Tuesday 13 July 2010

Live Aid - 25 Years On

It's the 25th anniversary of Live Aid today.  Still now I can remember the horrific BBC news reports that shocked the world and inspired Live Aid.  It was the first of its kind, there have been many similar events since but none has had the same emotional impact.  The nurse who featured in one of the reports, Claire Bertschinger, recalls her expereinces here .  Live Aid did make a difference.

A whole new generation has grown up since the concerts and a couple of young men, not born when Live Aid happened, have made a film to commemorate the anniversary.  They spent two weeks in Ethiopia earlier this year and have made a film called Twenty 5 chronicling the country today, where there is a lot of hope and dynamism, though the famine is not forgotten.  It's good to s the next generation doing something like this.  Read about the film - premiered today - here Twenty 5

U2's performance was one of the highlights of the Wembley concert.  I was familiar with the band then and quite liked them, but this performance made me realise the band was special and I've been a true fan since that day.  Bad was the song that did it, Bono's performance was stunning, moving and inspired.  It was a brave song to perform, most people will never have heard it before, but it worked.  It caught up the emotions of that day, the pain, but also the hope.  Even now, everytime I hear Edge's opening notes to Bad shivers run down my spine.   Remember twenty five years ago today once more below.

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