Live Aid

[petebassist]

Didn't see it all first time - started watching it in a pub in Ambleside in Cumbria, then hitched back to Co Durham and caught the end at home. Those were the days...

Watched bits of the replay at the weekend. Musically, I enjoyed Simple Minds, Sting, and Dire Straits with Sting on BVs - brilliant. Queen obviously.

Funny to see the mic-lead minders who had to crouch at the front of the stage to stop people tripping - at one stage a bloke ran on stage and had to loop one right over Adam Clayton's head, though I don't suppose anyone now wd've minded if Bono tripped - what a palaver over giving someone in the crowd a kiss. I might give that a try at my gigs this weekend 😉 

 

[HeadlessBassist]

It was always going to be the Queen and Quo sets for me at Live Aid.

 

I just watched Madonna performing Like a Prayer at Live Aid and whoever the bassist was, it felt very thin and empty without Guy Pratt and his Octaver.

 

Edit: Duh! I was watching "Live 8" some years later. 🤣

Edited Tuesday at 11:54 by HeadlessBassist

[TheGreek]

18 hours ago, ezbass said:

Likewise. 
 

I was just thinking that the pitch at Wembley took a hammering that year, what with Live Aid and Springsteen.

 

I'd have to ask friends who were at Live Aid but at the Mandela concert there were tarps covering the pitch.

[TheGreek]

18 hours ago, ezbass said:

 

Ooops..double post!!

 

Edited Tuesday at 14:07 by TheGreek

[Stub Mandrel]

22 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I don't think they were..?

They were just beginning their 'Long, drawn out arrangement' phase.

(edit)
I will say that it sounds like their TV feed was mixed by a drummer...

 

Terry Williams said he was very pleased when he rewatched it.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

 

I'd have to ask friends who were at Live Aid but at the Mandela concert there were tarps covering the pitch.

There were tarps at Springsteen, but that’s still an awful lot of traffic. That said, grass is very resilient and it was no doubt in tip top condition for whatever the next big footie game was.

[MacDaddy]

2 minutes ago, ezbass said:

There were tarps at Springsteen, but that’s still an awful lot of traffic. That said, grass is very resilient and it was no doubt in tip top condition for whatever the next big footie game was.

 

Wasn't the stage lent to Live Aid by Springsteen? 

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, MacDaddy said:

 

Wasn't the stage lent to Live Aid by Springsteen? 

No idea, possibly. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Just now, ezbass said:

No idea, possibly. 

 

I read it was.

[BigRedX]

Bruce Springsteen's stage was offered but deemed too small and a three part revolving stage was constructed, which allowed one band to perform while another was being set up and the previous band's equipment packed up. The stage movement was supposed to be motorised but technical problems meant that it had to be rotated manually.

[Misdee]

I really enjoyed watching some of the footage again. I remember that day vividly, watched  it on t.v at home and then went out for a pizza with a friend.

 

I didn't agree with Bob Geldof's version of events at the time, still don't now. He certainly never got a penny out of me. Very few people ever have. Before you all rush to judgement, never mind Ethiopia, I've had a hard life too. It's about time someone had a rock concert raising money for me.

 

The first thing that struck me was, by the standards of 2025, how amateurish and home-made it all was. It was all the better for it, too. The second thing that struck me was, bloody hell, don't all the artists look young! Then what struck me was, if they've all aged forty years, so must I have too! 

 

Some very tasty basses and bass playing on display. Those were the days! I particularly enjoyed Martin Kemp playing his Wal (underrated player in my opinion), Paul Denman with Sade(also underrated) and Adam Clayton with U2. 

 

It was a bit of a culture shock seeing Status Quo having to use all their  formidable gigging experience not to trip over each others leads during their choreographed stage moves. Even buskers have got wireless systems nowadays.

Edited 6 hours ago by Misdee

[bigthumb]

I didn't see anything of it. I went fishing on Cransley Reservoir in Northamptonshire with my older brother for the day. I didn't catch anything....  😪

[TimR]

1 hour ago, Misdee said:

The first thing that struck me was, by the standards of 2025, how amateurish and home-made it all was.

 

This was before the disaster at Donnington '88. Everything changed then. It was amateurish. The PA was supplied by Malcolm Hill, who made all the equipment. 

 

https://www.mixonline.com/live-sound/inside-the-live-sound-of-live-aid-part-1-london

 

 

Howard Jones was told that the keys on the piano were sticking so he had to give them a good bash to free them up first.

 

The flooring was mainly plastic, with some reinforcement where vehicles would drive. 

 

Crowd control would have been non-existent.

[Linus27]

On 15/07/2025 at 12:37, petebassist said:

Didn't see it all first time - started watching it in a pub in Ambleside in Cumbria, then hitched back to Co Durham and caught the end at home. Those were the days...

Watched bits of the replay at the weekend. Musically, I enjoyed Simple Minds, Sting, and Dire Straits with Sting on BVs - brilliant. Queen obviously.

Funny to see the mic-lead minders who had to crouch at the front of the stage to stop people tripping - at one stage a bloke ran on stage and had to loop one right over Adam Clayton's head, though I don't suppose anyone now wd've minded if Bono tripped - what a palaver over giving someone in the crowd a kiss. I might give that a try at my gigs this weekend 😉 

 

 

That was Greg Carroll who was Bono's mic-lead runner, band roadie and close friend. He was sadly killed exactly a year after Live Aid in Dublin riding a motorbike doing a courier run for the band. The U2 song, One Tree Hill is written about him as well as Victor Jara. When U2 were touring in NZ in 1984, Bono met Greg Carroll and took him to One Tree Hill. Greg then became the bands roadie. After his funeral in NZ, Bono was thinking about the funeral and the time be spent with Greg at One Tree Hill which inspired him to write the lyrics to the song.