Fantastic fund-raising show to come to local theatre
It’s 40 years since the original Live Aid, the famous charity concerts at Wembley stadium and later in America. The brainchild of Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure who ignored much advice that it could never happen and just went ahead knowing they had to do something about the terrible famine at that time in Ethiopia, that single day raised millions for famine relief as well as setting the ball rolling on many other great ideas like Soccer Aid and Comic Relief.
Although with slightly more modest ambitions, two local musicians Graham Tavener and Jeremy Ward have taken inspiration from Sir Bob and others and are bringing together “Long Eaton does Live Aid!” , an evening of fine musical entertainment at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton at 7.30pm on Saturday 26th July.
When interviewed, Graham said: “We’re putting together an evening with something to please many musical tastes – as well as performances from bands of some really well-known songs, there will be a sprinkling of original songs, a great soul and blues singer, and a thumping Oasis tribute to round it all off.” Co-organiser Jeremy told us more about the ambitions of the evening, “We’re aiming to raise a healthy amount for good causes – all profits will be split between charities who work both abroad and closer to home. We’ve asked the different band members for suggestions on these – it’s been a great way to give them the chance to raise money for causes they care about.” Charities that will benefit from this event include the armed forces’ families charity SSAFA, the multinational refugee relief agency UNHCR, Cancer Research and a local Rotary group. Graham adds, “it’s been exciting organising this, all the musicians we’ve contacted have been, like, “Yeah, let’s do this”, there’s so much positive energy around”.
So you’re invited to come and experience this energy yourselves as the bands and the host for the evening, local radio DJ Richard Dawson, aim to re-create the spirit of that famous day 40 years ago. Tickets are now on sale at £15 each and can be booked at the Duchess theatre website https://www.duchess-theatre.com/ . Not to be missed!
