Just For One Day – Shaftsbury Theatre celebrates the day music united the world
- GutBer English
- Aug 14
- 4 min read
The musical that recreates how the biggest musical event in history came to happen, the famous Live Aid concert in July 1985, is now in its second season at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End as Just for One Day. The concert was organised to raise funds to alleviate hunger in Ethiopia amidst a massive drought that condemned the country to the most terrifying misery.
Through many of the songs played that day and using their lyrics as a common thread, the work tells the story of Bob Geldof, frontman of the Irish group Boomtown Rats, seeing the news about the famine in Ethiopia on British television in late 1984 and reacting by creating, together with Midge Ure, frontman of Ultravox, the best-selling Christmas song in history, Do They Know It's Christmas?. Written and recorded in a single day at Trevor Horn's studios in Notting Hill, the song, which entered the charts that Christmas season straight to number one, brought together the crème de la crème of pop music at the time, artists who contributed their work and their image entirely altruistically to draw attention to the problem of hunger in Africa and try to remedy it. In a historic milestone for the popular movement, the single became such a resounding sales success that it's rare for a British home to be without a copy. This recording was followed by the American response, We Are The World, which featured the best of American music of that time.
Seeing that this wasn't enough to solve the famine problem in Ethiopia, in less than two months Geldof managed to organize the largest live concert on Saturday, July 13, 1985. It was performed almost simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, broadcasting the entire concert live (more than 16 hours of music) on more than 95% of the world's national television channels. Approximately 2 billion people (40% of the world's population at the time) were able to watch it live in at least 150 countries, with performances by musicians such as Queen, U2, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Madonna, and Sting, among others. As a direct result of the concert, it is estimated that around £150 million were raised, but the Live Aid Foundation continues to generate aid for needy communities and it is estimated to have saved millions of children's lives who would otherwise have died from starvation.
The musical recreates these events in a tribute to the world's population, and especially to the British people, who completely embraced the cause and brought the country to a standstill on a scorching June day, where everyone believed for a few hours they could change the world. Understanding that the audience, those who bought tickets or donated money to save these people, are the true heroes, the play takes its title from David Bowie's song "Heroes" ("We can be heroes just for one day"), and it is with this song that the performance begins.
Using the example of a mother who was at Wembley as she tells her young daughter what the concert meant to everyone who experienced it in one way or another, the story of how Live Aid came to be is told through the words of its protagonists and the lyrics and songs heard that day on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to the recreation of the different musical themes, the film also features a stage that imitates a real live gig, with a band playing on a platform while the various performers also act as the audience, seated in the stadium stands. Craige Els moves and sounds exactly like Bob Geldof, with his thick Irish accent and constant use of swear words. Cultural references abound, such as the room where he watches TV, which seems taken from Pink Floyd's rock opera The Wall, in which Geldof plays the main character. Among the few themes created specifically for the work, the musical duels between Mrs. T (Margaret Thatcher, masterfully played by Julie Atherton) and Mr. G (Geldof) deserve special mention and grab the audience with their implicit references, jokes and musicality.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of that historic day, and the Shaftesbury Theatre organized a special performance for that day, attended by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, among others. With every ticket purchased to attend any performance of Just For One Day, a percentage of the ticket price goes to alleviate the effects of hunger in countries in need, so it continues to be a way to contribute in some way to helping the world's most disadvantaged. Just For One Day has been available since last spring at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End form £25. At the moment, no closing date has been set for this second run of the musical, so it could continue over time and become one of the long-running productions in the West End as long as there are audiences willing to see it and contribute.
We attended the performance of Just For One Day on Wednesday 13 August 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London.
Cast and Creative (fuente: https://theliveaidmusical.com/cast-and-creative/ )
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