When looking back at some of the most iconic festivals in world history, many of them were not created for sheer entertainment but for something much bigger than that. Whether it be for famines, violent attacks or natural disasters, benefit concerts tend to draw the best crafted line-ups of all time.
With the recent release of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the movie, Live Aid has constantly been on my mind. As I watched the final scenes of the movie, and tried to consume as much Wikipedia as I could, I actually sat in awe and sadness thinking music would never be that good again. It took me, honestly, a few days to recover.
When my parents recently came to visit me at college, they were shocked that all my friends were flawlessly belting the words to “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” which were both released before my mom entered high school. But, certain music will seem to always stand the test of time which is why Live Aid is still so iconic now.
Headlined by Queen, Elton John, David Bowie, The Who and Paul McCartney, there are few benefit concerts that could ever compete with the talent at Live Aid. Not to mention the Philadelphia location hosting Bob Dylan, Hall & Oats, Mick Jagger, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Tom Petty and more!
Interestingly, many people debate whether Live Aid actually made a difference in the Ethiopian famine. Some say the concert actually had very little financial impact in Africa but did help with awareness of issues going on abroad.
From the artists perspective, there was almost no way to go wrong at this festival. It was the ultimate showcase of musicians and performing at the show not only meant that they cared about humanitarian issues, but they were also at the top of their craft.
When I began to think that music would never be as good ever again, I started looking into more recent benefit concerts that my children might once look back at and envy that I lived in that time. While researching this topic I found an article where Bob Geldof (Live Aid’s creator) said that in the new age of social media and the internet, a benefit concert like Live Aid wouldn’t ever work again. He thinks that people’s access to donating to specific causes is so easy that they don’t feel the same urge to donate at a big festival.
After the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, I’m not so sure he’s right. With the creation of social media, people are more motivated than ever to attend popular events, especially if music is involved and even better if it enhances their reputation!
Unfortunately, benefit concerts have seemly started to slow in popularity and the most recently famous benefit concert was One Love Manchester created by Ariana Grande just two weeks after someone released a bomb at her Manchester tour stop. The event received heavy media coverage in the UK but still made US news because of artists like Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber, Katy Perry and Mac Miller.
Overall the festival did what it set out to do but Bob Geldof might be right that the impact of benefit concerts has decreased significantly with younger generations.
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