My sister, a regular Guardian reader, was the first to alert me that there was to be a London (England)-based musical built around Live Aid, the big benefit concert for famine relief that took place on July 13, 1985. I wasn’t about to fly over there to see it, and I knew full well that not every play on a London stage finds it way to a North American one.
So while the Guardian article was interesting, it was downright exciting when Mirvish announced that they would bringing Just One for Day (the Live Aid musical) to a Toronto stage for its North American premiere, as part of its 2024–25 season. (Though, side note, at first I thought that it was playing just for one day, which made me think, my God! No way I’ll manage to get tickets for that single performance! Til I read the finer print and realized that it was a 10-week or so run. Phew.)
My sisters indicated that they would be interested in going also, with husbands in tow (some feeling more enthusiasm than others). Then it was a matter of waiting through the season subscription-only time til we could buy tickets. Then waiting for show day itself: February 8, 2025. This was about a week after opening night, which was quite the star-studded affair:
I had no idea how they were going to build a story around this one-day concert.
The setup was as follows: a mother is seeing her activist daughter off to university, and wonders if she’d like to take a copy of her Live Aid Concert Book. Daughter wonders how this ancient history could be of any use to her today. Mother tries to explain its impact at the time. She is assisted by Bob Geldof, cofounder of Live Aid, who says that to understand it, you have to go back to the beginning.
Jump to… The Boomtown Rats (Bob’s band). Then an influential BBC TV report about a terrible famine in Ethiopia. Then the idea of a charity single. Then an American charity single. And a visit to Ethiopia, during which it becomes clear… it’s not enough. There’s a meeting with Harvey Goldsmith. Then a countdown clock to organizing a worldwide benefit concert in an incredibly short amount of time.
We see the events from Bob’s perspective (and Midge Ure’s, and John Kennedy’s—the Band Aid Charity Trust lawyer, not the US President), but also from the mother’s, who is trying to sell as many singles as she can, and hoping to get concert tickets. All while crushing on a record store coworker. And also from the daughter’s, who is there to interrogate (for example, the problematic lyrics of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, and the specter of “white saviorism”). And from an aid worker in Ethopia. Also, from Margaret Thatcher…
And all the way through, the music of that time is woven through in amazing, reimagined ways, presented by an incredible, diverse young group of performers with fantastic voices. So though almost all songs included in the musical are ones that were performed at the concert, for the bulk of the musical, they’re used in a different context. The Cars “Drive” while watching the Ethiopian news reports. “Radio Gaga” while trying to get “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” on radio playlists. “My Generation” to address what this all might mean today. And so on.
They do, in the last quarter or so, touch on the famous moments of concert day, like Status Quo opening, Geldof taking in the day during an “I Don’t Like Mondays” pause, the “give us your fucking money” line that wasn’t, Madonna getting into the groove, Queen giving one of the best live performances of all time, and McCartney’s mic cutting out during the “Let It Be” finale.
Live Aid’s my thing, man. So I’m not exactly unbiased. But I did think it was one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen. In fact, our whole group gave it a big thumb’s up—even the skeptical brother-in-law!
It was good at reminding you now, just as we sometimes needed then, that apocalyptically horrible things were happening amidst all the pop music fun. And yet, a lot of scenes were quite funny as well! The actor playing Bob Geldof, Craige Els, was pitch perfect. George Ure, as Midge Ure, was also very good—and apparently not Midge’s son. The staging of sometimes using actual photos from the time was effective in its lack of overuse. The music… I’ve already mentioned the quality, but it doesn’t hurt that I also knew all the songs!
And through the mother / daughter character, the story is brought through to today. Bob (and Midge Ure and others) got the talent together, but it wouldn’t have worked if individual young people hadn’t bought the songs and tickets and talked their friends into doing the same. Big charity music benefit concerts won’t cut it now. But the idea of a big mass of people agreeing that they can no longer support a great humanitarian injustice, that they feel driven to come together to do something about it… Well, we all have to hope that’s still relevant!
Ten percent of ticket sales for Just for One Day: The Live Aid Musical go to support The Band Aid Charitable Trust.
Cultureguru's Weblog 