Live Earth got a traditional Aboriginal welcome in Australia and a high-tech virtual one in Japan, as the 24-hour global concert series to raise awareness about climate change kicked off Saturday.
Former US Vice President Al Gore made appearances at both - as a hologram in Tokyo and via live video link in Sydney - to urge rock fans to join the fight against global warming.
In Israel, artists including Teapacks, Mosh Ben-Ari, Efrat Gosh and others had been booked to perform at the end of Shabbat, in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv.
Madonna and Metallica in London and the Police and Kanye West in New Jersey are among the top billed of more than 150 acts due to appear in the series of nine concerts.
Aboriginal tribal leaders with white-painted bodies and shaking eucalyptus fronds were the first to take the stage in Sydney. To the sounds of a didgeridoo wind pipe, they sang and danced a traditional welcome to the crowd that grew quickly from a few hundred midmorning to thousands in a downtown sports stadium.
The group was immediately followed by a live video greeting from Gore, whose campaign to force global warming onto the international political agenda inspired the event.
Gore invited the crowd to take Live Earth's seven-point pledge to reduce their personal environmental impact and support policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"Thank you for being the very first to launch this movement to help solve the climate crisis," Gore said, standing before the Capital building in Washington. "Enjoy the show."
'SOS, answer the call'
The Tokyo concert kicked off with a high-tech, laser- and light-drenched performance by virtual-reality act Genki Rockets.
Gore got into the spirit, appearing as a hologram to deliver another save the planet message. "With Live Earth, we hope to connect people through the power of music and engage them with a simple universal message: SOS. Answer the call," Gore said.
Critics say Live Earth lacks achievable goals, and that bringing in jet-setting rock stars in fuel-guzzling airliners to plug in amplifier stacks and cranking up the sound may send mixed messages about energy conservation.
Organizers say the concerts will be as green as possible, by using biodiesel for power and recycled products where possible. Proceeds from ticket sales will go toward distributing power-efficient light bulbs and other measures to offset the shows' greenhouse gas emissions, they say.
The series rolls west through Saturday, from Sydney to Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro, New Jersey and Washington.
Or Barnea contributed to this report