Bob Geldof says another Live Aid ‘doesn’t make political sense’

"Logics of Live Aid aren't there," says organiser at Band Aid 30 launch as he rules out another charity concert

Bob Geldof has said that a Live Aid style concert is unlikely to follow the Band Aid 30 single as there is no “political logic” to staging such an event.

As reported, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Foals and Ed Sheeran are among a list of artists who will feature on a new Band Aid 30 charity single, marking the 30th anniversary of the original Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’. The song will be recorded by producer Paul Epworth in London on Saturday (November 15).

Speaking during a launch event in London earlier today (November 10), Geldof was asked if a concert similar to the original Live Aid or 2005’s Live 8 may follow the release of Band Aid 30. He responded by saying that he found the idea unlikely as there situation is different this time around.

Advertisement

“It’s really a different thing,” he said. “This [Band Aid 30] is focused on a small part of Africa that potentially holds a vast danger to the world. To those people there, it’s existential. We want to stop it being existential. I don’t think there’s a political logic to doing a concert. There are thousands of these concerts every year, they’re called rock festivals and there’s nothing that we could put together that could rival someone putting together their own line-up through YouTube. So I’m not sure it would have the romance Live Aid did.

Geldof then added: “People don’t really remember Live 8 and that was far bigger. It went in memory. Band Aid showed what we could achieve together. The logics of Live Aid aren’t there and they would need to be for us to even start thinking about doing it. The logics for Band Aid are clear and present.”

Original Band Aid organisers Midge Ure and Bob Geldof have said all money raised from sales of the single will go towards the fight against Ebola in west Africa. Ure confirmed that the lyrics to the original song will be tweaked ahead of recording to reflect the challenges affecting today’s Africa, with references to hunger taken out.

The track will be available to download for 99p on November 17 with a physical CD arriving three weeks later, priced at £4. Turner Prize-winning artist Tracey Emin will provide the sleeve art.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories