufnel dubbed it), to suck up all the dirt.

Live Earth is just one stop on the S.S.’s European vacation. In fact, right now we’re on a train to Paris to catch up with Ben Harper, then off to Ibiza to see what James Blunt’s world looks like. In London we pulled double duty, hanging with will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas (whose solo album, Songs for Girls, is out in September) and covering the big gig. So we rolled into Live Earth in the BEP entourage — and they roll in high style. These days, in Europe, they’re as big as the fucking Beatles. It’s absolutely insane.

(Get a full day’s worth of backstage reporting, including Foo Fighters news, word on Coldplay’s next album and a very special Fergie story, after the jump). (more…)

It’s July 7, 2007, which means two things: For twenty-four hours, scores of musicians around the world will be devoting themselves to spreading awareness about global warming, and Rock Daily will be right here reporting on all of it until the very end (or our caffeine stash runs out). Our coverage begins right now: (more…)

WHO PLAYED: Shakira, Snoop Dogg, Chris Cornell, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Enrique Iglesias, Roger Cicero, MIA, Sasha, Mando Diao and more.

HIGHLIGHTS: Chris Cornell playing an acoustic version of “Right Away” for the victims of Hurricane Katrina; Yusuf Islam, who was added to the lineup at the very last minute, singing “Wild World” accompanied by a large band that included a horn section.

MOST UNEXPECTED MOMENTS: German comedian Michael Mittermeier saying, “George Bush still believes that ‘El Nino’ is a guerilla leader in Nicaragua”;
Bianca Jagger awkwardly singing along with 130 children from Hamburg.

WHO PLAYED: The Soweto Gospel Choir, Danny K, Baaba Maal, Zola, The Parlotones, Vusi Mahlasela, Angelique Kidjo, Joss Stone, UB40

HIGHLIGHTS: The Soweto Gospel Choir joining Vusi Mahlasela for a poignant rendition of “River Jordan” dedicated to Mahlasela’s late mother; Angelique Kidjo and Joss Stone’s soulful, percussion-driven “Gimme Shelter” cover; Parlotones frontman Kahn Morbee’s Alex de Large-esque eye makeup; an encore performance of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” featuring the Soweto Gospel Choir and the rest of the Live Earth Johannesburg players.

MOST UNEXPECTED MOMENT: The ever-inappropriate Pauly Shore (“I’m in South Africa, mon!”) dropping by to chat up female concertgoers and introduce Senegalese singer Baaba Maal.

From Márcio Cruz of Rolling Stone Brazil:

WHO PLAYED: Pharrell, Macy Gray, Lenny Kravitz, Guilherme Arantes, Xuxa, O Rappa, Marcelo D2, Jota Quest, Jorge Ben Jor

HIGHLIGHT: Macy Gray and her backing vocalists decked out in dresses stamped with political messages targeting racism, the crisis in Darfur and the war in Iraq. Her band also busted out live samples of “Give Peace a Chance” sprinkled with Jimi Hendrix riffs.

MOST UNEXPECTED MOMENT: An ecstatic Lenny Kravitz jumped off the stage and joined the audience of 400,000 during “Let Love Rule.” The crowd, unsurprisingly, went crazy.

WHO PLAYED:
Sarah Brightman, Joey, 12 Girls Band, Soler, Anthony Wong, Evonne Hsu, Winnie Hsin, Huang Xiao Ming and a few other impossible-to-pronounce acts.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Evonne Hsu’s ballet moves; Sarah Brightman’s “Time to Say Goodbye,” infused with Chinese instruments; and Asian rockers Soler tearing down the house (think Incubus, with better hair and in Chinese).

[Photo: Getty]

From Tomoki Ohno of Rolling Stone Japan:

WHO PLAYED:
Linkin Park, Rihanna and Japanese acts Kumi Koda, AI and Ayaka

HIGHLIGHT:
The performance by Linkin Park: the crowd was so excited that it rushed to the front of the stadium, interrupting the set for close to a half hour. Chester Bennington also gave a long, moving speech urging the crowd to get involved.

[Photo:Getty]

We asked Rolling Stone’s international editions to report on the Live Earth concerts nearest them. Here’s the report from Dan Lander of Rolling Stone Australia on Live Earth Sydney:

WHO PLAYED:
Wolfmother, Jack Johnson, Crowded House, Blue King Brown, Toni Collette, Sneaky Sound System, Ghostwriters, Paul Kelly, Eskimo Joe, Missy Higgins, John Butler Trio

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Crowded House joined by everybody on the bill for a sing-along version of “Weather With You”, a song which took on a new meaning under the circumstances.
• An intense-as-hell drum solo from the John Butler Trio’s Michael Barker, the perfect foil to Butler’s equally intense demand to Australia’s leaders not to introduce nuclear energy as an answer to global warming (we have much better options). The JBT set was a standout overall – there is no one on the planet who sounds better at an outside gig than these guys.
• Paul Kelly joined by Kev Carmody, Missy Higgins and John Butler for “From Little Things Big Things Grow”. The whole crowd sung along – all eleven verses.

MOST UNEXPECTED MOMENT:
Academy-Award nominated actress Toni Collette and her band the Finish closing their set with a very fitting cover of T-Rex’s “Children of the Revolution”, proving not every actor who tries their hand at music need be as bad as Russell Crowe.

Perhaps you’ve heard that Live Earth is tomorrow. (We’ve mentioned it a time or two here.)

So get ready: Beginning at 8 AM EST tomorrow, we’ll be liveblogging Bravo’s eighteen-hour telecast and offering an array of constantly updated photo galleries of all the events. Also coming this weekend: backstage reports from Live Earth London and New York; write-ups of Live Earth concerts around the world from the international editions of Rolling Stone; guestblogging from Taking Back Sunday, who are performing at Giants Stadium; in-the-trenches video footage of Live Earth’s biggest fans; and on Monday, a special edition of Rob Sheffield’s Pop Life column on the whole shebang. Check back at RollingStone.com/LiveEarth and you won’t miss a thing.

For those of you just now joining us, check out Nunatak, the band of scientists playing Live Earth Antarctica, then read all about the controversy surrounding the scheduling of Live Earth D.C. and grab the lineups for all the shows here. Feeling caught up? Good.

• Nearly four months after Live Earth was denied permission to play Washington, D.C.’s Mall because it was reserved for 7/7/07, God and Al Gore straightened everything out. Live Earth Washington, D.C. will feature Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

• The Beatles will soon soundtrack a diaper commercial, thanks to the “All You Need Is Luvs” campaign, a take-off of the Fab Four’s “All You Need Is Love.”

• The Smashing Pumpkins let fans use YouTube as a platform to ask Billy Corgan a question. Our pick: What’s the difference between this and Zwan?

• The Roots will take a break from putting out thousands of albums to headline VH1’s Hip-Hop Honors tour this autumn.

• Check out Spoon’s one-take new video for “The Underdog,” which is exactly like Richard Linklater’s Slacker without all the intellectual jargon.

Photo: Getty