Live Aid (4 Disc Set)
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Movie Reviews of Live Aid (4 Disc Set)
Movie Review: As good as it will probably get
Summary: 5 Stars
I snapped up this item as soon as I saw it on sale! This was, and is, the concert event of a lifetime. There have been a few attempts to do something similar to this over the years, but none have reached the scale or success as Live Aid.
When I observed that the length was 10 hours, I knew that some compromises had to be made as to who to include, and who to ignore. I had just graduated from high school in 1985 and remember running VHS tapes from 6 in the morning (to catch the Australia footage) to well past 10 that night...almost 17 hours' worth of footage. I still have those tapes and can shed some light on the Zep story.
True that the Zep set is missing; true that Plant and Page refused to let it be included; also true is that it was not a quality performance by any objective measure. Jimmy Page was obviously well-stoned by the time he got out there, and the interaction between Phil Collins and ex-Chic drummer Tony Thompson (NOT Jason Bohnam as an earlier viewer implied) was sporadic at best.
Others key moments were left out as well. The Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now" and "Doctor Doctor" was left off, as was Duran Duran's "View To a Kill. However, it would have required another 2 discs to do the whole program, and the sheer amout of stuff that is there is more than worth the price of the package!
As to why it took this long to get this in some format or another, Bob Geldof opposed releasing it until now saying that the show was best left in people's memory. I vehemently disagree! This was well overdue, and hopefully the $ raised will be put to good use.
Unfortunately, much of the original funds from the concerts bought aid that ended up being diverted by corrupt African regimes to their own pockets. We can only hope that won't happen this time around
Movie Review: The music! The majesty! The mullets!
Summary: 5 Stars
It was a long wait, but now we can finally retire our tattered off-air videotapes and relive the legendary Live Aid Concert in (almost) all its glory! This was the event that was never 'supposed' to be officially archived (an inexplicable request from organizer Bob Geldof, which I can only attribute to an arbitrary fit of meglomanical pique on Sir Bob's part). Thank God some engineers at the BBC and MTV chose (wisely) to ignore this ridiculous demand. Picture and sound on this 4-DVD set are outstanding, considering circumstances (technical/TV satellite snafus and a limited amount of archival masters to cull from). It depends on who you talk to as to what the highlights of the day were, but there is something for everybody on this collection. From metal, blues, folk, classic rock, soul, jazz, synth-pop, new wave and beyond, its all here (okay, there wasn't so much in the way of prog, reggae or country, and hip-hop and rap were still a few years away from mass acceptance, but Live Aid still stands as the greatest example of genre-blind musical unity, post-Woodstock.) As for reviewers who are crying about how this is ONLY 10 hours long (!)-if you had bothered to read the accompanying booklet, you would learn that lots of footage was either lost or was not (officially) archived in the first place. Would you prefer that the producers of "Woodstock" had released a 72-hour cut of that event so you could watch all three days in real time? Of course, you are welcome to stick to your pirated VHS version, complete with those annoying MTV VJ's yammering all over song intros (and if you recall in many cases they would cut away from artists in MID PERFORMANCE so you could see how much fun the VJ's were having singing along and mugging for the camera-interrupting an event that was never to be seen again!!) Well worth the investment.Movie Review: Now This Is A Concert
Summary: 5 Stars
Along with Woodstock, the 1985 Live Aid concert was the most important concert in rock and roll history. It was indeed the Woodstock of the 1980s'. 20 years later, Live Aid has finally arrived on dvd. How does it hold up? Read on.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, Live Aid looks and sounds great. The remastering job is superb. It is also remarkably priced. I expected to be about $ 120, but it's about $ 30. I guess Geldof and company knew that by giving it a low price, more people would pay for it and the people in Africa who this concert is benefiting will receive more profits. Good thinking their, Bob.
And the performances themselves? Well, there's no doubt that a lot of the performers (Style Council, Thompson Twins, Status Quo, Thompson Twins, Howard Jones, Paul Young, Simple Minds) are all but forgotten about. But then they're are those performers who to this day own the music world: The Beach Boys, David Bowie, The Who, Elton John, Madonna, U2,- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Black Sabbath, Madonna, Phil Collins, Duran Duran (who would've expected them to survive the 1980s'), Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and of course, Queen. Queen's performance is considered legendary.
The songs "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "We Are The World" may be cheesy now, but thye are still great to me. It's interesting note that a lot of the performers who sang these songs didn't even perform at the shows, but that doesn't matter, since their contributions were appreciated.
As for the deleted performances, most of them could live without, but I'm irked that two of Black Sabbath's songs and all of Led Zeppelin's set are both missing. Other than that, this is an absolute must have for any music fan.
Movie Review: What's not to like?
Summary: 5 Stars
Live Aid has always been a sentimental favorite of mine, in part because I grew up in the Philadelphia area, when concerts at the now-demolished JFK stadium were legend. The spectacle of somewhere around 100,000 people at the stadium for this event is quite awesome. I missed the event when it aired, and aside from a few individual songs I saw on the internet, I never got to experience that day of July 13, 1985. Now with this DVD, I finally got my chance.
If you read the DVD insert (some obviously haven't), it's a wonder it ever made it to release. Much of the footage was damaged or lost. It's remarkable that the DVD is as good as it is, considering the age and other circumstances.
The music at the concert was a real unique snapshot in time - many of those acts are gone, while others are so much older now. Where else could you see newly ascending greats like U2 or Madonna at the same event with with legends like Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Phil Collins, The Who and so many others? Some were there and gone in a flash, such as George Michael and Duran Duran.
As noted by others, the absence of Led Zepellin is conspicuous, but it's their choice. They felt their performance was sub standard - and it was. I've seen it on YouTube. If it were me, I'd a left it in for the sake of history, but I can't say I blame them.
The effort to save lives in Africa from the proceeds was admirable, and save lives they did. But the larger problems of greed, poverity, famine and corruption are still here with us.
Live Aid can stand on its own musically, aside from the cause. It's a great, once in a lifetime, never to be repeated experience.
Movie Review: Music Changing Lives
Summary: 5 Stars
Bob Geldof's Live Aid, an ambitious one-day, two continent concert on July 13th, 1985 for the starving in Ethiopia was a major cultural landmark of the 1980's. Harkening back to the spirit of the sixties, the simultaneous concerts at Wembley stadium in London and at JFK in Philadelphia showed that musical artists could make a difference in people's lives. Some of the performances from the concert were stellar and some fall short, but the fact that all the entertainers gave freely of their time to help a worthy cause should be remembered. Of the two shows, the Wembley show produced the best performances. U2's performance of a blistering "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and a majestic "Bad" helped catapult them into superstars. Queen's performance is lights out and Dire Straits performance with Sting on "Money For Nothing" and alone on "Sultans Of Swing" is often overlooked, but powerful. The JFK performances were not as strong, but good sets by The Pretenders, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Tina Turner joining Mick Jagger. The DVD does not contain the entire concert as some acts have songs cut and other acts do not appear at all (Led Zeppelin refused to allow their performance to be include as they felt it was substandard). While this is, of course, disappointing, the set is still worth buying. The concert and the Band Aid & USA for Africa singles didn't end hunger as it is still a problem almost twenty years later, but it raised the world's consciousness towards it and showed that people still have the power and the will to help those in need, no matter where they live.