Tommy Lee Goes 'Green' With Grateful Dead, Joan Baez

It was like a scene from a history textbook but with a modern twist: In San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Sunday, members of the Grateful Dead performed a free show in Speedway Meadows for tens of thousands of hippies, freaks, music lovers and environmental activists. Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart, who conducted the set, told the crowd, "This is where it all began" referring to the band's many free shows in the park, back in the day. Hart was joined onstage first by his fellow ex-bandmate Bob Weir, then by a constantly evolving all-star line-up, including Motley Crue's Tommy Lee, Phish's Jon Fishman, String Cheese Incident's Michael Kang, and the iconic Joan Baez. The set began with a cover of the Beatles' 'Blackbird' and ended with Buddy Holly's 'Not Fade Away.' But most of it was one giant drum jam.

The occasion was the Green Apple Music Festival, an annual event that was held simultaneously in eight different U.S. cities this year in celebration of Earth Day. Green Apple calls attention to environmental issues through speakers and a booth fair during free concerts set in backdrops such as the National Mall in Washington DC, the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles and New York's Central Park. Other bands this year included The Roots (with friends Doug E. Fresh, Ne-Yo, Talib Kweli, will.i.am and more), Los Lonely Boys, Menudo and a solo acoustic set by Ziggy Marley. "Look, this is not going to change the world," producer Peter Shapiro tells Spinner. "It's going to take a lot of little things like this." Considering that as many as 500,000 people attended a Green Apple Festival this year, and it aims to expand to even more cities next year, this might just be the little thing that could. And who wouldn't want to save the earth now that we know that Tommy Lee can share a stage with Joan Baez?