[Coelacanth]

USA Today article:

TOKYO

Linkin Park caused a commotion at Live Earth Tokyo.

"We've got some hardcore fans in the house tonight," the band's frontman Chester Bennington said. He wasn't kidding. The fans caused some damage to the protective barriers at the cavernous Makuhari Messe Convention Center, forcing a temporary halt only a couple of songs into the band's set.

But twenty minutes later Linkin Park was back.

"You guys still with us?" asked Bennington, and the crowd definitely was. Fans roared when they heard the opening keyboard riff of the hit Numb and the crowd screamed when the band played Crawling.

But the biggest roar came when vocalist Mike Shinoda read a note in Japanese, talking about how global warming "is the defining issue of our time."

It's a theme Shinoda expanded on in the dressing room backstage. "We're in this for the long haul," Shinoda said, adding that Al Gore personally called the band to persuade them to play Live Earth. Shinoda said he also does what he can at home: "I have a hybrid car that I try to use more than my other car," he said.

An exodus followed the end of Linkin Park's set, which meant many missed out on the event's unofficial "battle of the divas" between J-pop superidol Kumi Koda and Barbados-born pop sensation Rihanna.

Koda, who is currently riding high on the Japanese singles charts with her song Freaky, sported a sultry, vampish look: black hat, suit jacket, shirt with dog collar, sequined hot pants and knee-length black boots.

Not be outdone, headliner Rihanna followed up Koda's brief set of high-energy dance pop with her own remarkable outfit — a figure-hugging cat suit. She played the 2005 summer smash Pon de Replay and the Justin Timberlake-penned Rehab. Judging by the number of lensmen homing in on her, Rihanna won this battle of the divas hands down.

Earlier in the day, a buff Xzibit had the crowd putting their hands up. The West Coast rapper — who a few days ago was hanging out in the city of Nagoya with sumo grand champion Hakuho, no less — wore black baggy slacks, a sleeveless vest and Live Earth towel wrapped around his head. "Answer the call," read the poster beside the stage. And that's what the crowd did when Xzibit demanded the crowd "put 'em up!"

Xzibit's antics helped make up for the lackluster start to the event, futher complicated by the swelteringly hot venue. Despite kicking off in surreal style with an obligatory appearance from Al Gore — by hologram — and a rabble-rousing set from homegrown rap-metal act RIZE, by the early afternoon some of the crowd — mainly young professionals in their 20s and 30s — had taken to sleeping on the venue's concrete floors.

Ai Otsuka is another cute J-pop idol, but her set, like that of Ayaka's ballad-heavy selection before her, underwhelmed the crowd. Otsuka largely forsook any boring "save the earth" talk and instead took time to plug her new single. Only her hit Chu-Lip induced mass handclapping and waving of fans.

About 10,000 people attended the nine-hour extravaganza.

Ai Tsuchiya, a 30-year-old office worker from nearby Kanagawa, said she'll take more than her memories of her favorite band Linkin Park's set home with her. "We came to see bands that we like. But seeing these artists taking part in this kind of event, where everybody's talking about recycling and the planet, I think that's going to influence the actions I take in my everyday life."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/n...s_N.htm?csp=34