The Summer of ’85 Celebrated Live Aid in the USA & the UK

One of my favorite summers back in the ’80’s was attending the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia.  On July 13, 1985, it was scorching hot and humid at the JFK Stadium with some of the biggest acts to perform: Madonna, Hall & Oates, and Rick Springfield to name a few ..all for a worthy cause.  

Live Aid was held simultaneously in the U.S. and in the U.K. at Wembley Stadium in London, England and was watched by billions of people around the world.  It was a benefit concert to help raise money for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine organized by Bob Geldof.

It was an all-day concert and I remember not wanting to leave my seat so I wouldn’t miss seeing Madonna, Bryan Adams, Billy Ocean, Hall & Oates, Kenny Loggins, and the list goes on and on. The highlight of the show was later that night with Robert Plant & Jimmy Page joining together onstage for a Led Zeppelin reunion with Phil Collins on the drums. Phil, by the way, was the only artist to play in both countries that same day.

During the concert we also got to view what was going on over in the U.K. with live satellite feeds of David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Queen, Sting, Wham, and more!  That day was pretty fascinating for many us and will be remembered forever!

On the down side, the only thing negative about the day was waiting to get into the ladies bathrooms - the lines were terribly long! And, that day was stinkin' hot!  If you were lucky to have seats at the bottom of the stadium or near the ground level, the fire department came in with fire hoses and cooled off everyone they possibly could reach!  But, we weren't so lucky as we were sitting about midway up near the top of the stadium.

This concert was definitely one of my Top 5 BEST shows I have ever attended with so many top-notched artists performing together on one stage in 2 countries!  A portion of our Live Aid concert ticket's was contributed to the Ethiopian famine relief.

Look - I saved my Live Aid t-shirt and can proudly say that I can still fit into it!

(original Live Aid t-shirt bought July 13, 1985 in Philadelphia/JFK Stadium - Front)

(Back of the t-shirt)