Live Aid looks tipped for a comeback amid corona battle

Sir Bob Geldof’s concert Live Aid could make a comeback in the coronavirus fight, 37 years after the first gig’s fundraising efforts for Ethiopian famine relief. 

The gov.uk website shows that the rocker’s charity the Band Aid Charitable Trust, set up by the star prior to the original concert on 13 July 1985, applied to have the name protected back in November before the request was approved last month. 

Under the ‘Classes and Terms’ of the trademark request, the government website shows charity bosses are aiming to protect streaming rights of a possible concert as well as merchandise and monetary services.  

All-star: Sir Bob Geldof’s concert Live Aid could make a comeback in the coronavirus fight, 37 years after the first gig’s fundraising efforts for Ethiopian famine relief (L-R: George Michael, promoter Harvey Goldsmith, U2 lead singer Bono, Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury)

The approved trademark had 11 sub-sections in its application, including what appears to be nods to the prospective of live streaming of an event. 

A host of other items also fell under, including: ‘Badges for wear, not of precious metal; accessories for apparel; decorative textile articles…

‘Brooches for clothing; hair ornaments, hair rollers, hair fastening articles; hair decorations; charms, other than for jewellery, keyrings or keychains; decorative charms for cellular phones’, in a nod to merchandise.  

Bob joined Midge Ure in setting up the concert, which saw performances from mega stars including Madonna and Queen and an audience including Princess Diana.

Approach: The gov.uk website shows that the rocker's charity the Band Aid Charitable Trust, set up by the star prior to the original concert on 13 July 1985, applied to have the name protected back in November before the request was approved last month

Approach: The gov.uk website shows that the rocker’s charity the Band Aid Charitable Trust, set up by the star prior to the original concert on 13 July 1985, applied to have the name protected back in November before the request was approved last month

During the show, nearly two billion people – a third of humanity – tuned in to Live Aid, the global jukebox that raised millions for the starving of Africa, with 72,000 lucky enough to be at Wembley to see history in the making. 

The concert saw 90,000 watching on a big screen in Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium, and the event was beamed live to 150 countries.

In just the UK on the day, £11m was raised in the UK that day, with another £36m in the States. There were pledges totalling £50 million. 50,000 £5 programmes and 10,000 £2.50 posters had sold out before Status Quo reached the stage.

The November application will no doubt be a shock for fans after Sir Bob spoke in March of his belief that Live Aid couldn’t happen nowadays because the internet ‘has broken down the world into individualism.’

Nope! The November application will no doubt be a shock for fans after Sir Bob spoke in March of his belief that Live Aid couldn't happen nowadays because the internet 'has broken down the world into individualism'

Nope! The November application will no doubt be a shock for fans after Sir Bob spoke in March of his belief that Live Aid couldn’t happen nowadays because the internet ‘has broken down the world into individualism’

The lead singer of The Boomtown Rats, made the comments about the impact the internet has had on what people consume and like, while speaking to CBC during an interview to talk about the release of the band’s first new album release in 36 years.

Geldof, now 69, was one of the organizers of the huge 1985 benefit concert to raise funds for Ethiopia famine relief.

He said: ‘We had a huge lobby: 1.2 billion people, 95 per cent of the television sets on Earth watched that concert,’ reflecting on the success of Live Aid.

He went on: ‘So things do change, but that instrument of change is no longer plausible. Rock and roll was the central spine of our culture for 50 years…

Epic: Geldof, now 69, was one of the organizers of the huge 1985 benefit concert to raise funds for Ethiopia famine relief

Epic: Geldof, now 69, was one of the organizers of the huge 1985 benefit concert to raise funds for Ethiopia famine relief

‘The web has broken down the world into individualism and that’s easy for authoritarians to use. A machine says if you like this, you like that, so you never move outside the ghetto of the self, the preference of your own…

‘You never find a contrary opinion or something weird musically that you suddenly hear that you never knew expanded your brain and takes you off in whole direction…

‘It’s the bookshop it’s the record shop you go in to buy x and suddenly you see … and you get it… that doesn’t happen if you like this and you like that’.   

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Bob and Band Aid Charitable Trust for comment. 

A kind of magic: Freddie Mercury at the Live Aid concert at Wembley

A kind of magic: Freddie Mercury at the Live Aid concert at Wembley

Source link