There is no denying that New York offers some of the most amazing experiences anywhere in the world, cultural events, historical happenings, even epic shows and concerts.  This past weekend I had the good fortune of attending the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, along with 60,000 other enthusiastic concert goers!  Going to an event at the Great Lawn in Central Park is just so picturesque and energetic.  With a huge artistically designed stage and the backdrop of the city’s skyline the setting could not have been better for listening to some of the music industries best artists perform for a sea of people here to make their voices heard about ending world poverty.

If you are wondering….the global citizen organization is essentially a group of regular people who register with the organization and donate their time to charitable organizations that work towards eliminating extreme poverty world-wide.  It’s an eye-opening cause that anyone with a heart and ambition to make our world better would be proud to call themselves a global citizen, joining the likes of Bono, Will.i.am, John Mayer, Alicia Keyes, and Stevie Wonder to name a few.
Other guests at the festival included the crown princess of Denmark, the president of Liberia and a slew of U.S. congressmen.

Performances

Kings of Leon opened the concert bringing some much-anticipated southern rock to the crowd.  The set was upbeat and energetic “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” are probably to 2 most recognizable songs from their set but they did add in some new pieces from their new album (Mechanical Bull).  I have a lot of respect for this group as they are not shy about getting up and performing for a cause.  Kings of Leon also sang at The Rock for Oklahoma concert earlier this summer to which the proceeds from that show went to help victims trying to recover from the lash of tornadoes.

Alicia Keyes set up next and put on an amazing performance, switching from piano to mic throughout her set and I have to say that there is nothing like hearing “Empire State of Mind” at a show in New York.  Alicia looked great in her sexy revealing black dress and cuff bracelets on each arm.

John Mayer was up next and led off by saying that they were “just going to do our thing” and have fun with his set.  That was exactly what happened…. It was great, the sun had finally dropped and he played all the songs we know him for while adding extra guitar solos.  Although the song “Waiting for the World to Change” may have been written in for something entirely different then global poverty it was the most appropriate song for the Global Citizen Festival and sounded fantastic!

Lastly was Stevie Wonder who came out with another cause to get behind…. Gun Control.  As he educated the crowd on the idea that a blind person can legally own a gun he pointed his fingers out into the crowd like 2 guns and started shooting and asking if he got ’em.  It was a comical approach to gun laws that need to be re-thought.  His music was epic! He played hit after hit including my personal favorite… “Higher Ground”.  Even when his time had pretty much come to an end he continued to play saying “wait wait we have to play this one” and ” we can’t leave without playing this”.  Thanks Stevie for an awesome set!

All of this fun was for a great cause to end worldwide poverty and if you want information on how to become a member click here.

My friend Sara and I at the global citizen show

What I wore: Seven jeans, Chelsea girl T-shirt (London-based Chelsea Girl shop), my sparkly low top converse(LOVE) and large chandelier earrings by Karen Curtis

xoxo -Karen