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The main Live 8 concert was held at Hyde Park , London , England on 2 July 2005 , in front of over 200,000 people. The show's logistics were managed by famed promoter Harvey Goldsmith . The event is also referred to as "Live 8 London" or '''"Live 8 UK"''' LINEUP AND SONGS In order of appearance:
(front) and Peter Buck (behind) of R.E.M.]]
¹ Also performing at the Paris Show on 2 July 2005 ² Also performing at the Edinburgh Show on 6 July 2005 ³ Guitarist David Gilmour was in Bryan Ferry 's band at Live Aid . Pink Floyd (with Roger Waters ) had not performed together for 24 years prior to this event; their last live performance being in 1981 . PERFORMANCE NOTES It had been said that McCartney and U2's Bono would be wearing Sgt. Pepper costumes, but, in the event, they were only worn by an anonymous, four-piece French Horn section. Immediately following Travis' performance, Geldof told the audience he "couldn't resist playing on this stage" and played the Boomtown Rats song "I Don't Like Mondays". He had earlier said that he "did not deserve" to play alongside the scheduled acts. All the songs performed by Sting were sung twenty years before at Live Aid. George Michael said in an interview that had wanted to perfom a solo song, but was suffering from a bad head cold. Some artists, such as Elton John, Coldplay and U2, already had shows planned for July 2, which they performed after their performances at Live 8. Accordingly they were not present for the "Hey Jude" grand finale. The Who originally planned to do three songs (the two mentioned above plus " Baba O'Riley ") but ultimately only performed two on the day. The reason is unknown - it's possible that they were given a three-song timeslot but the length of " Won't Get Fooled Again " used up the remaining time. Originally expected to close at 9.30pm, the concert over-ran and went on until just after midnight, leaving many in the audience with no means of returning home. Harvey Goldsmith appeared on stage to thank the audience for their patience with the late- running event, and to make a closing appeal for people to leave slowly, to avoid crushes. BACKSTAGE Notable, non-performing personalities backstage and in the audience included:
COVERAGE Television The , right up to the end of the concert at midnight. The advertised changeover time was 16:15, disappointing many who had set video recorders accordingly. The coverage was fronted by talk show host Jonathan Ross , with backstage interviews by Fearne Cotton and Jo Whiley . 350 complaints were made to the BBC about swearing before the 9pm watershed. The BBC apologised, however a spokesman said: "This is nothing, really. If '' EastEnders '' starts five minutes late we get close to 500 complaints". In the US, MTV and VH1 provided intermittent and incomplete live and taped coverage, frequently breaking away mid-song for commercials or commentary by their veejays. This decision drew criticism from numerous viewers who viewed the commentary as being frivolous or inane and would have preferred to see the music acts themselves. However, AOL provided a full Webcast of the entire show. After the criticism of viewers, both VH1 and MTV showed many highlights of the Live 8 concerts on July 9, 2005 for 5 hours each without commercial interruption. Radio In the UK, there was radio coverage on BBC Radio 1 , BBC Radio 2 and several local radio stations. The Radio 1 coverage was anchored by Chris Moyles and Scott Mills , with interviews by Edith Bowman , Colin Murray , Sara Cox and Vernon Kay . There was alternative coverage on Radio 2, anchored by Chris Evans . Each station focussed on artists who matched the station's playlisting policy and target audience. Commercial stations that are owned by CN Radio also relayed coverage. In the US, XM Satellite Radio broadcast the concert in its entirety. BBC Big Screens The BBC also had live coverage on Big Screens across the UK.
People who were watching the event in Cardiff were able to watch the event in HDTV on a 17ft wide screen; this is believed to be the first ever live public relay of HD in Europe. Online AOL's music channel included a live video stream. The BBC were also streaming a radio show from the live event over the Internet via BBCi service, alongside various video clips. PRE-SHOW RUMOURS The Spice Girls were originally on the list of performers, but were then removed. Organisers were reported to have stated that "their style of music did not fit in with the serious political message about world poverty the transatlantic event hopes to portray." (''Daily Mirror'', 31 May 2005). However in response to those claims, Bob Geldof, speaking at a press conference to announce the event said that the Spice Girls may play after all. While the group did not eventually appear (according to Melanie Chisholm because Melanie Brown had other commitments); as a probable joke on the situation, Peter Kay initially introduced The Who as the Spice Girls. There were rumours that Michael Jackson would join, but Bob Geldof stated that Jackson would not be invited to perform at any of the Live 8 shows. The surviving members of Led Zeppelin were rumoured to be reuniting with John Bonham 's son Jason Bonham on drums for London's Live 8 concert, but they didn't appear. The Sex Pistols was rumoured to play as a "suprise act", but the performance never happened. There was high speculation that the finale would consist of Band Aid 20 performing the hit 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', just as the concert in London ended twenty years before at Live Aid . The strangest rumour about the performance of or Roger Waters haven't met or seen him for many decades. |
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