Tag: Wembley

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Live Aid, July 13, 1985: Phil Collins Performs in Both London and Philadelphia

Live_Aid_at_JFK_Stadium,_Philadelphia,_PA

On July 13, 1985, Phil Collins made music history by doing something no one had ever done before (and likely hasn’t done since). He was the only performer to appear live at both Live Aid concerts, in London and Philadelphia, on the very same day.

Phil Collins: Everywhere at Once

By the mid-1980s, Phil Collins had become a global phenomenon. As both a solo artist and member of Genesis, he had racked up chart-topping albums, hit singles, and sold-out tours across the world. His third solo album, No Jacket Required, had taken 1985 by storm, dominating airwaves and topping the charts in multiple countries.

So it was only fitting that on July 13, 1985, a day described as “the greatest day in the history of pop music”, Phil Collins would also be everywhere — quite literally.

Making Rock History

Collins pulled off what seemed impossible: he performed live on global television from two different continents in a single day. And it was not for fame or headlines, it was for a cause. Live Aid, organized by Bob Geldof, aimed to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Like the Band Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” the year before, the event brought together some of the biggest names in music for one shared purpose.

While many artists participated, the day belonged to Phil Collins.

Live Aid: The Event

Live Aid was the natural successor to Band Aid. Geldof had rallied the stars once again, this time for two simultaneous mega-concerts, one at Wembley Stadium in London, the other at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia. Almost every major pop and rock act of the 1980s took part.

Collins had previously played drums on the Band Aid single, but didn’t sing on it. His record label had advised him to hold off singing publicly, so as not to distract from the release of No Jacket Required and its upcoming tour. That changed with Live Aid.

July 13: A Day to Remember

Collins began his day at Wembley Stadium in London. In the early afternoon, under a blazing sun, he sat alone at the piano and performed “Against All Odds” and “In the Air Tonight”.

‘lt was blisteringly hot, the white stage. lt was so hot and l made a terrible mistake on ‘Against All Odds’ on the piano’, Phil later recalled. ‘l thought, ‘Oh God, what a good start for the day this is.”1

The bum note was heard not only by the 80,000 people at Wembley, but by over 1 billion viewers watching around the world.

He was then joined by his friend Sting for a duet of “Long Long Way to Go”, a track from No Jacket Required (Sting had sung backing vocals on the original), followed by a performance of “Every Breath You Take”.

From London to Philadelphia

Collins left Wembley, jumped on a Concorde, and flew across the Atlantic to perform at the Philadelphia show just a few hours later. He recreated his solo set and also played drums for both Eric Clapton and the reunited Led Zeppelin.

He arrived at JFK Stadium at around 7:00 p.m., asked Eric Clapton what they’d be playing, and by 7:30 p.m., he was onstage with him. Somewhere in between, he even found time to visit Robert Plant’s trailer for a quick chat before their Led Zeppelin set.

It was a whirlwind. But it perfectly captured the tireless energy of Phil Collins in the 1980s.

The Legacy

By 1985, Collins was already a global star. But performing at both Live Aid concerts catapulted him even further, cementing his status as a worldwide icon and consummate showman. His double appearance was not only a technical and logistical feat, but a powerful symbol of the unity and urgency behind Live Aid’s mission.

Live Aid: In Hindsight

While Live Aid is remembered for its good intentions, it’s also seen — in retrospect — as a bit of a cliché: wealthy Western musicians trying to “save” Africa with rock music. The lyrics of Do They Know It’s Christmas? have been criticized for their colonial tone and stereotypes. Still, the event did raise enormous funds and global awareness for the crisis in Ethiopia.

Phil Collins didn’t just participate in the day, he helped define the moment. His double appearance remains one of the most talked-about achievements of Live Aid, and one of the most iconic performances in rock history.

Title photo: Live Aid at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA. Source: Wikimedia Commons, own work. Author: Squelle. / CC-BY-SA-2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0).

  1. Phil Collins – A Life Less Ordinary (Documentary – 2002) ↩︎
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The End of the Invisible Touch Tour – Wembley, July 4, 1987

On July 4, 1987, Genesis wrapped up their massive Invisible Touch tour with the fourth consecutive sold-out show at Wembley Stadium. It marked the end of a historic run for the band and a high point in their live career.

Invisible Touch: The Album

Released in 1986, Invisible Touch became Genesis’ most commercially successful album, reaching #1 in the UK and #3 in the US. It produced five major hit singles: ‘Invisible Touch’, ‘Tonight Tonight Tonight’, ‘Land of Confusion’, ‘In Too Deep’ and ‘Throwing It All Away’. Tracks like the title song, the moody Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, and Land of Confusion with its iconic Spitting Image video dominated radio, MTV, and the charts throughout 1986 and 1987. Genesis had never been more visible – or more popular.

Naturally, the band embarked on a massive world tour, playing across North America, Australia, Japan, Europe, and finally closing with four sold-out nights at Wembley, playing to nearly 300,000 people.

The Invisible Touch Tour

The tour kicked off in September 1986 in the US and included 112 shows, selling close to two million tickets. The band was joined, as usual, by drummer Chester Thompson and guitarist/bassist Daryl Stuermer.

In Australia and New Zealand, Genesis added a local four-piece string section for In Too Deep and Your Own Special Way, due to union regulations requiring them to employ local musicians.

By this point, Genesis weren’t just a hit-making machine, they were a finely-tuned live band, backed by a state-of-the-art Vari-Lite lighting system and a tight, polished setlist. While they had a vast catalogue to choose from, the shows leaned heavily on songs from Invisible Touch and recent albums.

The Setlist and Show Highlights

Every show opened with Mama, though its eerie atmosphere did not always translate well in daylight stadium settings. The closer was the now-iconic Turn It On Again medley, which featured a whirlwind of rock classics: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, Satisfaction, Twist and Shout, Pinball Wizard, All Day and All of the Night and Karma Chameleon.

Older fan favorites included: Los Endos, Home By The Sea (with its now-standard ghost-story intro) and the In The Cage medley.

At the beginning of the tour, the In the Cage medley included In That Quiet Earth and the second half of Supper’s Ready. But as the tour progressed, Phil Collins began having trouble hitting some of the higher notes in Supper’s Ready, and the band eventually returned to the familiar In That Quiet Earth / Afterglow ending.

New material from Invisible Touch featured heavily, with standout performances of: Domino (with Phil’s now-legendary audience interaction), Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Throwing It All Away (where the crowd singalong grew with each night) and Invisible Touch.

Live at Wembley Stadium

‘Nearly 300,000 people at Wembley. OK, there might have been a few repeats in there, but I thought at the time, and I still think now, that moment was the peak of our career’1 – Tony Banks.

By the time Genesis arrived at Wembley, the band had performed the set so often it had become a masterclass in musicianship and stagecraft. Initially, only two nights at Wembley were planned, but due to overwhelming demand, two more were added, making Genesis the first band to play four sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. They entered the Guinness Book of Records, a record later broken by Michael Jackson during his Bad tour in 1988.

The Wembley concerts were filmed and later released on VHS and DVD (2003). Unfortunately, the epic In the Cage medley did not make it into the final release, (allegedly) due to bad luck with tape changes during that very song on each night.

Even so, the performance captured at Wembley is phenomenal, showcasing Genesis at their live peak. With Invisible Touch, the band had reached global superstardom and Wembley was the victory lap.

After this triumph, fans would have to wait four more years for the next Genesis studio album.

Title photo: Genesis Nancy 1987. Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Daryl Stuermer, Chester Thompson. Genesis en concert à Nancy le 14 juin 1987 au stade Marcel-Picot de Nancy-Tomblaine Source: Wikimedia Commons, Fredamas / CC-BY-SA-2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0).

  1. in Banks, Tony; Collins, Phil; Gabriel, Peter; Hackett, Steve; Rutherford, Mike; Dodd, Philip, Genesis. Chapter & verse. (New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007), p. 287. ↩︎