Tommy Lee and Ludacris Take The Stage at Green Apple Fest
by Summer Rayne Oakes on 05. 1.08
“Go easy on me,” Tommy Lee said in a whisper. “You know I’m a green virgin.”
“Sorry Tommy,” I said with a smile. “I like to go deep.”
Earth Day celebration in San Francisco is probably the perfect place to give Tommy Lee and Ludacris the Green 101. The artists, (both who are participants in Planet Green’s Battleground Earth), paid a visit to the Bay Area during the Green Apple Festival. They may have well been on another planet though, because you know how freaky cool San Francisco can get around Earth Day *wink, wink*.
Photo credit: Josh Baron
SF Green Apple was just one of eight festivals happening around the United States. The entire eight city event boasts the largest Earth Day gatherings, drawing crowds of 500,000 plus not to mention all the viewers who tuned into the Myspace/iclips network streaming podcasts on Earth Day. (Don’t worry: For those of you who missed it, iclips will be archiving in on their website soon enough).
The events happen rain or shine. Just ask the good-spirited crowd in Washington, D.C. who got pummeled with rain and windstorms. Tens of thousands of umbrellas raised their heads to hear music from Warren Haynes, Umphrey’s McGee, and a host of other musicians. Ed Norton, Chevy Chase, Denis Hayes (Organizer of First Earth Day), and Thomas Friedman (sans the
pie-in-his-face).
On the opposite coast, I was preparing to emcee with my beatboxing boy, Radio Active, whose voice shares an uncanny resemblance to Tone Loc. Radio said he’s participated in all three of the SF Green Apple Festivals, which draws a crowd of about 25,000 each year.
Brett Dennen opened it up with some great tunes. Mickey Hart was joined later by Tommy and a host of other musicians. Ahhh the harmony! My good friend Randy Hayes, founder and President of Rainforest Action Network, rallied the crowd. We both joshed with Bill McKibben backstage, giving him a hard time for the number of trees that were sacrificed for his long ass, (but well-deserved) bio; he got out there and rocked out the 350 Campaign. The dapper Mark Leno, CA State Assemblyman, renewable energy champion, presented SF with a rallying cry for clean energy. He’s also running for State Senate and I love the fact that he has an Earth in the “O” of his name. Go ahead check it out on his website.
I looked out at the sea of people. There wasn’t a patch of grass that I could see. A group of guys were laying on a sectional near the front of the stage. Guys and girls had their shirts off, dancing in the cool morning sun. Hippies and former hippies-turned-business-tech-financial gurus threw their hands up to the light breeze. A cloudy haze filled the air, only this wasn’t from the seasonal fog that sits its thick gray tushy over the Golden Gate State. Viva Woodstock. Enough said.
I wore a psychedelic silk dress hand-constructed by Indian designer Manish Arora. “Whoa man, I can see myself in your dress,” a dead head fan (or was it a dread head?) said eyeing my mirrored corset. “Thank you for bringing back the spirit of Woodstock.”
“My pleasure,” I said shaking his hand as I walked past two women dressed as a bumble bee and butterfly and a man in carrot costume. The three of them flitted around, pollinating a woman on stilts dressed as a flower.
Wavy Gravy and his pet platypus. Photo credit: Josh Baron
Wavy Gravy, the infamous Peace & Love Clown and a flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, waddled past Tommy and me with his salmon and platypus. Dude, I’m totally convinced that you haven't lived until you pet Wavy's platypus.
“What a spirited crowd.” I thought to myself. “I love this movement.”
I so wish I had been over there... over here on the East Coast, much of the area is VERY SLOW to intelligent greening and only about whatever corporate "green" events around. I blogged about how disappointing Raleigh's display of eco-awareness was... bah. Next year, I'll try elsewhere but continue to hope NC gets more with it. :)