Finally, after waiting almost 20 years I get to re-watch Live Aid. The Coldstream Guards playing the fanfare before ‘The Royal Salute’ at the beginning with Bob Geldof taking his seat next to Charles & Di gave me chills. I did not get to see it live as I was in Norway at the time but I remember the newspaper headline of the day. “Beatles Reunion?” (Or however you spell reunion in Norwegian.) The rumor was the 3 remaining members were going to perform together in London.
I got to watch the concert a week later. A friend had recorded the full BBC feed and lent me the tapes. I started watching them at 12:00 noon, the same as time the show began. I was so blown away. What the hell happened to Ultravox, Spandau Ballet & Alison Moyet? Just brilliant. (I am watching DVD 1 as I type) There was so much talent in Britain at the time. The Sex Pistols had rejuvenated British music and the New Wave artists dominated (how these young bands came out sounding so good and Led Zep didn’t is beyond me). Sting and Phil Collins were still cool and a lot of the old timers, most of whom are still around played their part. David Gilmore backing Brian Ferry? Now that’s a trip. (It’s a shame that Brian Eno didn’t join him too). A reunited Who, Mick & Tina, there are just so many highlights.
And of course there was U2. (Introduced by Jack Nicholson from Philadelphia) They didn’t quite have that New Romantic look about them, like so many bands of the time, but dam did they sound good. The world got to discover what college kids had known for a while. And they made their presence known. U2 flags are seen throughout the Wembley footage. I had seen them previously on Channel 4’s showing of Red Rocks, even taped it (and taped over it, sorry) but it wasn’t until seeing this concert that I became a fan.
Even though so much has been edited out I cannot recommend this DVD set highly enough. (Maybe for the 40th anniversary they will release the full version) The picture is perfect and the 5.1 sound is awesome. And unlike so many concert videos of today, there is no canned audience and the camera edits do not switch with the lightning speed of a TV commercial. If you can, watch the full concert in one sitting. So many songs took on new meanings that day, ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ ‘Drive’ and ‘Is This The World We Created?’ to name just a few. A true milestone in Rock & Roll history.
Who stole the show, U2 or Queen? These two performances alone almost justify the cost of the DVDs. Pick up a copy and decide for yourself.
Money raised from the sale of this DVD will go to The Band Aid Trust.
For this version: A
For the 40th anniversary edition: A+