Think about the relelvance that LIVE AID had those of you who watched it first hand, like me, who got up at 5am on a saturday morning and did not move for the most part, except during that BS break for those of you like me who didnt have MTV, there was a gap when channel 5 went off the air and Channel 7 really killed the show for the most part, by showing Highlights and then jumping in with the show, almost ruining what the English portion of the show did which was hit you with everything nonstop basically.

But all that aside, could that happen today? is their any form of that spirit in music and marketing that could find a common ground, to put egos in check and PR people on blast for a day? I mean there were artists like Phil Collins and Sting that went out there in tshirts and unshaven? today could an artist do that? or would there be gimmicks tied to what they do?

To be honest there isnt a way it could happen, as i look now almost 26 years to the day, that event was an end of an era, where things like that could be done, mainly because it spun off so many other type events smaller in scale, but today there would be so much red-tape, egos, media, pr people, etc...that would just get into the mix that you would have an EVENT before you had the EVENT. LIVE AID was an event after the fact, sure it was billed, but lets be real, no one thought it would be what it was, NO one thought bands like Queen would blow the world away on a global stage, nothing was planned for this event and thats why it worked....

[Edited 7/11/11 16:38pm]

I will answer that by saying this. You saw what happened when they tried to remake, "We Are The World", right? So, I would have to say, no.

shorttrini said:

I will answer that by saying this. You saw what happened when they tried to remake, "We Are The World", right? So, I would have to say, no.

Well to be honest....We are the World, had nothing to really do with LIVE AID, Bob Geldof had this plan long before We are the World was an idea. USA for Africa was just the american aid version, but LIVE AID was going to happen with or without it.

OF COURSE

Live 8 was made in the 00's after all...

and the original Live Aid had its GENEROUS share of SHITTY artists

I can imagine Live Aid 3 in 2014 with GaGa as the star, some veteran artists ( The Boss, Madonna, Sade, Bon Jovi, The Stones?, Beck, Björk, Radiohead) + Adele, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, The Killers, and also RiRi, Beyoncé and many other lesser/shitty but popular 08-?? artists...

No, because the acts today are not popular enough.

shorttrini said:

I will answer that by saying this. You saw what happened when they tried to remake, "We Are The World", right? So, I would have to say, no.

JoeTyler said:

OF COURSE

Live 8 was made in the 00's after all...

and the original Live Aid had its GENEROUS share of SHITTY artists

I can imagine Live Aid 3 in 2014 with GaGa as the star, some veteran artists ( The Boss, Madonna, Sade, Bon Jovi, The Stones?, Beck, Björk, Radiohead) + Adele, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, The Killers, and also RiRi, Beyoncé and many other lesser/shitty but popular 08-?? artists...

I forgot about that lol

I think they still do Farm Aid. It just doesn't get much publicity.

JoeTyler said:

OF COURSE

Live 8 was made in the 00's after all...

and the original Live Aid had its GENEROUS share of SHITTY artists

I can imagine Live Aid 3 in 2014 with GaGa as the star, some veteran artists ( The Boss, Madonna, Sade, Bon Jovi, The Stones?, Beck, Björk, Radiohead) + Adele, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, The Killers, and also RiRi, Beyoncé and many other lesser/shitty but popular 08-?? artists...

exactly!

I wish they'd bring back the american version of Comic Relief.

lastdecember said:

shorttrini said:

I will answer that by saying this. You saw what happened when they tried to remake, "We Are The World", right? So, I would have to say, no.

Well to be honest....We are the World, had nothing to really do with LIVE AID, Bob Geldof had this plan long before We are the World was an idea. USA for Africa was just the american aid version, but LIVE AID was going to happen with or without it.

That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is, they recently remade the song, with today's artist for the victims of the Haiti earthquake and it terrible. So, you can imagine if they decided to redo Live Aid, with today's artists, it would be a disaster....

We should not rely on the music industry to do the government's job/

shorttrini said:

lastdecember said:

Well to be honest....We are the World, had nothing to really do with LIVE AID, Bob Geldof had this plan long before We are the World was an idea. USA for Africa was just the american aid version, but LIVE AID was going to happen with or without it.

That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is, they recently remade the song, with today's artist for the victims of the Haiti earthquake and it terrible. So, you can imagine if they decided to redo Live Aid, with today's artists, it would be a disaster....

The new We are the world was definitely worse than world hunger itself.

But I think a Live Aid could be pulled off. Of course it would require that it be trendy, as it was in the 80's. We were all about feeding Africa for about 10 minutes.

But someone gave a possible lineup that included current and older artists, just as Live Aid had older artists like The Who and McCartney and Bowie

Gaga

Madonna

U2

Radiohead

Jay Z

Metallica

Green Day

Bjork

Prince (if only)

The Rolling Stones

Rhianna

Beck

Beyonce

Cold Play

Justin Timberlake

etc...

I wouldn't be excited to see them all, but it could be as good as Phil Collins and Adam Ant!

[Edited 7/11/11 19:53pm]

NDRU said:

shorttrini said:

That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is, they recently remade the song, with today's artist for the victims of the Haiti earthquake and it terrible. So, you can imagine if they decided to redo Live Aid, with today's artists, it would be a disaster....

The new We are the world was definitely worse than world hunger itself.

But I think a Live Aid could be pulled off. Of course it would require that it be trendy, as it was in the 80's. We were all about feeding Africa for about 10 minutes.

But someone gave a possible lineup that included current and older artists, just as Live Aid had older artists like The Who and McCartney and Bowie

Gaga

Madonna

U2

Radiohead

Jay Z

Metallica

Green Day

Bjork

Prince (if only)

The Rolling Stones

Rhianna

Beck

Beyonce

Cold Play

Justin Timberlake

etc...

I wouldn't be excited to see them all, but it could be as good as Phil Collins and Adam Ant!

[Edited 7/11/11 19:53pm]

its not really the artist comparison i more talking about the way it would go, the relevance of it, lets face it, the HYPE would start a year ahead and their would be tweets from artists about what they would be wearing and playing and shit like that. LIVE AID was about making shit happen, like i was saying no one knew what QUEEN would do, they stole the show, and then the whole Phil Collins thing, the trade off singing with him and sting was a last minute thought prior to going on that day. Last minute things like a disagreement between Tears For Fears and Bob Geldof and them pulling out despite still being on the bill and setlists, so many things just happend.

As for LIVE 8 that someone mentioned, LIVE 8 was a major tragedy, besides the fact that there was no real interest in what they were playing for, no one knew, but the coverage was awful, MTV had people like SWAY and Jon Norris talking over the performances, and also MTV was running spots for wack ass shows on the bottom of the screen, it got bombarded with letters and then a few weeks later when NO ONE cared anymore, they ran a highlights show, they screwed that up though VH1 did a 4 hour non commercial show, but it was still a joke. Not just that, LIVE AID being in 1985 was in the early stages of "feeds" and "hook ups" and they pulled it off, LIVE 8 had issues in every country that had shows, they couldnt synch up shit, bands in some arenas couldnt even hear themselves because of improper feeds being done. SO Live 8 was good only one way, on DVD, as an event it sucked ass.

And like i said it would have nothing to do today with artists, i mean i watched artists that day i could have cared less about like Ultravox and Status Quo i mean i never cared about them, even the BoomTown Rats which geldof fronted, who cared, BUT the difference was the EVENT was bigger than artists thought they were, and music kinda mattered then, now if you threw gaga and rhianna up there you would have their hype overshadow what u were there for

lastdecember said:

NDRU said:

The new We are the world was definitely worse than world hunger itself.

But I think a Live Aid could be pulled off. Of course it would require that it be trendy, as it was in the 80's. We were all about feeding Africa for about 10 minutes.

But someone gave a possible lineup that included current and older artists, just as Live Aid had older artists like The Who and McCartney and Bowie

Gaga

Madonna

U2

Radiohead

Jay Z

Metallica

Green Day

Bjork

Prince (if only)

The Rolling Stones

Rhianna

Beck

Beyonce

Cold Play

Justin Timberlake

etc...

I wouldn't be excited to see them all, but it could be as good as Phil Collins and Adam Ant!

[Edited 7/11/11 19:53pm]

its not really the artist comparison i more talking about the way it would go, the relevance of it, lets face it, the HYPE would start a year ahead and their would be tweets from artists about what they would be wearing and playing and shit like that. LIVE AID was about making shit happen, like i was saying no one knew what QUEEN would do, they stole the show, and then the whole Phil Collins thing, the trade off singing with him and sting was a last minute thought prior to going on that day. Last minute things like a disagreement between Tears For Fears and Bob Geldof and them pulling out despite still being on the bill and setlists, so many things just happend.

As for LIVE 8 that someone mentioned, LIVE 8 was a major tragedy, besides the fact that there was no real interest in what they were playing for, no one knew, but the coverage was awful, MTV had people like SWAY and Jon Norris talking over the performances, and also MTV was running spots for wack ass shows on the bottom of the screen, it got bombarded with letters and then a few weeks later when NO ONE cared anymore, they ran a highlights show, they screwed that up though VH1 did a 4 hour non commercial show, but it was still a joke. Not just that, LIVE AID being in 1985 was in the early stages of "feeds" and "hook ups" and they pulled it off, LIVE 8 had issues in every country that had shows, they couldnt synch up shit, bands in some arenas couldnt even hear themselves because of improper feeds being done. SO Live 8 was good only one way, on DVD, as an event it sucked ass.

And like i said it would have nothing to do today with artists, i mean i watched artists that day i could have cared less about like Ultravox and Status Quo i mean i never cared about them, even the BoomTown Rats which geldof fronted, who cared, BUT the difference was the EVENT was bigger than artists thought they were, and music kinda mattered then, now if you threw gaga and rhianna up there you would have their hype overshadow what u were there for

Yeah actually I would agree that the likelihood of a successful one on the scale of the first one is pretty low.

Charity/fund-raising festivals are very common in Australia. Festivals include Wave Aid (Sydney January 2005 - for the vicitims of the Boxing Day Tsunami) and Sound Relief (Sydney and Melbourne simultaneously March 2009 - for the victims of the Victorian bushfires)

lastdecember said:

NDRU said:

The new We are the world was definitely worse than world hunger itself.

But I think a Live Aid could be pulled off. Of course it would require that it be trendy, as it was in the 80's. We were all about feeding Africa for about 10 minutes.

But someone gave a possible lineup that included current and older artists, just as Live Aid had older artists like The Who and McCartney and Bowie

Gaga

Madonna

U2

Radiohead

Jay Z

Metallica

Green Day

Bjork

Prince (if only)

The Rolling Stones

Rhianna

Beck

Beyonce

Cold Play

Justin Timberlake

etc...

I wouldn't be excited to see them all, but it could be as good as Phil Collins and Adam Ant!

[Edited 7/11/11 19:53pm]

its not really the artist comparison i more talking about the way it would go, the relevance of it, lets face it, the HYPE would start a year ahead and their would be tweets from artists about what they would be wearing and playing and shit like that. LIVE AID was about making shit happen, like i was saying no one knew what QUEEN would do, they stole the show, and then the whole Phil Collins thing, the trade off singing with him and sting was a last minute thought prior to going on that day. Last minute things like a disagreement between Tears For Fears and Bob Geldof and them pulling out despite still being on the bill and setlists, so many things just happend.

As for LIVE 8 that someone mentioned, LIVE 8 was a major tragedy, besides the fact that there was no real interest in what they were playing for, no one knew, but the coverage was awful, MTV had people like SWAY and Jon Norris talking over the performances, and also MTV was running spots for wack ass shows on the bottom of the screen, it got bombarded with letters and then a few weeks later when NO ONE cared anymore, they ran a highlights show, they screwed that up though VH1 did a 4 hour non commercial show, but it was still a joke. Not just that, LIVE AID being in 1985 was in the early stages of "feeds" and "hook ups" and they pulled it off, LIVE 8 had issues in every country that had shows, they couldnt synch up shit, bands in some arenas couldnt even hear themselves because of improper feeds being done. SO Live 8 was good only one way, on DVD, as an event it sucked ass.

And like i said it would have nothing to do today with artists, i mean i watched artists that day i could have cared less about like Ultravox and Status Quo i mean i never cared about them, even the BoomTown Rats which geldof fronted, who cared, BUT the difference was the EVENT was bigger than artists thought they were, and music kinda mattered then, now if you threw gaga and rhianna up there you would have their hype overshadow what u were there for

I think it would be HUGE. This is a connected world (mobile phones, facebook) etc. and there are a lot of kids who are massive fans of 08-?? artists. It would be fun to hear just a couple of Timberlake songs (Bye Bye Bye and Sexyback, f.e.) and then 7-8 songs of Metallica...

It would be a global success, no doubt...add some south-american / european / japanese acts (Shakira, Daft Punk, etc.) and there you have it...

JoeTyler said:

OF COURSE

Live 8 was made in the 00's after all...

and the original Live Aid had its GENEROUS share of SHITTY artists

I can imagine Live Aid 3 in 2014 with GaGa as the star, some veteran artists ( The Boss, Madonna, Sade, Bon Jovi, The Stones?, Beck, Björk, Radiohead) + Adele, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, The Killers, and also RiRi, Beyoncé and many other lesser/shitty but popular 08-?? artists...

Yup and Live Earth was a similarly large scale event back in 2007. Not only could something like Live Aid happen in today's music world it has happened twice in the last six years. I guess some people have very short memories.

It seems that some folks are under the thrall of nostalgia and the belief that things were so much better when they were younger. I think this quote by Frank Zappa applies to this thread:

rialb said:

JoeTyler said:

OF COURSE

Live 8 was made in the 00's after all...

and the original Live Aid had its GENEROUS share of SHITTY artists

I can imagine Live Aid 3 in 2014 with GaGa as the star, some veteran artists ( The Boss, Madonna, Sade, Bon Jovi, The Stones?, Beck, Björk, Radiohead) + Adele, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, The Killers, and also RiRi, Beyoncé and many other lesser/shitty but popular 08-?? artists...

Yup and Live Earth was a similarly large scale event back in 2007. Not only could something like Live Aid happen in today's music world it has happened twice in the last six years. I guess some people have very short memories.

It seems that some folks are under the thrall of nostalgia and the belief that things were so much better when they were younger. I think this quote by Frank Zappa applies to this thread:

"It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia. Eventually within the next quarter of a century, the nostalgia cycles will be so close together that people will not be able to take a step without being nostalgic for the one they just took. At that point, everything stops. Death by Nostalgia."

lastdecember said:

rialb said:

Yup and Live Earth was a similarly large scale event back in 2007. Not only could something like Live Aid happen in today's music world it has happened twice in the last six years. I guess some people have very short memories.

It seems that some folks are under the thrall of nostalgia and the belief that things were so much better when they were younger. I think this quote by Frank Zappa applies to this thread:

"It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia. Eventually within the next quarter of a century, the nostalgia cycles will be so close together that people will not be able to take a step without being nostalgic for the one they just took. At that point, everything stops. Death by Nostalgia."

Wrong on so many levels.

First it has nothing to do with Nostalgia, since its not about the acts its about the event. Second you cant have a "short term memory" and be Nostalgic, total contradiction, and also the Zappa quote is another contradiction, because the idea of Quotes is "holding on to something" so all quotes are based in NOSTALGIA as zappa incorrectly put it.

Now to the topic, Live 8 was pointed out and it was a disaster, not for the music, but for the lack of anyone knowing what the event was, the corporate takeover of the event and how commercialized it became in the year leading up to it. Everything about LIVE 8 was done wrong, from the feeds to live coverage of MTV and VH1, and other outlets, no one got it right or even close, not even the live stream was effective. So this isnt about "acts" because if the event becomes about "acts" then you cannot do it. As for nostalgia again, LIVE 8 was 100% about being nostalgic in its setup, from the logo on down. So again nothing to do with who will play but more about how its put together. I mean no one most of what was going to be on LIVE AID anyway, there was very little known building up to it

The title of the thread asked if Live Aid could happen again. We provided two examples of events of similar scale happening in recent years so I think the answer to the question you originally posed is "yes." Who knows, maybe the organisers of Live Aid got very lucky that things went off as smoothly as they did? Just because Live 8 suffered some problems doesn't take away from the fact that it was an event on a huge scale. Maybe if it was attempted again some tweaks could be done to make it better but it seems obvious to me that, yes, something on the scale of Live Aid could happen today.

rialb said

It seems that some folks are under the thrall of nostalgia and the belief that things were so much better when they were younger.

And that's the only reason why this thread exists.