UK Tsunami Gig

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

Opera singers and rappers have joined together for a massive Live Aid-style concert raising more than £1 million for the Asian tsunami relief effort.

Thousands of music fans danced along with such top British acts as Eric Clapton, Jools Holland and The Manic Street Preachers in a seven-hour music extravaganza at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

The show never lost pace as 20 acts came on to do short stints on the freezing stage, unheated in spite of the stadium's retractable roof being firmly in place.

The bouncing crowd, happily brandishing inflatable daffodils and Welsh flags, delighted in the likes of Stereophonics lead singer Kelly Jones, The Manics, Feeder and mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins, who opened the show with a moving rendition of Amazing Grace.

Jenkins' glitzy sequinned designer evening dress contrasted with fellow Welsh woman Charlotte Church's jeans and cowgirl boots, but both suited their styles.

As the evening warmed up, the crowd, filling stands and pitch, seemed to swell and created a sea of red as the music-lovers held aloft special torchlights.

Tracksuited Newport rapper boys Goldie Lookin' Chain leapt around the stage in an energetic performance followed by Badly Drawn Boy with a poignant and solemn rendition of Silent Sigh.

Shaggy-haired Embrace singer Danny McNamara immersed himself in the crowd, saying he had never before seen so many people looking so happy in one place.

The musical offerings were injected with tributes and comments from notable celebrities and politicians including the Prince of Wales, Bono, a notably boo-ed Gordon Brown, and Rhodri Morgan.

Shortly before the close, veteran singer-songwriter Lulu announced that the show had met its £1 million target, spurring her on to perform a high-energy version of Shout, accompanied by thousands of spectators. The evening came to a musical climax when Jools Holland played the piano with Eric Clapton on guitar.

As a finale, a host of other performers came back on stage to help them sing "Shake, Rattle and Roll". All 60,000 tickets originally released for the gig were snapped up within three days, and a further 1,000 later put on sale went in just 20 minutes.

The concert, which would normally take months to plan, has been put together in a matter of weeks, with 3,000 people working behind the scenes to bring it together.

All profits from the concert will go towards the relief effort, with none of the artists being paid for their performances.

[tynan88]

Wow thats amazing, I know we have a concert on Saturday here in Australia in Sydney, that I am happy to say I am going to, some awesome Aussie acts will be there.

Tynan

[dissention]

That's fantastic. And Lulu? Rocks. I love her.

I read that they're having something like this in Scotland, too, in February.