Live Aid showed 'individual was not powerless'

RTÉ News​

a day ago

Irish musician Bob Geldof said that 40 years on from Live Aid the concerts inspired people to feel that "the individual was not powerless" and that they could change the world.
Two concerts were organised by Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia - one in London's Wembley Stadium and another in Philadelphia's JFK Stadium.
Queen, David Bowie, U2, Elton John, Madonna and The Beach Boys were among the artists who graced the stages 40 years ago.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Geldof said his memories of organising the gigs were "panic, exhaustion and worry".
"[We had] no contracts with any of these guys. We weren't paying them anything. Would they show up? Would people give us money? I mean, we now know a week later, we had in today's money $485 million," he said.
It is estimated that around 1.9 billion people tuned in across the world to watch Live Aid.
Geldof said it sparked a journey leading to the 2005 G8 summit in Scotland where "the boys and girls with guitars and pianos" corralled and bent the world's economic and political leaders to their will.
"They did what we asked, which was to forgive the debt of the poorest countries in Africa and to double aid."
The Boomtown Rats singer said the legacy of Live Aid continues to resonate with people.
"There's a sense that Live Aid gave people an air of possibility that the individual was not powerless in the face of human monstrosity that the world was not immutable, that things can change and you can be a small part of tilting the world slightly towards right path," he said.
However, Geldof said music and pop stars "can't resolve" the wars and poverty that people face around the world.
"The horror you just described in Palestine is beyond disgusting. It's beyond disgrace. But pop music can't resolve that. People constantly ask, 'should we do a Live Aid for this?' No. You've got to posit a solution that we can all work towards," he said.
Geldof added: "That's relatively easy when you've got a famine and 32 million people about to die of hunger.
"And so, the object was let's stop as many of them down as possible. Let's get as many people watching. So that creates a political lobby, and we can use that to change the conversation.
"It's far more difficult with what seems to be an intractable situation in Palestine.
"One: Just stop killing. And two: Implement a two-state solution. That's what's been called for for years. It's not difficult, but pop music and pop concerts will not do that."
Geldof said that he wouldn't hold another Live Aid again because "it wouldn't work this time" due to the rise of social media and the waning influence of rock'n'roll.
"The rock'n'roll age probably ended around 2005," he said.
"Between 1955 and 2005...rock'n'roll was the spine of the culture, it's how society determined ways forward politically, economically, socially, theologically, philosophically.
"That's no longer true. In 2004, Google, for the first time, made a profit. In 2004, there was a new thing called Facebook invented," Geldof said.
He added: "Social media determines now those areas. Rock'n'roll now, it's like music in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Fabulous artists, fantastic music.
"But it's gone back to being, for you personally, the background to your life.
"The moment when you kissed that girl or that boy, that will always be there, but as a determinant of society, I'm less convinced."