Live Aid finally gets DVD release [posted 3/8/2004] (1 Viewer)

[CraigL]

The only thing that will work in it's favor would be the sound mix which I assume would be the original 2.0 mix. If they dropped any other sound mix, then that would afford some more space on the discs. But otherwise, some things are bound to be dropped. :frowning:

 

[Johnny G]

Warner Strategic Marketing Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the 1985 Concert That Changed the World:

LIVE AID

Coming to DVD This Fall






Burbank, CA (July 16, 2004) -- Warner Strategic Marketing is pleased to announce that the biggest concert in Rock n' Roll history, Live Aid, will be released on DVD worldwide on November 1st, 2004. The unforgettable global event, staged in London and Philadelphia on Saturday, 13 July 1985, was watched on television by over 1.5 billion people around the world. These concerts led to pledged donations and royalties of over $140 million towards the devastating famine in Africa.
Billed as The Greatest Show on Earth, Live Aid was described by the world's media as "The Global Jukebox," "The Day Rock and Roll Changed the World" and "The greatest live show ever."

Live Aid was cited as the second most memorable event in two generations and only two weeks ago was defined, in a consumer poll, as the single greatest moment in the 50-year history of rock 'n' roll, beating not only the launch of MTV and Elvis' first record but also topping the poll ahead of the seminal festival of the '60s, Woodstock.

Live Aid, the greatest artists playing the greatest music for the world's poorest people and changing the global political agenda forever.

Live Aid was uniquely staged simultaneously on two continents and features an unbelievable line up of major Rock & Pop acts that took to the stage in July 1985 at London's Wembley and Philadelphia's JFK Stadiums.

Even today, after almost 20 years, the line up of stars put together by Bob Geldof in a matter of months remains both remarkable and unsurpassed. It is a who's who of contemporary music; united in their unequivocal support for Live Aid to prevent mass death for starving people.

The extraordinary line-up includes: U2, Sting, David Bowie, Elton John, George Michael, The Who, Madonna, Queen, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Duran Duran, Neil Young, Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath, Spandau Ballet, Dire Straits, Paul Weller, Sade, Paul Young, Adam Ant, The Boomtown Rats, The Cars, Bryan Ferry, Bryan Adams, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Crosby Stills & Nash, The Beach Boys, Judas Priest, The Style Council, Simple Minds, Thompson Twins, Nile Rodgers, Hall & Oates, Status Quo, The Pretenders, Elvis Costello, Howard Jones, Teddy Pendergrass, Alison Moyet, and Kenny Logins.

Since that great day this historic concert footage has remained locked away and the announcement of its imminent DVD release is therefore indeed momentous. Unscrupulous bootleggers have tried to sell the concert on the black market but have been shut down and prosecuted on a number of occasions.

This has forced the Band Aid Trust to seek permission from all the artists to be included in the four-disc Live Aid set, an eventuality that was never anticipated at the time of Live Aid.

Now in time for the 20th anniversary of Live Aid and after 19 years in the vaults, Warner Strategic Marketing will release those unforgettable performances on a Live Aid, 4 DVD package out on November 2, 2004.

Currently in production with the master videotapes and over 10 hours of performances the DVD will be superbly presented and re-mastered in multi-channel surround sound and stereo audio options. Within the set additional gems include the "Food, Trucks & Rock 'n' Roll" documentary (sub-titled in 8 languages) and inspirational Live Aid performances from other parts of the globe.

Live Aid on DVD is the most eagerly anticipated music DVD of the decade.

The Band Aid Trust is obliged to maximize its assets and in a hotly-contested open bidding invitation London-based Warner Vision International secured a licence to represent and distribute, worldwide, the Live Aid 4-disc set. Live Aid remains the asset of the Band Aid Trust.

Warner Vision International's Ray Still commented. "There is only one music event that begs the question 'Where were you on that day?' and that is Live Aid. Over 1.5 billion TV viewers tuned in, on July 13, 1985, to the extraordinary event that was Live Aid.

"It's an understatement to say that it's a great pleasure and an honour for Warner Vision to be involved in bringing all the extraordinary moments and performances that encapsulated Live Aid to DVD for the first time."

Bob Geldof added: "Twenty years ago they not only played 'real good for free,' they took an issue that was nowhere on the agenda of the political world and placed it at the very top.

"They also kept, directly or indirectly, millions of people alive and in so doing they reminded 1.5 billion people that individuals are not powerless in the face of monstrous human tragedy.

"By buying the Live Aid DVD, that day continues far off into some distant but hopefully better future for all those people in whose name those great artists played."

Since the concert the Band Aid Trust in the UK alone has raised over $50 million and continues to operate in famine affected countries in Africa.






End Of Release

 

[andrew markworthy]

I think it's worth noting that although Live Aid was on air for 10 hours or so, there were some gaps between acts, so if you cut those out, the total *music* that has to be fitted on is considerably less. There are (I think) 43 acts listed. Given that only the bigger acts got 20 minutes, and the rest considerably less (Elvis Costello got one song, for goodness sake), you could easily fit the whole lot onto 4 discs.

 

[CraigL]

Is there an echo in here? lol

See above. We've already discussed this issue.

 

[Craig S]

Well, that press release clears things up a bit. Yesterday, I put all the timings from the site I linked to into a spreadsheet. Now, if you take just the artists listed in the press release and add up the times (including the big finales at both venues), you get:

10 hours and 3 minutes!!!

So it looks like we're going to get just over 2/3rds of the show on DVD.

The most significant missing piece: Led Zeppelin. I can only assume Plant & Page have not given the producers the rights to use this performance.

It also looks like the Bob Dylan segment will be missing. Again, given the poor quality of that set it's a good guess the artist did not want it seen.

The Santana set looks like it will be missing as well - a big disappointment for me, as I'm a big fan. I also really wanted the duet with Pat Metheny. :frowning:

Other sets that it appears will not make the cut:

Ultravox
Bernard Watson
Joan Baez (odd omission)
The Hooters
Nik Kershaw
The Four Tops
Billy Ocean
Run D.M.C.
Rick Springfield
R.E.O Speedwagon
Bryan Adams
George Thorogood & The Destroyers
Kool & The Gang
Power Station
Patti LaBelle

 

[CraigL]

As long as the full Madonna set is on there, I'll probably be buying

 

[Brian L]

If you saw or heard the performance, you would know why they would do such a thing, if that is the reason Zep is excluded. It was horrible. I had read that Page was simply handed a guitar straight from the case, and it was not even in tune. That sounds about right to me!

I am as a big a Zep fan as there is, and IIRC, Live Aid was the first time they had gotten together in a while; maybe since Bonzo's death. So, it does have historical significance, but trust me, the performance sucked.

Having said all that, I had to work the morning the concert began, and by the time I got home, I had missed the one band I wanted to see the most; Sabbath. Watched the rest of it in its entirety, but to this day I have not seen or heard Sabbath's set.

And while my memory of this may not be up to par, IIRC Queen kicked ass. When they wanted to rock (forget about stuff like Radio Gaga...I mean ROCK) they were an awesome band.

BGL

 

[Scooter]

I actually have the sat feed for that day...curiously enough it's DBX encoded and I have a DBX outboard decoder.

What I want is the WHOLE The Who set! Bill Graham, to keep Philly moving along claimed that there was a loss of feed and went to Teddy Pendergrass.

I have SOOO many hours of those 80's feel good, damn!!!!

 

[Marvin]

I guess David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks didn't make the cut either. Too bad....

 

[Mike McNeff]

It's too bad George Thorogood is being left off. He did a killer set with Albert Collins, IIRC.

I wish the Zeppelin stuff would be on there too. It was a pretty bad performance, particularly by Page, but also by Plant (couldn't quite make the high notes) and Phil Collins (drumming way too fast). Still, this was the first time Page, Plant and Jones had played together since Bonham died and MTV had teased the hell out of it all day long. It really should be included.

 

[Ruz-El]

It's my understanding that the feed really was lost on The Who, and I don't think that material exists. I remember seeing a 10 year anniversary look back on the event, and one of the producers talked abuot how tragic is was to have lost the Who feed when it was their first reunion after they split up. And if I recall, they totally rocked! I thinki they were into "Wont get fooled again" when the feed dropped, my dad almost drop kicked the TV! I haven't seen it since, so e it is included!

All the acts should be on there, even the ones that sucked, that's what made the day so special, one off reunions that were noewhere near the hype. Maybe it will be 4 flippers, and full concerts. They could edit it so you could watch the whole philly or whole london show.

 

[Craig S]

Ruffin & Kendricks performed with Hall & Oates, who are listed, so if they include the entire H&O set they should be in.

 

[Craig S]

Queen did indeed kick ass. I would buy this set just to have the Queen & U2 performances.

 

[EricSchulz]

It's pretty much agreed upon by Queen fans that this was the best performance in their career. I hope the quality is better than the stuff used in the Magic Years doc I have. Even Bob Geldolf said they stole the show (sorry, Who fans!)

 

[TerryW]

I'm not sure why everyone is reading this paragraph from the press release as a complete list of artists. It says 'includes.' That to me doesn't mean necessarily everyone is listed. I'm looking at the glass as half full. Although, not seeing Zeppelin on there makes me suspicious because Plant took his performance off of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert from 1992 when he sang Innuendo which, musically, was one of the highlights of the show.

 

[jeff peterson]

From an earlier post on this thread, we read that the set was being edited from 10 hours of music. A later post said:


That's why.

 

[Sam Favate]

Too bad about Zep and Dylan being left off. Despite the differences in opinion about the quality of their sets, those were both big parts of the show.

 

[Craig S]

True, but when big names like Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, and Santana aren't mentioned, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion their performances aren't included.

 

[TerryW]

It's all speculation at this point. All I know is from the the various news reports I've seen. Some have stated the complete concert is being preserved. Some actually mention Zeppelin and Bob Dylan. It's way too soon too assume anything. They do say for sure that there is over ten hours of programming over four discs and that there will be both surround sound and stereo tracks. So, however that can fit comfortably onto four discs without artifacting is fine by me.

 

[Jeffrey]

I agree that it's much too soon to speculate on if Zep and Dylan's set will make the cut. While I agree Led wasn't at their best, I don't think it was that bad...and one of the most exciting parts of the event as a whole was Phil Collins doing a solo set across the pond and then taking the Concorde to play in Philly with them, so it would be a shame if that were omitted.

As for Dylan, I think his set should be included if only for that bit where he mentioned giving some of the proceeds to farmers which helped instigate another great charity event (Farm Aid).

If they're going to put CSN on there with Crosby's guitar so badly out of tune one of their roadies had to take it away from him, then at least the best of the Zep songs should be included (and let's not forget when Paul McCartney's mike wasn't on for the first half of Let It Be).

Jeff