Live 8 concert, London

The main Live 8 concert was held at Hyde Park, London, England on 2 July 2005, in front of over 200,000 people. The show's logistics were managed by famed promoter Harvey Goldsmith.

Performance Notes

It had been said that McCartney and U2's Bono would be wearing Sgt. Pepper costumes, but, in the event, they were only worn by an anonymous, four-piece French horn section.

Related Topics:
Bono - French horn

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Immediately following Travis' performance, Geldof told the audience he "couldn't resist playing on this stage" and played the Boomtown Rats song "I Don't Like Mondays". He had earlier said that he "did not deserve" to play alongside the scheduled acts.

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All the songs performed by Sting were sung twenty years before at Live Aid.

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George Michael said in an interview that had wanted to perfom a solo song, but was suffering from a bad head cold.

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Some artists, such as Elton John, Coldplay and U2, already had shows planned for July 2, which they performed after their performances at Live 8. Accordingly they were not present for the "Hey Jude" grand finale.

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Originally expected to close at 9.30pm, the concert over-ran and went on until just after midnight, leaving many in the audience with no means of returning home.

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Harvey Goldsmith appeared on stage to thank the audience for their patience with the late- running event, and to make a closing appeal for people to leave slowly, to avoid crushes.

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