On Wednesday 6th July I headed for Edinburgh for the Live 8 Final Push on the day that the world's top leaders met at the G8 summitt. Luckily we arrived early in the morning so had the chance to look around the city. This was the first time I had been to Scotland and within 5 minutes of getting of the plane it started to rain - typical!

We walked through the cobbled streets and amongst the quaint shops of the Old Town, passing the magnificent Edinburgh Castle, which provides a stunning backdrop to almost everywhere you stand in the city. The Old Town was very quiet. We were expecting to see thousands of people protesting in the streets as Bob Geldof had called for 1 million people to head to the Scottish capital to protest against third world poverty. Somewhat disappointed at no protests being held we decided to experience some Scottish culture and headed to the Art Museum.

The museum housed paintings by not only famous Scottish painters but more reknowned paintings from the likes of Dagas, Rembrandt,Van Gogh and Constable.

After the museum we headed for the New Town and Prince's St (the city's main street). we stumbled across around 500 protestors who were barricaded into an area by a circle of policemen. The protestors were waiting for coaches to head up to GlenEagles and were vocal but placcid in their protests.

After stopping for a spot of lunch at Jimmy Chong's Chinese restaurant, very impressive!we decided to return to the hotel in preperation for the evening's festivities. On the way back to the hotel it dawned on me that it was hard to escape the real reason why we had travelled to Edinburgh - to lend our voice to the Make Poverty history campaign. Banners and flags hung from windows across the city and many people wore the t-shirts with that slogan. We walked through another protest which had an unpleasant atmosphere. Protestors were squaring up to riot place and numbers were swelling fast. There were police dogs, riot vans and riot police everywhere. We decided not to hang around as we felt it may get ugly. So back to the hotel, get changed and head for the main event.

THE CONCERT

On the walk up to Murrayfield the anticipation and excitment was transparent. Revellers were lining the streets up to Murrayfield 2 and half hours before it was even due to start. Local pubs were packed and despite the rain everyone was in high spirits.

The queue seemed huge but we were in the stadium for around 5pm, 2 hours before showdown. We could not believe we had seat tickets, and not only that, the seats were right near the front with a perfect view of the stage. In heinsight, after seeing the atmosphere it would have been nice to have stood up with the hardcore but we still had a whale of a time, and by the end of the night I was glad that I had sat down and conserved my energy for the long walk back into Edinburgh.

I had really been looking forward to this event but I didn't realise how big it was acutally going to be and how crazy the atmosphere would be.

It was a truly inspiring night and one I am so very greatful to have been part of.

Here are the people who participated in the event and my thoughts:

Lenny Henry - the black country comedian was on form and was a great crowd pleaser. His impression of a blues singer was hilarious

9/10

Proclaimers - They opened the show with 500 miles and the crowd erupted with everyone boucing up and down. A sight to behold. The Scottish sure know how to party

9/10

Jamie Cullum - All You Need is Love
Totally professional. He draped the Scottish flag across the piano -good move and got the crowd singing along to this classic.

9/10

Jamie Cullum & Natasha Bedingfield - Woohoo. natasha Beddingfield is far better live then I thought she would be. Her voice has real emotion

9/10

Wet Wet Wet - Another Scottish favourite who the crowd went mad for. I don't think they sounded great in the stadium but who cares!

7/10

Davina McCall & children - I love Davina and didn't know she was goign to be there!. She spoke about the plight of Africans in her empathetic way.

10/10

McFly - All About You - they were greeted to a few boos but that all went out the window with this catchy tune. Even the people booing sang along. I thought they put in a great performance and sounded great live

8/10

Eddie Izzard

Hmmm. he struggled a bit with trying to entertain the crowd and at times I felt slightly awkward for him. Don't think I would want to see him live.

6/10

Sugababes - Stronger - they were also greeted by a few boos but to be fair they sang very well. I'm not really a fan but I can't knock them

7/10

Bono

Annie Lennox - One of the highlights of the night. She was unbelivable. I could feel the hairs on the back stand on end. Her voice has so much emotion. She sang Redemption song and Sister's are doing it for themselves. She then spoke about the campaign in an emotional couple of minutes

:: Kumi Naidoo

Bob Geldof - The place exploded and sang along to an old folk song which I can't remember the name of but knew the words! Everyone waved their hands in the air. The atmosphere was unforgettable. He played the rock and roll number Rat Pack as the crowd went wild. who cares that he's not the greatest singer, he means it when he sings and you can feel it.

10/10

The Thrills - Probably one of the only acts that I couldn't understand the words he was singing. however it didn't really matter as everyone else knew the song and waved their arms in time to the music.

8/10

Midge Ure & Guy Chambers - He sang Vienna and you could argue that he can't sing it as well as he used to. However the chorus sent a chill up my back and he still has a great voice that moves you

9/10

Peter Kay - He only cam on for a bried spell when he played the pan pipes - it was hilarious and everyone sang along.

9/10

Feeder - They played their famous song which escapes me right now.I didn't know they were playing and neither did most people. It was a great performace and the crowd jumped up and down in time to the rousing chorus.

10/10

Embrace, Neneh cherry and Will young
Excellent performance althoug Neneh Cherr'y mike did not work in the stadium.

8/10

Youssou N'Dour -A new found talent in the UK although he has been famous for years. He has agreat voice and the crowd loved him

Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds
For the first part of the song Neneh Cherry's mike didn't work but she held her compsoure and gave a great second half performance of the classic hit

8/10

George Clooney - My fiancee swooned when he came on stage. Thanks for turning up George!

8/10

Ronan Keating - He gave a good performance with mixed reactions. He sang Life is a rollercoaster which at least you could sing along to. Not really my cup of tea

7/10

Beverly Knight & Guy Chambers - She blew me away. What an incredible voice which surely could be heard from Gleneagles. She performed Angels. It was stunning

10/10

Patrick Kielty

Texas - They performed two songs. Time for a toilet break I think! I don't really like their songs but she sang well and the crowd loved her - well they would they're Scottish!

Katherine Jenkins & Choir - Nessun Dorma
I'm not a big fan of Opera but the place was silent whilst listening to her haunting voice. Another great moment

9/10

Snow Patrol - I've decided that I'm now a fan! They were great and although they only performed one song they ruled the stage and got the crowd worked up.

10/10

Travis - Fanntastic. For some people this is what they had been waiting for and I'll never listed to 'Why does it always rain on me' in the same way again. It was electric and my inhibition left me as I jigged along and sang along with every single person in the stadium.

10/10

The Corrs & Bono- Another toilet break. Don't like their music. Bono singing was a complete suprise and livened up a static performance

7/10

Wangari Matthai - Noone had heard of this guy but will never forget his performance. The crowd clapped along to the musicians guitr playing and haunting voice.

9/10

James Brown - What can I say. The concert had overran and Mr Brown came on stage at 11.45pm. He played 4 of his greatest song and the night was complete. We danced to every song and were transifxed to the stage. He is definately a master at what he does.

10/10

Bob Geldof and Bono Speach - What a speech. I was glad I was there to hear it as I'm sure it will be echoed in many years to come. They called on everyone to make as much noise as possible and the noise was deafening. I can still hear it ringinig in my ears.

Bono wasked us to sing Flower Of Scotland. You could tell who the English people were as they didn't know the words. Everyone else sang along with passion.

The concert had been beyond my expectations. The Scottish crowd were up for it before it had even began. They sang, jumped up and down, danced, had waved and made the most incredible noise throughout. I hear that many artists are saying the atmosphere bettered the Hyde Park gig.

As we walked back toward Edinburgh with thousands of others you could hear the excitement as people were still singing and dancing all the way home.

I arrived back in England this morning only to find that my car wouldn't start at the airport.I had left the lights on whilst I was away. After much fiddling about and some friendly passers by helped me out, the excitement of the night before disppeared as I heard about the London Bombings. (see next post)