Live Aid Lives Again

Shaftesbury Theatre

Subtitled The Live Aid Musical (in case the original title didn’t make that clear), The Old Vic’s Just For One Day has moved to the heart of the West End. The musical by John O’Farrell covers the famine crisis in Africa, the creation of the song Do They Know It’s Christmas?, the Herculean effort to put on the concert and, of course, the day itself. The critics loved the music and singing , even if some of them found the strands of the story too messy.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

5 stars ★★★★★

Theatre Weekly’s Greg Stewart called it ‘a vibrant, emotionally charged tribute to a moment when music truly changed the world.’ He admits, ‘It’s a sprawling narrative, but director Luke Sheppard keeps the pace tight and the stakes high, ensuring the show never loses its emotional core. Whether you lived through Live Aid or are discovering it for the first time, the show captures the spirit of unity and urgency that defined that day.’

4 stars ★★★★

Theo Bosanquet at LondonTheatre said ‘the production feels well-honed and slick. It’s a high-octane blast of nostalgia pop’. Abbie Grundy for BroadwayWorld declared, ‘it’s a jukebox musical with real style and heart. While some songs feel shoe-horned in, they’re performed with such energy that you’re willing to forgive the slip in fluidity. In addition, this is one of the most talented ensembles I’ve seen in a long time’.

The anonymous reviewer from Rolling Stone UK was sure ‘This sublime jukebox musical will fill your heart and make you leave the theatre with the feeling that you could change the world too.’

3 stars ★★★

WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Crompton had mixed feelings but the musical covers conquered her heart: ‘Best of all you get a terrific group of singers and an epic band, stacked in silhouette behind them in Soutra Gilmour’s stripped-back and flexible setting, roaring through hits…It would take a heart of stone not to have a bit of a good time… But then there is John O’Farrell’s book, at moments witty but dreadfully overinsistent and earnest for most of the time.’

Dominic Maxwell of The Times found it tried to cover too much ground: ‘when it’s so bitty there is little time for the music to build up a head of steam, to feel better than second-hand…When it does — on an extended version of Message in a Bottle or My Generation, say… it can take your breath away. Shame a rock musical doesn’t trust more in the power of rock.’

2 stars ★★

Tim Bano at the Standard was unimpressed, describing it as ‘this competent but frustratingly shallow reconstruction of Live Aid, which races through its origin story, cranks out its big hits and tells us, among other insights, that we can change the world if we work together’.

Critics’ Average Rating 3.6★

Value rating 40 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)

Just For One Day can be seen at Shaftesbury Theatre until 10 January 2026. Buy tickets directly.

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