Live aid.. So we know about U2, Queen but ....

Aidanspaghetti · August 2023

How good was Paul Youngs set?! Thoroughly enjoyed watching it again the other day....

Shrews · August 2023

Nik Kershaw's too and Howard Jones one song sent shivers down my spine at the time and still does.

FelineGuitars · August 2023

I sometimes go and seek out the bands that played at the US portion of it in Phillidelphia
Like Judas Priest

FelineGuitars · August 2023

or tom Petty

KKJale · August 2023

FelineGuitars said:

or tom Petty

Phenomenal

stickyfiddle · August 2023

KKJale said:

FelineGuitars said:

or tom Petty

Phenomenal

American Girl is - as usual - one of the absolute best things in the world

axisus · August 2023

The honest truth is I only remember Queen. I was a big fan back then and they really were amazing. That was a lesson in how you play a stadium!

I'd quite like to catch up on the other stuff though, I bet there's a lot I would like now more than at the time.

Aidanspaghetti · August 2023

Shrews said:

Nik Kershaw's too and Howard Jones one song sent shivers down my spine at the time and still does.

I've shown my Kershaw fascination many times here.. Amazing musician... Kinda wish he'd go back to his keyboard written songs these days instead if his guitar driven stuff if ya catch my drift. Still one of my favorites!

Aidanspaghetti · August 2023

On a side note, if ya like NK check out this guts videos.... fantastic stuff!

guitars4you · August 2023

FelineGuitars said:

or tom Petty

Great post - I'd forgotten TP played USA Live Aid - From the USA gig I remember Santana more than anyone else as it was the first time I'd seen him play a PRS and that night I did not know who/what PRS was

guitars4you · August 2023

axisus said:

The honest truth is I only remember Queen. I was a big fan back then and they really were amazing. That was a lesson in how you play a stadium!

I'd quite like to catch up on the other stuff though, I bet there's a lot I would like now more than at the time.

Agree Queen nailed - Showed how to milk a crowd and exploit stadium rock to the nth degree - Many other great moments from the day, but Queen topped the lot - Quo where good and rocking all over the world was obviously a great track for the show - The Who were fine

Grumpyrocker · August 2023

Great stuff from Judas Priest. I just about remember the days when Rob still had some hair.

Looking at the setlists the US Live Aid acts were much more my kind of the thing (now at least) than the UK, but on the day I remember only seeing UK stuff.

FelineGuitars · August 2023

Queen were immense and at the top of their game .

But they were also better prepared for the day....

They had spent the previous 5 years playing huge stadium gigs and Freddie was very used to holding such large audiences in the palm of his hand.
Another part of what made them so good is that they tailored their set to run perfectly in that time slot and pack as many hits into it as humanly possible. They also rehearsed for it which I'm sure helped.

They also had their own long standing, very talented sound engineer in Trip Khalaf who had a knack of making them sound clear and powerful in venues whose acoustics may not be the best . Contrary to popular belief he didn't crank their sound louder than everyone else , but HE DID know how to make them sound immense within the sound limits set for the venue.

And in my opinion they are the greatest band which always helps.....

thecolourbox · August 2023

This is probably sacrilege to say but I don't really enjoy Queen's Live Aid set, yet I really like a lot of other live albums by them. It seemed a bit disjointed and to start with Freddy's phrasing seemed a bit off.

Have usually enjoyed other videos from that much more than the Queen one, despite me liking Queen in general much more than the other acts

EricTheWeary · August 2023

My memories of the day are sitting down to watch it on the TV and being annoyed at several points by how much they clipped the US coverage, the producers making our taste choices for us.
Paul Young, IIRC, included a bit of Do They Know It's Christmas in his set which seemed appropriate in some ways and not appropriate at all in others. I'm still not sure!

CaseOfAce · August 2023

I personally thought Nik Kershaw was completely lost at sea that day on such a big stage. Musically the sound was brittle and tinny - and a lot of the 80s pop acts with complicated song productions on records were woefully unprepared in taking on such a huge venue for the first time. It's understandable those acts who were used to such mega venues did the best - they and their crew already knew the pitfalls and how best to project with their performances.

vasselmeyer · August 2023

guitars4you said:

Agree Queen nailed - Showed how to milk a crowd and exploit stadium rock to the nth degree - Many other great moments from the day, but Queen topped the lot - Quo where good and rocking all over the world was obviously a great track for the show - The Who were fine

If I recall, we lost the transmission for quite a lot of The Who.

For me, the most memorable bit apart from Queen and U2 was David Bowie giving over part of his set to The Cars' "Drive" underneath footage of the Ethopian famine. Tear jerking stuff.

On the US side, the one that I always remember is Madonna doing "Into the Groove". She was on her inexorable rise and her band was terrific. Somehow I seem to recall she did something with Nile Rogers and The Thompson Twins.

Hattigol · August 2023

CaseOfAce said:

I personally thought Nik Kershaw was completely lost at sea that day on such a big stage.

He is about 4 foot 2. He's the only guy who could look lost on a pub stage.

Shrews · August 2023

I guess the mid afternoon slots were difficult. The initial euphoria was over, the sun was burning, maybe a bit of standing fatigue kicking in after queuing and standing in the stadium for 3 hours or more. This wasn't a festival. You couldn't wander off easily for a sit down.

Elvis Costello, Nik Kershaw, Sade, Sting/Phil Collins, Brian Ferry and Paul Young perhaps had the toughest timeslots at Wembley (won't include Howard Jones as he only did the one number).

Then U2 came next which were very much the rising stars of that time so there was plenty of excitement about them. With them performing as they did plus a cooling temperature all was set for the established stars to perform. Dire Straits, pretty much middle of the road, perhaps unfortunate to be sandwiched between rising stars U2 and rock gods Queen.

http://liveaid.free.fr/pages/liveaidtimesdetaileduk.html

It would be interesting to hear any stories from the stadium on the day if anyone went. Watching on TV very different to being in the stadium where you had to cope with heat, fatigue, toilet issues, food and drink etc which can all be a dampener on the experience. Were you 'wowing' about certain acts or disappointed? What was the gossip between acts? Or were you just dying to go to the bog for hours? Thoughts about the sound issues with the Boomtown Rats and any worries if this was going to plague the event throughout the day?

Aidanspaghetti · August 2023

Wiz awarded @Shrews ... would live to have been a fly on the wall at Live Aid. Mad stuff I'd say

viz · August 2023

Aidanspaghetti said:

On a side note, if ya like NK check out this guts videos.... fantastic stuff!

that vid isn't working (at least I can't get it to work)

Aidanspaghetti · August 2023

Apologies! This should be it...a brilliant watch!

viz · August 2023

oh, yeah seen that before, it's great!

mort · September 2023

Nobody’s mentioned Adam Ant yet…….

I’ll get me coat.

richardhomer · September 2023

Eric Clapton’s performance pretty much put him back in the mainstream.

mgaw · September 2023

I was there! Travelled down from Dundee with my brother and two friends, very hot day and there was an infuriating issue with the sound for a while, there seemed to be a delay between two sets of speakers. Remember it took quite some time to get from the centre of the pitch to the toilets and indeed the bar

aparr from that an amazing day out, highlights were definitely Queen but also Status Quo were a great start to the day

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Live aid.. So we know about U2, Queen but ....

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