Live Aid - 40 years this month

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:39 am

On 13th of this month it will be 40 years since Live Aid at Wembley & Philadelphia.

Not having a clue what to expect, I got a ticket and was at Wembley that day, and what an unbelievable day it was from Status Quo through to McCartney.

Was anyone else there or did you watch on TV? What memories do you have?

Tribesmen · Post by **Tribesmen** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:48 am

Never forget it as I was hitching across Canada and spent 12 hours and did 770 kms that very day .
Always remember saying , what did I miss yep a major mistake .

karatekid · Post by **karatekid** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:51 am

I watched it in my local pub on a portable size TV on the wall. It was turned over to horse racing every so often as a lot of the lads had a flutter. We stayed in the same pub from start to end then went into town. I’ve watched it in parts since then and it’s a shame some of the big stars of that day passed away far too young.

Big Vinny K · Post by **Big Vinny K** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:53 am

Watched it on TV.
It was incredible - could not wait to see David Bowie and he was brilliant. But so were so many others too.
The whole coordination with America was incredible too.

Documentary on bbc about Live Aid starting this weekend I think - looks great on the preview.

Dark Cloud · Post by **Dark Cloud** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:54 am

A mate of mine was similar to CT in that he got a ticket when they were first available and really had absolutely no idea what it was all about or if it would even be any good. He turned out to be a really lucky guy and by the time the date was fast approaching he realised he was sitting on a gold mine!! He didn't sell and had the most amazing day!

martin_p · Post by **martin_p** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:57 am

I watched every second on tv. With all the big charity events that are common place these days I don’t think anyone not old enough to remember it realises what a massive deal it was. Loved every second of it.

Dazzler · Post by **Dazzler** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 10:15 am

Mengistu Haile Mariam was very appreciative.

59claret · Post by **59claret** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 10:36 am

I was there. still got programme/ ticket/ t shirt- queued from 4 am at piccadilly records in Manchester to make sure got tickets !!!

hoskinsgoalatswansea · Post by **hoskinsgoalatswansea** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 10:48 am

So cool that you were there CT. It was something special that I’m sure most of the country would’ve wanted to be at.
I was 12 at the time, and was in a battle with my 15 year old sister, armed with our vhs180 tapes, over which bands to tape.

Clarets4me · Post by **Clarets4me** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 11:32 am

Arrived at Wembley just after Status Quo had finished their set ! Unfortunately, the ticket stub has gone astray after 40 odd years, but I seem to recall in was a nominal £5, with an additional £20 donation to the Live Aid Charity. Nine days earlier, I'd seen Springsteen on 4th July at the same venue for £9. His contribution was to pay for the stage and sound system to remain in place for Live Aid. He's said since that he deeply regrets not playing the show, which he could have done, as the final leg of his European tour, his concert at Roundhay Park, Leeds was on 7th July !

I was at University in Reading and travelled up by train, the night before I'd finished my last " twilight " shift at Asda in Lower Early ! Unforgettable day ..

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 11:38 am

59claret wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 01, 2025 10:36 am
I was there. still got programme/ ticket/ t shirt- queued from 4 am at piccadilly records in Manchester to make sure got tickets !!!

I thankfully didn’t have to queue for mine. For those who remember Tom & Christine Gill who had the programme shop on Yorkshire Street, it was Christine who sent Tom to queue in Preston for them.

Five of us went and we were there early on the Saturday. We got superb seats in the stand and that allowed me to also spend some time on the pitch.

Hard to single anyone out in terms of performance but everyone will always look back on Queen. Special mention from me for U2 who is not really taken much notice of until that day and then there was the genius David Bowie.

Just the most incredible of days.

Paul Waine · Post by **Paul Waine** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 1:05 pm

Watched Live Aid on tv. Just for One Day musical is worth seeing if you get the chance.

HurstGrangeClaret · Post by **HurstGrangeClaret** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 1:50 pm

I remember it well but sadly for the wrong reasons.
At the time, I was a young cop working an early shift and looking forward to finishing at 3pm to go home and watch all the action on television.
Shortly before I was due to finish, we were told we were all being kept on duty as a young Indian lad had been found murdered in Avenham Park, Preston. Can’t remember the time I got finished but can still remember some of the big acts and enjoying them, especially Queen.
A strange day for me.

Billyblah · Post by **Billyblah** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:10 pm

Watched much of it on TV and let's remember that live broadcasting technology and sending it worldwide has improved significantly in that forty years.
That said, the BBC did a good job in that broadcast which allowed the top bands of the time to perform three/four songs before giving way to the next act, some of which...(Bowie, George Michael, Rick Parfitt) are no longer with us.
It also boosted the careers of fledgling acts such as U2 who were invited on board through knowing organiser Bob Geldof whose key aim was to raise awareness/funds to address world poverty, particularly the poorer regions of Africa

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:18 pm

HurstGrangeClaret wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 01, 2025 1:50 pm
I remember it well but sadly for the wrong reasons.
At the time, I was a young cop working an early shift and looking forward to finishing at 3pm to go home and watch all the action on television.
Shortly before I was due to finish, we were told we were all being kept on duty as a young Indian lad had been found murdered in Avenham Park, Preston. Can’t remember the time I got finished but can still remember some of the big acts and enjoying them, especially Queen.
A strange day for me.

He was a nine-year-old and had been murdered on the Thursday, two days before Live Aid. The police had no real leads and I was interviewed (grilled) by them simply because of the car I had at the time. It wasn’t a pleasant experience either.

DNA found the murderer in 2009 although he had died in 1997.

Dazzler · Post by **Dazzler** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:38 pm

Billyblah wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:10 pm
It also boosted the careers of fledgling acts such as U2

Not sure what you class as 'fledgling', but U2 had already had 4 charted albums, 2 of which went to #1, and a string of hits in the 4 years before Live Aid.

HurstGrangeClaret · Post by **HurstGrangeClaret** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:56 pm

ClaretTony wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:18 pm
He was a nine-year-old and had been murdered on the Thursday, two days before Live Aid. The police had no real leads and I was interviewed (grilled) by them simply because of the car I had at the time. It wasn’t a pleasant experience either.

DNA found the murderer in 2009 although he had died in 1997.

You’ve a better memory than me Tony.
I still remember being kept on that Saturday. It was a sad and unsettling time for the community.
RIP Imran Vohra.

mikeS · Post by **mikeS** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 3:21 pm

Didn't make it to Live Aid, watched it on the Telly but did get free tickets for Live 8 in 2005 in Hyde Park. A Good concert on a sunny day but not the same as the first one. It was just Four days before suicide bombers killed 52 people and maimed hundreds in central London where we had stayed in Tavistock square over the weekend.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 3:36 pm

HurstGrangeClaret wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:56 pm
You’ve a better memory than me Tony.
I still remember being kept on that Saturday. It was a sad and unsettling time for the community.
RIP Imran Vohra.

You remember when you are questioned in the way I was. Id been to a leaving do from work close to Avenham Park on that Thursday evening too, brought forward a day so I could go.

That poor lad would have been 49 now.

sjb · Post by **sjb** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 4:16 pm

A friend of mine who lived in Preston at the time was also questioned. The body was discovered on the day of Live Aid though the lad had been murdered 2 days previously on the day of CT''s leaving do. The murderer was a Londoner named Robert Morley who actually lived in Accrington during the 1980s.

martin_p · Post by **martin_p** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 4:29 pm

Billyblah wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:10 pm
Watched much of it on TV and let's remember that live broadcasting technology and sending it worldwide has improved significantly in that forty years.
That said, the BBC did a good job in that broadcast which allowed the top bands of the time to perform three/four songs before giving way to the next act, some of which...(Bowie, George Michael, Rick Parfitt) are no longer with us.
It also boosted the careers of fledgling acts such as U2 who were invited on board through knowing organiser Bob Geldof

I think the fact U2 had already had two number 1 albums and two or three top ten singles helped too!

Edit: As someone has already pointed out.

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 4:54 pm

Watched right through on tv. Recorded lots of it but all gone now.
Weren’t U2 on early as they had a gig in Germany that night?
Queen are rightly acknowledged as the stand out. Brian May later said they were given 20 minutes and they rehearsed the 20 minutes for the week before. They were in a lull at the time and it gave their career the major boost it needed.
Ran the world, I think, the next day.

ClaretPete001 · Post by **ClaretPete001** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 5:19 pm

Forty years ago .... kerplunk....! I'm going to shuffle off and bury my head in a bucket of pooh and try and figure out what I have been doing for forty years.....!

The Hung Juror · Post by **The Hung Juror** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 6:21 am

My memories of Live Aid are all good ones. I never saw any of it. I was in Paros in Greece with my girlfriend, what a brilliant holiday.

rincon · Post by **rincon** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 7:04 am

Seem to remember radio 1 DJ, Simon Bates, doing the adverts for tickets, which were aired on radio one for the event. They were repeated quite a bit and it did not sell out straight away, like it no doublt would do nowadays.
Getting tickets for big events was possible those days, before ticketmaster and other touts got involved.
A great event though, wish I'd have gone.

Commy · Post by **Commy** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 11:37 am

We were in the pub and one bloke had to go home more than once to change the tape in his recorder. You could get it all on a recordable box now, with room to spare.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 11:42 am

Commy wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 02, 2025 11:37 am
We were in the pub and one bloke had to go home more than once to change the tape in his recorder. You could get it all on a recordable box now, with room to spare.

And making sure to make the tape change in the breaks too.

Bop · Post by **Bop** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 4:30 pm

The Urban Myths tv series did a great episode on backstage at Live Aid. Elton going mad at Noel Edmond’s landing his chopper in his back garden. Freddie stroking Bonos hair, and Quo not realising that they’d already been on stage.

dougcollins · Post by **dougcollins** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 6:11 pm

Never been much of a fan of Quo's take on 'Rocking all over the World' but I have to hold my hand up - the perfect band, with the perfect song, to open this gig.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 6:29 pm

dougcollins wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 02, 2025 6:11 pm
Never been much of a fan of Quo's take on 'Rocking all over the World' but I have to hold my hand up - the perfect band, with the perfect song, to open this gig.

That’s exactly what it was dougcollins - the best choice of song to kick it off

Big Vinny K · Post by **Big Vinny K** » Wed Jul 02, 2025 7:15 pm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002fp3t

midlander63 · Post by **midlander63** » Fri Jul 04, 2025 11:43 pm

40 years - I had my 22nd birthday 2 days before - Live Aid remains a bit of a touchstone event for me - even though I wasn't there.
I tried to get a ticket and queued up outside Birmingham Odeon box office - they sold out before I made the front
I decided to watch the whole thing - I'd been working away from home for a couple of years but regularly went home to see mum and dad - about 4 weeks before Live Aid my mum reminded me that they were going to London for the weekend with some of my dad's old mates from his days at the pit - so I had the place to myself and I could watch Live Aid all the way through - even then, I had an idea that I would always remember this and this was social history.
I couldn't care less about most of the bands - at the time I loved The Smiths, Simple Minds & Talking Heads - in a few months I'd be into The Jesus & Mary Chain & Furniture - I didn't care about Sade, Nic Kershaw or Alison Moyet - I had a feeling I might enjoy the American Live Aid more when I saw the line up.
So I sat down with loads of beer and watched the whole thing start to finish
Started to flag about 6:00 pm and thought about going to the pub - and then - George Thorogood & The Destroyers came on and were brilliant - never heard of them before but they were great - and then it's Queen in London followed by Simple Minds! Forget about going to the pub!
Like a lot of people I got emotional when Bowie stopped his set and they played 'Drive' by The Cars - I cried, went to the phone and pledged £20 - it was a lot for me at the time as I was on £3500 a year - but I'm glad I did it
Favourite bands from Live Aid:
UK:
Status Quo
Queen
Elton John
USA:
George Thorogood & The Destroyers
Simple Minds
The Beach Boys
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Eric Clapton

karatekid · Post by **karatekid** » Wed Jul 09, 2025 11:32 pm

There is a programme on BBC2 now. Live Aid at 40

karatekid · Post by **karatekid** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:04 am

BBC2 Saturday from 6pm. The whole concert rerun.

Corway · Post by **Corway** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:54 am

Watched the first two parts of the documentaries. Geldoffs vision drive contacts and tenacity to save lives was amazing as was the number of impossible things he achieved with Band Aid and Live Aid and with the charity that resulted.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:29 am

Corway wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:54 am
Watched the first two parts of the documentaries. Geldoffs vision drive contacts and tenacity to save lives was amazing as was the number of impossible things he achieved with Band Aid and Live Aid and with the charity that resulted.

The third part is available on the iPlayer and, as karate kid has posted, the full Live Aid is on BBC2 this Saturday.

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 11:55 am

Quick quiz question before it's shown again; Does anyone remember the name of the Russian band that appeared on the day? Is it too easy?

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 11:59 am

Silkyskills1 wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 10, 2025 11:55 am
Quick quiz question before it's shown again; Does anyone remember the name of the Russian band that appeared on the day? Is it too easy?

Wasn't it Autograph?

Silkyskills1 · Post by **Silkyskills1** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:06 pm

Didn't take long. Yes, spelt Autograaf, I think. Anyway, well done Whatever happened to them, I wonder.

claretonthecoast1882 · Post by **claretonthecoast1882** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:11 pm

Silkyskills1 wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:06 pm
Didn't take long. Yes, spelt Autograaf, I think. Anyway, well done Whatever happened to them, I wonder.

Signed off ?

gandhisflipflop · Post by **gandhisflipflop** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:14 pm

Was just before I was born but I would have loved to experience it just for queen alone

Claret Till I Die · Post by **Claret Till I Die** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:31 pm

gandhisflipflop wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:14 pm
Was just before I was born but I would have loved to experience it just for queen alone

We bought tickets for Queen the following year at Knebworthwhen they went on sale after being gutted that we were on holiday for Maine Road. All on the back of that performance.

Little did we know that it would be the last time that Freddie Mercury would perform live.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 1:02 pm

Claret Till I Die wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:31 pm
We bought tickets for Queen the following year at Knebworthwhen they went on sale after being gutted that we were on holiday for Maine Road. All on the back of that performance.

Little did we know that it would be the last time that Freddie Mercury would perform live.

I was at Maine Road in 1986 for Queen

Jel · Post by **Jel** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 1:21 pm

ClaretTony wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 10, 2025 1:02 pm
I was at Maine Road in 1986 for Queen

If it was the Kind of magic tour, I saw this in Marbella

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 1:25 pm

Jel wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 10, 2025 1:21 pm
If it was the Kind of magic tour, I saw this in Marbella

Yes - The Magic tour. As CTID posted, it was their final tour.

karatekid · Post by **karatekid** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 5:38 pm

I remember watching the concert on TV but can’t recall the minor details. Did they break away for the national and local News and weather reports or was it just straight through? What happened in between acts? Was there Interviews etc . I remember the BG outburst when he got the wrong info regarding donations

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 6:03 pm

karatekid wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 10, 2025 5:38 pm
I remember watching the concert on TV but can’t recall the minor details. Did they break away for the national and local News and weather reports or was it just straight through? What happened in between acts? Was there Interviews etc . I remember the BG outburst when he got the wrong info regarding donations

Not sure what happened on tv but at Wembley we had breaks between each act. Once it started in Philadelphia then we got their acts on the screens.

Jel · Post by **Jel** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:38 pm

It really was a great day, I was on weekend leave at my mates house in Newport. Apart from the concert I spent the rest of the night with his mother in law!

Inchy · Post by **Inchy** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:06 pm

ClaretTony wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:39 am
On 13th of this month it will be 40 years since Live Aid at Wembley & Philadelphia.

Not having a clue what to expect, I got a ticket and was at Wembley that day, and what an unbelievable day it was from Status Quo through to McCartney.

Was anyone else there or did you watch on TV? What memories do you have?

Before my time but you witnessed one of the greatest, most iconic live performances in history…..Queen.

I showed it my son a couple of years ago to educate him because he loves music. Even at 7 years old he got it

No Ney Never · Post by **No Ney Never** » Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:23 pm

Spent all afternoon waiting for U2, it was at the time of The Unforgettable Fire, they were brilliant as were a number of acts, there was some proper talent in the 80's.
Bob Geldof really did pull of something extraordinary with the band aid and live aid thing, fair play to him. Only the 60's could have produced anything similar.