On Earth Day, April 22nd, shoemaker KEEN teamed up with the Garcia brand to host the Rainforest Benefit Concert — Save The Tongass stream. The event, which neared four hours in length, saw over 30 performances from Benevento/Russo Duo, Keller Williams, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, St. Paul And The Broken Bones, and many more.
The stream was modeled after the Grateful Dead‘s famous September 24th, 1988 rainforest benefit concert at Madison Square Garden, which saw the Dead gather up a star-studded cast of musicians to bring awareness to a delicate ecosystem. The 3-hour, 50-minute stream even opened with footage of the Dead’s September 13th, 1988 press conference at the United Nations in the lead up to the band’s benefit at Madison Square Garden.
“Somebody has to do something, it seems incredibly, in fact, it seems embarrassing that it has to be us,” Jerry Garcia said at the time.
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At the heart of the stream’s mission was Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Located in Juneau, AL, Tongass National Forest is one of the most carbon-storing terrestrial ecosystems on Earth and in October 2020 was opened to logging by former President Donald Trump, an order which remains intact. Event organizers hoped to raise both funds and awareness in an effort to bring the issue to the attention of President Joe Biden and his new administration.
The webcast also hosted on-air discussions from Trixie Garcia, Dave Matthews and The Wilderness Society, and the trio of Gary Lambert, Ebet Roberts, and Charlie Miller.
Watch a full replay of the Rainforest Benefit Concert – Save The Tongass webcast. Scroll down to see a full schedule of performances. For more information on the efforts to save Tongass National Forest click here.
KEEN x Garcia Present Rainforest Benefit Concert | 04/22/21 | Full Show
[Video: Relix]
