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The U2 Sound Library Presents
 
Bono shouting 

Close up of Bono

 
Live Aid
Tour Unforgettable Fire
Date July 13, 1985
Location Wembely Stadium in London, England
Streaming  
Real Audio
17 minutes 59 seconds
Download 2.3 Mb
Setlist Sunday Bloody Sunday / Bad
Source U2: Rain on You  [album cover]
 
Bono and Adam 

Bono jumping into the crowd 

Bono hugging a fan

U2's performance at Live Aid was their most widely exposed to date.  Live Aid was the biggest music festival ever, reaching a combined television audience of 1.5 billion people in more than 160 countries.  
   
Appropriate for a charity event televised all over the world, Bono opens the song with lines from Lou Reed's Satellite of Love.  (The band records the song as a b-side six years later during the Achtung Baby recording sessions.)  

Bad is powerful, with Larry's loud bass drum blasting out the rhythm over the huge sound system.  
   
Increasing intensity as the song progresses, Bono looks for a dance partner, gesturing to the crowd below.  While dozens anxiously push their way to the front, Bono trots around the stage.  He points down to show the security guards which girl to pick out, then impulsively jumps down onto floor level.  One girl is finally lifted over the barriers, and she falls into Bono's open arms.  The audience roar as they follow their slow dance on the screens.  Bono gracefully kisses her hand, leaving her as he climbs back onto stage to finish singing the song.  

Continuing, he sings snippets of Ruby Tuesday, Sympathy for the Devil, and Walk on the Wild Side, successfully prompting the crowd to sing along.  He improvises, "Holly came from Miami, FLA, hitchhiked all the way across the USA, she could  hear the satellite coming down, pretty soon she was in London town...Wembley Stadium, and all the people went do-do-do-do..."  Bono finishes the song and, looking somewhat distraught, walks off.  The song lasted 13 minutes.  

For an exhaustive transcript of the complete concert, click here. 

Background text taken from U2: A Concert Documentary