Good decision by the BBC to show extended highlights of live aid, both from Wembley and Philadelphia. It took place 49 years ago today.
Watched it (on and off) from the start, and it was interesting to see a snapshot of 1985 and many of the big name artists from that era. The smell of hairspray must have been overwhelming backstage.
I’ve never been a fan of U2, but I can see now that they were a decent stadium rock act (if that’s your thing). I’d accidentally caught their first gig in England when they supported Dolly Mixture at the Moonlight Club, and thought they were a bit of a rock throwback.
I remember at the time being very impressed by Queen, a band whose first couple of singles I’d liked, but who had become very unfashionable by 1985. Some performer was Freddie Mercury, and what a voice. Speaking of voices, George Michael could sing a bit too. David Bowie’s Heroes was another highlight, as was my mate Matthew playing bass with him. I was extremely envious.
Poor old Adam Ant wasn’t great. I think he’d lost his way after the Prince Charming era. And I wasn’t keen on fab Macca’s rendition of Let it Be. I think in later years he realised Hey Jude was a much better festival anthem/show stopper. He tried to jazz up Let It Be with jangly piano playing, but for me it didn’t work. it was also a reminder of a time when the audience just watched the acts, rather than trying to film them.
[PS Admin, not sure this is in the right category, but couldn’t see another non football category)
Looking at the footage there looks to be a lot more than 72k there.
Was at Summertime Ball few weeks ago and that had 80k there but loads of room at back of pitch and could walk around on the pitch fairly easily whereas Live Aid looks absolutely rammed
Seen clips of the concert over the years mainly as part of documentaries. Nice to see most of the days events together for once.
Interesting to also see the contrast between the Wembley crowd and the Philadelphia crowd. English lot properly going for it (especially as the afternoon went on), American crowd looked as if they weren't sure what they were even doing there. They got a bit lively at times but not much. Most seemed to be just having a picnic.
Maybe nowadays the profile of people in the Wembley crowd would be priced out of it. Perhaps back then, in the USA, they already were.
It's not the same Wembley stadium as it was then. No idea if the pitch and surrounds were enlarged during the rebuild, but it seems likely to me.
From Wikipedia: ’The pitch size, as lined for association football, is 115 yd (105 m) long by 75 yd (69 m) wide, slightly narrower than the old Wembley, as required by the UEFA stadium categories for a category four stadium, the top category.’
The Old Wembley had a running track around the pitch too so I would guess there was more space for concerts than than now.
Ticketing at the old Wembley was different. Back then there were more general admission tickets so you could sit in unreserved seats or stand on the pitch. These days the pitch is normally divided into areas and numbers restricted and seats are allocated.
We watched most of it Saturday night and a lot for the first time. I was 21 back then, amazing how quick life romps by. Watching Roxy Music my wife commented on the guitarist with the red guitar, she said he is very Gilmourish. It was in fact David Gilmour playing with Roxy, which I didn't know until yesterday. I also thought, even though some of the performance were a little lame by todays polished acts, Paul Youngs knee slide quite cringing. Phil Collins on piano, Sting going all pseudo intellectual pop star and Elvis Costello all really just doing fill in spots, not great but quite ballsy considering their reputations and the size of audience they were playing to. Another thing there was no autotune back then, just the sound engineers doing there best, warts and all performances even St Bob was half decent. Sade, what a gem, her Diamond Life album must have been in every home. She sounded fantastic. Most of the artists could hold a note. I don't know if what is put out now of that day has been tweaked. Back then watching through the TV with a 4 inch speaker in it was as good as it got, not like todays multi channel sound. Queen, not a group I liked that much or disliked were in my opinion, amazing for the 19 minutes they had. They filled every minute to the max. On the other hand, U2 were a band I liked back then, Sunday Bloody Sunday was a good start before Bono went off stage and off pisted while the band kept playing the same bit over and over. On the actual day I was changing my brake pads on my MK3 Cortina so I saw the start and a few bits and pieces, which didn't matter because I had asked my dad to record it. I ended up with a tape of Grandstand.
Is Live Aid remembered in the US as the huge cultural moment it’s held to be here? It was before my time, but I’m keenly aware of the concert, what it was in aid of and the amazing performances (especially by Queeen, I’m not the biggest fan but they were brilliant that day). I wonder if the average person in their 30’s/early 40’s from the US would have the same knowledge of Live Aid?
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The Old Wembley had a running track around the pitch too so I would guess there was more space for concerts than than now.