With the 40th anniversary of Live Aid a few weeks ago it became clear just how much of a part of living memory the Live Aid concert was to many and Just For One Day realised this. The production premiered back in 2024 at The Old Vic and transferred to the West End, opening in May this year. The show not only looks at the concert itself but examines just why it was put on and looks at it through a modern lens.

There is no escaping it but the music in the show is brilliant. The music is all songs that were performed at Live Aid so there is a huge catalogue to choose from however not only are the songs brilliant but so are the way that they are used in the show. It isn’t until the last 20 minutes of the show until we get to the concert itself so until this point the songs are predominantly used to set the mood of the piece, a segment at the BBC is set to Radio Gaga, Pinball Wizard is used to Harvey Goldstein, a concert promoter and Stop Your Sobbing by Margaret Thatcher. Whilst they don’t move the plot forward they did a brilliant job at capturing the mood of the characters. The orchestration by Matthew Bring is also brilliantly done, songs flow seamlessly into the next and there are medleys that I didn’t know that I needed in my life until now.

The book by John O’Farrell tells of Suzanne, an attendee at Live Aid as she regals her daughter, Jemma with her experience. Her daughter however is not so enamoured with the concert and challenges her but this is where Bob Geldof steps in and says that her generation have to learn from it to make the change that he set out do so. From then on we follow Geldof in his mission to raise as much money for the famine in Ethiopia as possible, starting with his Band Aid single and moving onto the Live Aid concerts. However it isn’t just Geldof that is the focus, we meet Amara, an aid worker in Ethiopia as well as the likes of Marsha, Jim and John Kennedy who worked to ensure that Live Aid was possible. These points of view, along with the appearance of Margaret Thatcher ensure that the show veers away from being a Bob Geldof biopic and instead focuses on just how much the show meant to so many people.

The initial moments of the show felt rather contrived in order to set up the plot and I didn’t always enjoy the narrative device of seeing things from older Suzanne’s point of view but it did enable the concert not to be seen through a picture perfect lens. Having Suzanne’s daughter call out the lyrics of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas,’ and Amara writes to Geldof essentially calling out his white saviour attitude but it is presented in a balanced way.

Another huge plus about the show is that aside from Bob Geldof and Midge Ure they steer clear of impressions of the pop stars and instead let the performers individuality shine. Playing Bob Geldof was Craige Els and he perfectly captures the punk spirit at the heart of Geldof and strikes a balance perfectly between the comedic moments in contrast to the emotional tug of the musical. George Ure plays Midge Ure and his voice perfectly captures Midge Ure’s distinct sound. Threatening to steal the show is Julie Atherton as Margaret Thatcher and her version of ‘I’m Still Standing,’ is hilarious. Atherton’s impression strikes the perfect balance of being easily identifiable as Thatcher yet hammed up for comedy purposes.

The rest of the cast all have moments in the spotlight as individual performers or fictional characters, Fayth Ifil as Jemma is the voice of Gen Z in the show as well as delivering a unique version of ‘My Generation,’ and Kelly Agbowu as Marsha and Ashley Samuels as Jim bounce off each other brilliantly although I would have loved to known more about their characters.

The technical side of the show is also flawless and it does well to keep its roots in rock as it often gives the feel of a stadium concert with a huge lighting rig and lighting design by Howard Hudson and band on the stage throughout. Sound design by Gareth Owen also ensures that the musical manages to sound like a concert whilst not missing a word of dialogue and it gradually ramps up towards the finale in both energy and volume. The costumes also merge the 80’s feel with today, a punk rebellion feel to the ensemble with leather and denim aplenty but styled so it feels current rather than nostalgic.

Whilst Just For One Day bills itself as the Live Aid Musical it is in fact so much more than that. A musical with heart, history and humour it with both a generous helping of nostalgia combined with a Gen Z lens although all is trumped by the music that underscores it all.

Just For One Day is currently booking until January 2026. You can find out more and book tickets here.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Evita, The Devil Wears Prada and Starlight Express.