The date was July 13th 1985 - and this is the day the world stopped to watch the biggest ever concert of its kind.

*** What is the DVD about ***
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Before watching the DVD, it is important to understand how the event came about.

In 1984, after seeing a news bulletin on the millions of people dying from the much publicised famine in Africa, lead singer of the Irish pop band The Boomtown Rats colluded with Midge Ure, lead singer of 80's pop band Ultravox, and brought together a group of well known musical artists to record a charity record. It was called "Do They Know It's Christmas?" The record remained at No.1 in the music charts for many weeks, and it was following the success of the record that the duo decided to put together a one-off concert to take place the following summer.

The concert would be called "Live Aid" and would take at Wembley Stadium on July 13th 1985. All the artists involved would appear voluntarily and all proceeds of the concert would go to the charity.

America held their own concert which was televised simultaneously from the John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, and many other countries held their own concert on the same day.

This four disc DVD basically tells the story of how the concert came about, and then leads in with the actual concert itself, together with footage and videos from the concerts which were taking place around the globe.

Although the concert itself took place in 1985, the DVD itself was only released in 2004. This was because Bob Geldof initially refused to release a video/DVD to prevent record labels etc. making money out of a charity event. However, on the run-up towards the 20th anniversary of the concert, he took the view that, as so many people had asked why it was not available to buy on video/DVD, he may as well agree to it being released in order that the proceeds can continue to help the starving in Africa, who after all, were the reason the event came about in the first place. It was also discovered that people were selling 'pirate' videos of the concert and cashing in on it, so it made more sense to sell the original, therefore making more money for the charity.

*** So What Does The DVD Contain? ***
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DISC 1
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Prequel and BBC Television News Report (This is the original news bulleting which prompted Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to instigate "Do They Know It's Christmas?" which led up to the Live Aid concerts.)

Band Aid Video (Do They Know It's Christmas?)
USA For Africa Video (We Are The World)

Coldstream Guards (Royal Salute)
Status Quo (Rockin' All Over The World; Caroline)
The Style Council (Internationalists; Walls Come Tumbling Down)
The Boomtown Rats (I Don't Like Mondays; Drag Me Down)
Adam Ant (Vive Le Rock)
Ultravox (Dancing With Tears In My Eyes; Vienna)
Spandau Ballet (Only When You Leave; True)
Elvis Costello (All You Need Is Love)
Nik Kershaw (Wouldn't It Be Good)
Sade (Your Love Is King)
Sting (Roxanne)
Phil Collins (Against All Odds)
Sting & Phil Collins (Every Breath You Take)
Howard Jones (Hide and Seek)
Bryan Ferry (Slave To Love; Jealous Guy)
Paul Young (Come Back And Stay; Every Time You Go Away)
Paul Young & Alison Moyet (That's The Way Love Is)
Bryan Adams (Kids Wanna Rock; Summer of '69)
U2 (Sunday Bloody Sunday; Bad)

DISC 2
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The Beech Boys (Wouldn't It Be Nice; Good Vibrations; Surfin' USA)
Dire Straits & Sting (Money For Nothing)
Dire Straits (Sultans of Swing)
George Thorogood & The Destroyers (Madison Blues)
Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody; Radio Ga Ga; Hammer to Fall; Crazy Little Thing Called Love; We Will Rock You; We Are The Champions)
Simple Minds (Ghost Dancing; Don't You Forget About Me)
Davie Bowie (TVC15; Rebel Rebel; Modern Love; Heroes)
CBC Ethiopian Famine Film
Joan Baez (Amazing Grace)
Pretenders (Stop Your Sobbing; Chain Gang; Middle Of The Road)
The Who (Love Reign O'er Me; Won't Get Fooled Again)
Kenny Loggins (Footloose)
Elton John (Bennie And The Jets; Rocket Man)
Elton John & Kiki Dee (Don't Go Breaking Me Heart)
Elton John & George Michael (Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me)

DISC 3
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Madonna (Holiday; Get Into The Groove)
Freddie Mercury & Brian May (Is This The World We Created?)
Paul McCartney (Let It Be)
Band Aid Finale (Do They Know It's Christmas?)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (American Girl; Refugee)
Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne (Paranoid)
Reo Speedwagon (Can't Find This Feeling; Roll With The Changes)
Crosby Stills & Nash (Teach Your Children)
Judas Priest (Living After Midnight; Green Manalishi)
The Cars (Just What I Needed; Heartbeat City)
Neil Young (The Needle And the Damage Done; Noting Is Perfect)
Thompson Twins, Steve Stevens, Nile Rodgers & Madonna (Revolution)
Eric Clapton (White Room; She's Waiting; Layla)
Phil Collins (in Philadelphia) (In The Air Tonight)
Duran Duran (Union of the Snake; Save a Prayer; The Reflex)
Patti Labelle (Imagine; Forever Young)

DISC 4
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Hall & Oates (Maneater)
Hall & Oates with Eddie Kendricks (Get Ready)
Hall & Oates with Eddie Kendricks & David Ruffin (Ain't Too Proud to Beg; My Girl)
Mick Jagger (Just Another Night; Miss You)
Mick Jagger & Tina Turner (State of Shock; It's Only Rock
'n'Roll)
Bob Dylan with Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood (Blowing in the Wind)
USA for Africa Finale (We Are The World)

EXTRAS
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INXS (What You Need; Don't Change)
B B King (Why I sing The Blues; Don't Answer The Door; Rock Me Baby)
Ashford & Simpson with Teddy Pendergrass (Reach Out and Touch)
Run DMC (King of Rock)
Cliff Richard (A World Of Difference)
Various contributions from various parts of the world
David Bowie & Mick Jagger (Dancing in the Streets)
Documentary (Food and Trucks and Rock'n'Roll)

*** My Opinion on Various Contributions ***
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There are certain parts of the DVD that stand out far more than others.

Status Quo were definitely the right act to open the concert, performing their best known single "Rocking all over the World". The title was very apt for the occasion and got the crowd warmed up nicely.

Probably the most talked about performance at the time, and possibly still today, is that of Queen. Live Aid was one of the last few stage performances that Freddie Mercury did before he became ill and passed away from Aids in 1991. Queen performed the longest set on stage and there was not a note off key.

A poignant moment was when Bob Geldof, performing with his Boomtown Rats, sang "I don't like Mondays". The crowd applauded when he sang the line "…and the lesson today is how to die".

Watching Madonna perform 'Holiday' and 'Into the Groove' feels quite strange twenty years on. Live Aid took place when Madonna was just starting out in the music business, and this will really take viewers back to those days when she wore rags in her hair.

Another thought provoking contribution came from Freddie Mercury and Brian May when they sang "Is this the world we created?" Again, very apt for the occasion.

There is one point in the concert where video footage of the starving children is played to the crowd and is accompanied by the American band, The Cars, singing "Drive". The crowd are clearly moved to tears watching this - the video ends with a mother laying down the body of her dead baby. Certainly not pleasant to watch but it's one way of drawing to the attention of people the reason behind this concert.

Finally, a moment I thought a little odd but at the same time quite appropriate was the finale of the Wembley concert where everyone came on stage and sang "Do They Know It's Christmas?" It was quite strange hearing being sung on a hot summer day in July. However, this is how it all began, and for this concert, that is how it ended.

*** Presentation and Packaging ***
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This four DVD box set is presented in such an immaculate way which I could not fault.

The whole package is contained in a white outer box with a date stamp on the front left hand corner which says "July 13 1985, The Day The Music Changed The World". The DVD title, "Live Aid", is written in bold black lettering across a drawing of a gold guitar in the shape of the country it is trying to help - Africa. On the back of the outer box, there is a very simple list of the all the artists who took part in the concerts.

And now onto the inner box. This is made of high quality glossy card and contains the actual discs themselves. The box is basically 5 fold and closes in on itself. On opening the box fully, the sections which hold the individual discs is filled with a colourful picture of a very packed Wembley Stadium, interspersed with a black and white picture of the starving in Africa. This is very cleverly put together and I must admit I had never really noticed this until I came to do this review.

The pictures on the front of the discs themselves contain photographs of the various artists who performed at the concerts.

As well as the discs, you also get a glossy booklet which, as well as giving you the Track List, also contains hand-written notes by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure when they were arranging the concert line-up, the transcript of Bob Geldof's words taken from the original Live Aid Programme, information on the actual event itself, and many photographs. Throughout the booklet, the outside edges of the pages contain the original playlist with various amendments.

*** DVD Information ***
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Running Time: 9 hours 20 minutes

Region: DVD Region 2 (Europe)

Release Date: 8th November 2004

Catalogue No. 2564 61895 2

Language: English (there are no subtitles on the DVD)

Special Features: Food Trucks And Rock N Roll Documentary, Band Aid Do They Know Its Christmas Music Video, USA For Africa Music Video

Sound: DTS 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

*** Is it worth the money? ***
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In my opinion - definitely. I paid £29.99 for the DVD from 'play.com' and would say it is worth every penny. I anticipate it would be enjoyed more by the people who remember the actual event, purely for the sense of nostalgia about it. If you were watching the concert on t.v. at home, or indeed if you were lucky enough to be there, the balmy summer day in 1985 will come flooding back to you.

If you are not old enough to remember Live Aid, this DVD is certainly worth having a look at for the sole reason that you can experience one of the largest music events every to have taken place. If you managed to see the Live 8 concert, also arranged by Bob Geldof, take a look at the original to see where it all began.

*** Good Points ***
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(1) Some of the top name bands of the time (together with some long established acts) uniting together in one concert.

(2) All the money made from the concert and the sales of this DVD was donated to the famine in Africa.

(3) Good value for money when you consider the length of the DVD and the quality of the artists performing.

*** Bad Points ***
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(1) As the concert is twenty years old, many younger people will not be at all familiar with some of the acts who perform in it.

(2) As the concert was recorded 'live', there are a few sections of the DVD which show band change-overs where all you are watching is people moving about on the stage, preparing for the next band.

(3) Bob Geldof, not renowned for his subtle approach, does make a speech which includes a little swearing which may offend some people.

Thanks for reading my review. I hope anyone who buys this DVD enjoys it as much as I did.

Carol x