Concerts were being held all over the place. Japan made do with McFly and Bjork, Canada had Barenaked Ladies and Bryan Adams, Moscow had a full set from Pet Shop Boys and not much else...Paris really only had The Cure that were of any intrest to me, Berlin faired better having the fantastic Faithless as well as Green Day and Roxy Music and Philly put on a line up that included Bon Jovi, Detsiny's Child, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, the utterly gorgeous Rob Thomas and our very own Kaiser Chiefs but without doubt the pick of the talent was at Hyde Park in London were almost 250,000 people saw some great acts and some not so great acts!
Here's how they lined up for London...
U2, Coldplay & Richard Ashcroft, Elton John, Dido, Stereophonics, REM, Ms Dynamite, Keane, Travis, Bob Geldof, Annie Lennox, UB40, Snoop Dogg, Razorlight, Madonna, The Killers, Joss Stone, Scissor Sisters, Velvet Revolver, Sting, Mariah Carey, Robbie Williams, The Who, Pink Floyd and finally Paul McCartney.
U2's opener was as usual a great live performance from them.
They sang the crowd pleasers and Bono even managed a fetching rendition of Unchained Melody which the crowd happily joined in with.
Coldplay followed and also played a great set including one of my highlights when they were joined on stage by in Chris Martin's words "the best singer ever" Richard Ashcroft to sing "the best song ever written" Bittersweet Symphony. I really like Richard Ashcroft and The Verve so I enjoyed this bit!
Elton John was a bit disappointing...given the back catalogue he has he didn't sing his best stuff. Dido who was up next looked great and did a few well known numbers. The Stereophonics then came on to fly the flag for Wales and did a great job. They got the crowd singing and clapping.
Ricky Gervais came on to give us a dance before introducing REM who performed my favourite track by them Everybody Hurts. Michael Stipe looked brilliant in matching eye stripe and shirt!
Ms Dynamite ain't my cup of tea and I used her set to make a much needed loo stop and cup of tea! She was followed by Keane who again did a good set and although they are a bit boring to watch they will have pleased their fans.
Travis were next and again played a great set and played the crowd pleasers, the audience singing along to Why Does It Always Rain On Me and waving their umbrella's!!
Bob Geldof gate-crashed the party next giving us a quick song in the way of I Don't Like Mondays. You couldn't really grudge him his wee moment! Brad Pitt then came on stage to say a few words and introduce Annie Lennox who was brilliant and got the crowd singing along to Sweet Dreams. UB40 were alright but as someone who used to be quite a fan they could have chosen better songs!
My second big highlight was next as Snoop Dogg took to the stage with posse and dancers! Utterly brilliant...just the thought of how
the BBC bosses faces must have been as he asked the crowd to put their motherfucking hands up during a daytime broadcast made it great tv...he got the crowd involved more than once asking them "what's my name?" before launching into the accompanying song.
Razorlight came next and did their profile a fair bit of good by performing a good set. They were follwoed though by yet another big highlight for me...I again became that 11 year old girl who watched Live Aid desperately seeking Madonna. I'll be honest, she
disappointed me a little in 1985 but not in 2005. She was brilliant. She played the number ones, had the dancers and the choir and looked every bit as great as she did 20 years ago...you can tell I'm a big fan eh?The Killers were next and I was disappointed on 2 fronts. I like them a lot but we only got one song and they played the wrong one!! Joss Stone followed them and again I felt the need to pee!
The Scissor Sisters did a great set, not as wacky as normal bu
t stillfantastic. Velvet Revolver came next and may have died a little as the Brits weren't sure of who they were. Sting came next and performed a few Police tracks looking better than he did when he forst sang them! Mariah Carey then took to the stage surrounded by the African Childrens Choir who were adorable...I can't stand Mariah Carey but I'd had a few glasses of wine by now and made it through her set spurned on by what was coming next!!
My dream sandwich appeared before me next...David Beckham arrived on stage to introduce Robbie Williams and as they hugged on stage all I could think was let me in the middle!! Anyway Robbie hand the crowd eating out of his hand in minutes, he did a set of four songs, got the crowd dancing & singing and was the only artist to go down and meet the crowd. He finished his set with Angels and the crowd were well pleased and sang along in full voice. Obviously when it comes to Robbie I am 31 going on 11!!!
Peter Kay appeared next and got the crowd singing amarillo and marching on the spot he should have had a band and Tony Christie and cracked on proper!
The long awaited return's of The Who and Pink Floyd followed and although they were all of Grandad age they showed they could still cut it with the young team and the corwd sang along and enjoyed a wee bit of history.
Paul McCartney came on to finish things off...the man may be an institution but everytime he appears on stage it's the same songs again and again. Get Back and Baby You Can Drive My Car are constants for him. Does he not realise he was part of the biggest pop group ever? There are millions who love The Beatles but the majority would love just for once to hear early Beatles numbers...it's guaranteed to get the crowd singing and dancing and eating out his hand and let's face it he's got a shit load of songs to choose from!! The night could have ended a bit better had they stuck to the original plan of singing John Lennons Imagine instead of the Na Na's from Hey Jude..but all in all it was a big sucess and a great line up.
Jenny xx
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