Live Aid World Wide, July 13, 1985: So young then. Me and Gaia the Dead
Head. Philadelphia at the the old JFK Stadium. Live Aid was organized by Bob
Geldof and Midge Ure of Ultravox and played four cities worldwide, Philly, London,
Sydney and Moscow, raising nearly $250 mil. In Philadelphia the artists were
Madonna, Tom Petty, The Stones, CSNY, Powerstation and Duran Duran. So stuck up were we, like Madonna didn’t belong; so full of ourselves and turning up our
noses at anything pre-'83. So stupid is youth – fabulous, but stupid.
The worldwide line up featured Queen, Adam Ant, Hall
& Oates, BB King, Dylan, Boomtown Rats, Cher, Bowie, Dire Straits,
Pretenders, Cars, Beach Boys, Style Council, The Who and Simple Minds. Crazy. These artists provided their time
and performances free and the concert came off like nothing before or after, and
is part and parcel of what can be achieved when egos wane and giving back becomes a part
of stardom.
I
cannot comment on the criticisms of Live Aid, the pettiness of many of the
stars (despite the offer of time) and the possible misappropriations of funds
following the event, but for those of us in our 20s, long on cool and short on
understanding, Live Aid was one of those events that helped us to ease a bit in
adulthood. Gaia was left to question whether marijuana reform was as key as
world famine relief or failing farms. I was left with a sense that clubland,
which was my world at the time, was less than the center of the universe. Live
Aid was my intro to responsible adulthood. Kinda sucked at the time.
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