I spent all of July 1985 away from a television and so I missed what is very likely the most significant rock concert of all time, Bob Geldof's love offering to the Ethiopians, Live Aid. I read all about it in Rolling Stone and for 20 years I have regretted that I didn't have a chance to witness it. I thought I never would, since Geldof was adamant about the thing never being re-broadcast...
But alas, there is still a need in that region of Africa, and so Geldof has agreed to release all the footage that still exists of the show (the vast majority of both shows at Wembley and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia) along with music videos of Band-Aid, USA for Africa and several other Live Aid related performances and footage, on 4 DVDs totalling over 10 hours of history to re-visit.
And boy, is there a cornucopia of top acts...U2's breakthrough performances of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and (especially) "Bad", David Bowie looking spry and healthy, The Who's Roger Daltry forgetting the lyrics to the bridge of "Won't Get Fooled Again" (yes, I couldn't believe it, either), Bob Dylan backed by Keith Richards and Ron Wood (with more than one acoustic guitar out of tune), Paul McCartney turning "Let It Be" into a hymn for the starving Africans, Teddy Pendergrass singing from his wheelchair in his first live performance since a car wreck left him parapalegic, Ozzy Osbourne fronting Black Sabbath for the first time since they parted ways, Eric Clapton launching into the most blistering version of "Layla" since recording it with Derek & the Dominoes (w/Nicky Hopkins playing that beautiful piano coda), Madonna looking relatively innocent belting out "Holiday" and "Into the Groove" during the exciting birth pangs of her career, Phil Collins flying on the Concord from his performance in England so he could also perform in America (in case you're wondering, he did "Against All Odds" in Britain and "In The Air Tonight" across the pond, as well as backing up Sting on vocals and Eric Clapton on drums...his work on "White Room" is a testament to his gift as a drummer), Mick Jagger getting frisky with Tina Turner to the point of actually removing his shirt, and just SO MUCH MORE. Worth the price of admission just to stare at Tom Petty's mutton chops, but then again, with the proceeds from the sale of the DVD going directly to the Band Aid trust, you don't have to be a die-hard music afficianado to feel good about slapping down the $30 asked for this bona fide essential.
I cannot reccomend the Live Aid DVD highly enough...I only wish that it had been released to satisfy the demand of music lovers worldwide, and not because the money is still needed in Africa... At any rate, there you are. Just let me know what you think of it when you've had a chance to ingest all 10 hours...
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