Forty years ago, Live Aid, the biggest musical event in the eighties, was held on this day. They were a charity event created to support the African and mainly Ethiopian population, who were apostrophized as a second Woodstock at that time, which is perhaps not the most accurate similarity, but in any case highlights the weight of the event. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, former members of Led Zeppelin, who had been working on their own solo projects by then, were also invited to the event with more or less success. The surviving members of the band were the first to stage their drummer, John Bonham, in 1980, after which the band was divided. In addition, in the United States, Zeppelin had been the last to perform for almost a decade, which further enhanced expectations for the event.
The idea of Live Aid, held on July 13, 1985, was conceived in the mind of Bob Geldof rock musician, and was the one who reached out to bring together the biggest British and American stars of the era to a parallel concert on two continents. Queen, status quo, Huey Lewis and the News, Eric Clapton, U2 or Bob Dylan – to mention just a few of the greatest musicians and bands of the time.
But not everyone knew about the gigantic event, for example, Cher was only informed at the London airport when he accidentally met Phil Collins, who was also in America, and concerts were in full swing. But where Collins was in a hurry, then later.
For most, the Queen’s legendary concert will jump in when mentioning Live Aid, which is no coincidence. They were one of the main performers of the British venue, and no matter how difficult it is to rank the musicians who appeared, it is undoubtedly the most determined to be at the top of his career. The Freddie Mercurys went so much that fewer people remember that Paul McCartney was the last one after them.
However, “Led Zeppelin” appeared in a completely different context at the JFK Stadium. Here I use a quotation mark because four of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Johns Phil Collins were not conferenced by the band, although everyone celebrated the performance as a reunion of Led Zeppelin. The recording of the concert also shows that only the names of the musicians will be performed, years later, when an American TV channel re -emerged the concert, the performance was officially addressed to the Led Zeppelin concert.
No one joined them as a drummer. Phil Collins, who was then at the top of his career, was asked to be a drummer and singer to the top of Genesis, and he was huge with his solo albums in the eighties. So the show was fantastic, with Tony Thompson joined as a second drummer, and Paul Martinez also helped bass. But Phil Collins’ situation made it a bit difficult. He was happy to take the show at the Philadelphia site, but also took on Eric Clapton, only with him in London. As a solution, it was therefore invented that, after a show at Wembley Stadium, he would board a plane, fly to America, and stand on stage. The plan was amazingly implemented, with Collins successfully reached the American concert on a supersonic concorde plane.
Phil Collins at the airport between two concerts – Photo: Mirrorpix / Getty Images
In their just over twenty minutes, they performed three hits of Led Zeppelin: Rock and Roll, Whole Lotta Love and finally Stairway to Heaven. Perhaps the only thing everyone agrees with this concert is that the performance of the first two songs has been bad. At the beginning of Plant’s voice, it was not the old, the high voices did not come out, and in many places the melodies were not clear, which is a big deal, as Plant’s amazing vocals made these songs unforgettable, and in the absence of background singers, all mistakes collided. It is not yet known how Page’s guitar could have been tuned, while the lack of the two drummers can only be found at a few points, but it does not undoubtedly help the overall picture.
Stairway to Heaven’s performance began quite stable, and Plant was trying to get the best out of his voice. After you listen to the first two songs, your stomach may be clenched in advance what they will do with Stairway to Heaven. However, the most surprising part came here, as the song was great. The Magic Started through the song nine minutes, Plant began clearly and softly, and Phil Collins’ entry was strong than half of the song, Page’s play was much more accurate, partly because he was playing on the inevitable two -necked guitar, which was not unlike the other two instruments. The pace remained more or less united all the time, clearly the most successful number in the three-song show:
After the concert, all four of them were caught by MTV for an interview, which they otherwise made relatively positively, but rather in a succinct manner. Phil Collins said, “I wanted not only to sing my own boring songs, I wanted to play with someone else. So I asked Robert earlier to play with them, but of course I wanted to step up with Eric Clapton. So I came here, drummed and felt good.”
After the gentle lead, however, Robert Plant was given the word, who, after laughing, noted that there were troubles with the monitor sound wall, so he couldn’t hear himself properly at the concert, he said that all three had tried to get the best out of it. This probably complained about the performance of the fourth musician Collins.
The MTV reporter, by the way, asked what many people attribute to a significant part of the problems: “You didn’t try to perform, did you? Or did you meet before the concert?” In a later statement, Jimmy Page made a sharp statement and openly stated that the only two -hour test that had to be prepared was not enough for Collins to get well at the beginning of rock and roll. In several interviews, Page pushed the responsibility to Collins, and in the public consciousness it was largely his fault, as he could not keep the rhythm with the other drummer, Thompson, who had not even went to the microphone for the MTV interview.
However, Phil Collins later defended himself several times against the accusations. In his 2016 memoir, he wrote that he felt something was wrong at the concert and it was a pretty unpleasant experience. He didn’t hear Plant’s vocals properly, but what he had heard of it felt that the singer was not in the best shape. He also said he would have liked to have walked off the stage and left them at least during Stairway. But he couldn’t do that because he didn’t want to be the man who was doing a fool when the Led Zeppelin was reunited. In fact, he said he had no idea that it would be all about a Zeppelin reunion, as Plant only searched for Page-Jel to do something, and only later learned that Jones would come and became a Led Zeppelin show, so he felt unnecessary.
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on stage in 1985-Photo: Ron Galella / Getty Images
Collins also talked about how much he was not to blame him for failing action, he felt he had become a scapegoat. According to him, the concert recording also shows Page sweat on stage, Plant sings falsely, does not find the voices, and “I cut the cheek,” said Phil Collins. He added that he liked Robert Plant, who would give him the truth today. According to Collins, Plant “alone is a decent guy”, but if something comes up with Zeppelin, something happens and everything goes wrong, so it was in rehearsals. Jimmy Page, on the other hand, says he is a irritated figure who writhes like a baby patch.
In retrospect, many people wanted to see more of this action and the unpleasant factors surrounding it than the actual conflicts of the participants really reflected. On the stage, Collins himself confered three members of Zeppelin, and the mood seemed rather elevated. In addition, after pushing his share with Eric Clapton in London, he flew 5,700 kilometers into Philadelphia to drum in the Plant’s appearance.
Three members of Led Zeppelin later joined, their last show was in 2007, which the members consider a worthy farewell. They are not at all proud of the 1985 performance, and Live Aid, which has more than ten hours, has not been released for its official DVD release because they did not contribute to any official release. However, it is not that easy to remove a recording in the age of the Internet, so even in poor quality, we have remained a material for this undoubtedly memorable rock history.
(Sources: The Tepegraph, Louder)
