Live Aid concert to be turned into stage musical
- Published
Geldof on Live Aid musical: 'Stage Bob' sings better than me
Live Aid, one of the most famous concerts of all time, is to become a stage musical in London next year.
The original event, at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1985, was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
The musical, called Just For One Day, will feature songs played that day by acts including Queen, U2, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Sting.
It will be on at London's Old Vic Theatre from 26 January to 30 March.
Sitting on the stage at the Old Vic, one thing that Geldof wants to make very clear is that there will not be anyone pretending to be the singers.
"This isn't a tribute thing. I wouldn't have anything to do with that. So, there isn't a person dressed up as Freddie wearing a crap moustache. The songs drive the drama along," he says.
The plot of Just For One Day, named after a line in David Bowie's Heroes, will balance a behind-the-scenes look at how Band Aid and Live Aid came together, with a love story inspired by real events.
"The story is based on actual testimony from the day," explains Geldof. "It's real people telling their story throughout this. So it's complex theatre."
The musical is being made with the full permission of the Band Aid Charitable Trust, which will receive 10% of every ticket sale.
The show was originally conceived by John O'Farrell, who wrote the Mrs Doubtfire musical, and Luke Sheppard - who directed the musical & Juliet which features the songs of Swedish pop songwriter Max Martin.
Geldof says the duo were not overly confident when they approached him with the idea for the show.
"They came and said, 'we know you are going to say no, but we want to do it because our dads have never stopped talking about this day. And we think it's theatre'."
Geldof attended workshops for the musical with the other Band Aid Trustees, including Live Aid's promoter Harvey Goldsmith and Lord Grade - the man who agreed to the BBC broadcasting the original concert.
They wanted to make sure that they liked what they saw, before deciding to endorse the production.
"We were blown away. I have to say there was not a dry eye in the house," confirms Geldof.
He will be played by the English actor Craige Els, who has previously appeared on TV in Ripper Street and Dr Who. Watching someone portray him is something Geldof does not enjoy.
"Let me be completely blunt. It's bad enough being Bob Geldof. It's slightly worse seeing someone else pretending to be you. The one upside for me is that he's got an amazing voice, stage Bob, so that people will think I actually sing as good as that.
"And he got the language right," he laughs, acknowledging the swearing he became famous for during the Live Aid broadcast, when he forcefully asked the presenter David Hepworth to read out the phone numbers to push instant donations.
Live Aid on screen
The original Live Aid, which was held in Philadelphia as well as at Wembley, had a line-up including many all-time greats such as Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and The Who.
The estimated TV audience was 1.5 billion and the concert raised millions for famine relief. It also provided a blueprint for numerous other all-star charity concerts, as well as helping to promote the discussion of humanitarian relief, which subsequently became a major talking point for Western governments.
Queen's Live Aid set regularly tops polls about the greatest concert performance
Live Aid has already had the dramatic treatment several times, with Queen's triumphant set recreated in startling detail to provide the climax to the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody which won Rami Malek an Oscar.
There was also the 2010 BBC Four film When Harvey Met Bob with a pre-Star Wars Domhnall Gleeson playing Geldof, while the Sky Arts comedy Urban Myths: Backstage at Live Aid explored what might have happened that day, with Line of Duty's Martin Compston as an infuriated Midge Ure.
Geldof hopes that the new musical will help Live Aid's legacy live on in a number of ways.
"The money for Band Aid is good, but that's not the point. Will there be a kid who comes to this and leaves saying, 'I can do something like this using digital devices, which will have the same impact'?
"If the individual understands that the answer is not blowing in the wind, that the answer is get up off your arse, then honestly, for Bob, that's where it's at personally for me."