Live Aid (1985) DVDs

I was just watching the dvds of this 1985 megaconcert and maybe it's

UsurperTom...

I taped four videos worth of Live Aid that day and I'm glad to have the
Led Zeppelin reunion captured on tape. They chose to not allow their
segment to be included on the DVD because they weren't pleased with
their performance. Robert Plant's voice was horse and his teenage
daughter even called him from England to say she was disappointed,
while Jimmy Page's guitar was shipped to him out of tune.

UsurperTom...

I have four videos worth of Live Aid taped that day and I'm glad that I
got the Led Zeppelin reunion captured. They chose to not allow their
segment to be included on the DVD because they weren't pleased with
their performance. Robert Plant's voice was horse and his teenage
daughter even called him from England to say she was disappointed,
while Jimmy Page's guitar was shipped to him out of tune.

donz5...

Not yet having seen the DVD set, I have a couple questions:

(1) Is the footage on the DVD identical to the MTV broadcast? I

UsurperTom...

There was no DVD footage because the surviving members of Zeppelin
wanted no part of the DVD. The camera did focus on Zeppelin as they
performed "Rock 'N' Roll," "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway to Heaven."
Phil Collins (who introduced Zeppelin right after his solo set) and
Tony Thompson of Chic played the drums and when John Paul Jones moved
from bass to keyboard during "Stairway," Plant's bass player, Paul
Martinez took over the bass.

Some Other Guy...

I was there and I distinctly remember Phil Collins playing drums for Zeppelin, at least on Stairway

UsurperTom...

to Heaven.

Yes, Collins and Thompson (they used two drummers) played drums
throughout the whole set.

to Heaven.

donz5...

I wasn't clear about this -- I meant the footage of the other acts that
_do_ appear on the DVD collection. Is it the same as what was broadcast
on the MTV, to your knowledge?

UsurperTom...

I don't know because I never saw the DVD.

UsurperTom...

That's a good question...Maybe he didn't have time to check. I know
that Plant had to study the lyrics to "Stairway to Heaven" backstage
because he didn't sing it in years, so it looks like there wasn't a lot
of preparation.

remember the MTV director choosing to focus on the MTV veejays
"grooving to the beat" of Led Zeppelin. That in itself would render any
Zeppelin footage unusable (if there was no other besides the broadcast
version).

(2) Was Page incapable of tuning his own guitar before he appeared on
stage?

just me but I don't like the way it was filmed. It just looks weak and
a lot of the songs don't come across very well. For example, I like

Mark Percival...

I agree that the quality of the video isn't ideal but from what I
understand, we're lucky to have it at all. The concerts were supose to
be a one time event only. Bob Geldof requested that the BBC, MTV and
ABC destroy their tapes of the event. Fortunately of those three, only
ABC complied. The DVD set was put together from the BBC coverage with
some if the pieces they missed provided by MTV. As you can see, the
coverage of a concert event of this size really pushed the limits of
1985's technology with numerous problems, particulary in the later
coverage, cropping up. For me I think it is an amazing set that really
captures the day. I love it.

the Boomtown Rats a lot but their segment didn't look or sound very
good. I say the same about Spandau Ballet or even the Beach Boys.
There is even some video interference.

Elvis Costello came out and sang All You Need Is Love but where was his
band? It sounded a bit gross without his band. A lot of the acts
seemed like they were too small for the huge stage.

really real...

I thought Elvis Costello was astoundingly good in Live Aid. His folkpunk
rendition of All You Need is Love worked perfectly for me as a solo
guitar piece. I think this is the highlight of the whole DVD set.

I'm off to see him perform tonight with Alan Toussaint.

Bryan Ferry doing Jealous Guy (written by John Lennon) was pretty good.

I admit the mid80s were a silly time for music in general - consider "A
Ha." But I liked a lot of the songs though they sounded thin or
processed.