U2 and Macca in Beatles costumes

When Paul McCartney and U2 take the stage in Hyde Park on Saturday (July 2, 2005) to open the Live 8 concert in London, they'll do so in Beatles costumes. As reported in Italy's La Repubblica and quoted in England's Sunday Times, the musicians will perform the Beatles song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" while wearing Sgt. Pepper costumes, as the Beatles did on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album in 1967. The first line from the song - "It was 20 years ago today" - will also reference the fact that it's been 20 years since the Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia, at which U2 and McCartney both performed.

The newspapers also reported that McCartney will close the London show, as expected. He'll lead an all-star version of the Beatles song "The Long And Winding Road," which will symbolize Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof's call for people to march on Scotland for "The Long Walk To Justice." Geldof wants as many people as possible to go to Scotland, where the leaders of the G8 nations will be holding a summit, to demonstrate how important relieving Third World poverty is to ordinary citizens.

McCartney gave the next-to-last performance at the Live Aid concert in Wembley Stadium in London on July 13th, 1985. He did the Beatles' "Let It Be," with guest backing vocals from Geldof, David Bowie, the Who's Pete Townshend, and British star Alison Moyet.

Live 8 concerts will also be held in Philadelphia; Barrie, Ontario; Paris; Berlin; Rome; Tokyo; and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Submit the above story to:

Del.icio.us   Digg   reddit   StumbleUpon   Facebook