Live Aid at 40: Memories of performing on stage with David Bowie

BBC News

17 hours ago

For the thousands who saw it live at Wembley and in Philadelphia, to the millions round the world watching on TV, Live Aid was an unforgettable experience.And for those on stage who helped create the magic, it continues to be a career highlight.Singer and guitarist Kevin Armstrong, from Hastings, has had an extraordinary musical career playing stadiums and touring with the likes of Iggy Pop and Morrissey.And that summer day in July 1985, when he joined David Bowie on stage, is one he will never forget.
Kevin, who had worked with Bowie on his charity duet with Mick Jagger, Dancing in the Street, was asked by the singer to assemble a band for the Live Aid concert.Little wonder he woke up that day with butterflies in his stomach."It was just excitement, it was just adrenaline, it was going to be a defining day for all of us," he said.He met Bowie and the rest of the band at Battersea Heliport before flying to Wembley.When they arrived backstage they were able to get a glimpse of the crowd.Kevin said: "We could go up a ramp and sneak a peek around the corner and see what was happening."It was pretty daunting, it was the biggest, way the biggest crowd I had ever played to at that point... it was overwhelming, it really was."
Accompanying Kevin on stage was backing singer Tessa Niles from Maidstone, who had worked with all manner of artists from The Police to Tina Turner.Despite having worked with a series of stellar names, Tessa said that coming together with the band for Live Aid was an extraordinary experience.She said: "Walking towards the stage the sound of the crowd was electrifying - just something indescribable because I had never experienced anything like that before."I knew this was something out of the ordinary, this was something just incredible."Bowie and the band played a set of four songs, including hits Rebel Rebel and Heroes.
Kevin said: "I was so full of adrenaline I was hopping up and down."I just couldn't help think of all the teachers who had told me to give up the guitar and go and work in a bank."When asked where it sat in his career experiences, Kevin was emphatic.He said: "Oh it's at the top, it really is, just because of the newness of the experience and the scale of it and the way it resonates through history. "Why are we still talking about it 40 years on? Because it was the biggest concert on the planet."Tessa added: "The realisation that it was bigger than anybody could have possibly anticipated was seeing the TV audience, because the 72,000 people inside Wembley was enough, but realising that this had been broadcasted to something like a third of humanity..."Live Aid was watched by approximately two billion people in more than 100 countries. To have had this experience at the age of 24 is the "gift that continues to give", Tessa said.She added: "I recently saw the West End theatre production of Live Aid, Just For One Day, and it brought it home. "I went to see it with my two daughters and they both turned to me and said, 'Gosh mum we had no idea, we really didn't know it was this seismic.'"And they said how lucky we were to have experienced it - and that's just exactly how I feel."