How would Live Aid happen now?

Live Aid holds the record for the most watched television special in history. This would make it hard to recreate in the future as it would mean there is a lot to live up to in trying to make it watchable. There were many things that went both right and wrong when it came to creating/broadcasting Live Aid in 1985. These are all factors that would make Live Aid not achievable to recreate as things would either not be able to happen again or things would simply be improved, taking away the one time memorable feel to the widespread charity event. Examples of factors which would simply be improved due to better technology includes the fact that a generator exploded during The Who number, causing the satellite link to be lost. It is unlikely that this would happen now because of modern technology and the fact that Wembley now employs major electricity and lighting companies to help broadcast and power the concerts. This takes away the nostalgic feeling that Live Aid holds because a new modern concert that goes completely right is just like many others. Another major part of Live Aid's history was the fact that Phil Collins made an appearance at both Stadiums England and America. After performing at Wembley Stadium in England, Phil Collins had only a few hours to make another appearance in Philadelphia. He crossed the Atlantic on a Concorde. Even though Collins admitted in later interviews that some people perceived him negatively as "showing off" by playing both venues in one day. However, this was a major thing at the time and he was the only participating Live Aid performer to accomplish this. This was a memorable achievement when it came to Live Aid's success as it was something new that people hadn't seen before but it wouldn't be able to happen again if there was to be another major scale event. This is because the Concorde retired on the 24 October 2003. Therefore, an artist would not be able to go to different stadiums outside of the UK like Live Aid managed to pull off, plus the magic that those people felt the first time around seeing this happen would be gone as they have already witnessed it, it is nothing new now. Another thing that would have been different is the fact that Mick Jagger and David Bowie's "Dancing in the Street." The plan was they were supposed to perform the song together at the actual event while Jagger was in Philadelphia and Bowie in London. This was not achievable in the end when they realised that the satellite technology that was going to be used was too limited due to the less modern technology of 1985. Instead, the duo decided to meet and record the song/music video in June 1985 before Live Aid happened in July. The song reached number 7 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with all the profits from the song going to charity. Today, they would have simply performed the song side side by side live at the event using modern technology, with Bowie in London and Jagger in Philadelphia. This would have been a great addition to to the charity event as a whole, however, it would not live up to the legacy of the song that was made as a response to the original 1985 charity event.    

I used this website for the facts about the 1985 Live Aid concert so that I could compare it to what would happen if it happened today. 

m.imdb.com. (n.d.). Live Aid (1985) - IMDb. [online]

Available at: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0261024/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv

[Accessed 14 Oct. 2021].

This source was reliable as it was not opinionated and only held facts. 

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