Million expected to attend London gigs

The big eventTwenty years after their heartfelt plea to "feed the world", Bono, Bob Geldof and a host of other music stars return to the stage tomorrow with a fresh message: "Make poverty history."

Up to one million people are due to attend 10 concerts for Live8, the centrepiece of which is a star-studded gig at London's Hyde Park.

Hundreds of millions are due to watch at home or on big screens erected for the general public in 12 UK cities and for fans attending the Elton John concert at the RDS in Dublin.

According to Live8 organisers, up to 85 per cent of the world's population will be able to see the show, which is being billed as the biggest live event in music history.

The Hyde Park concert is said to be "the biggest ticketed event ever in the UK", with a guaranteed audience of 205,000.

Meanwhile, talks continued yesterday about including Dublin in the Live8 through the pre-planned Elton John concert. The legendary singer will perform at Hyde Park before jetting to Dublin for an 8.15pm start to his performance at the RDS.

A spokeswoman for Aiken Promotions, which is responsible for the Dublin concert, said there was "talk" of him bringing some of the artists from London, including "possibly George Michael", along with a BBC television crew which would then broadcast footage from Ireland as part of the Live8 coverage.

Aiken opens the concert gates at 1pm to allow fans to watch Live8 on giant TV screens at the RDS. The Live8 concerts form part of a day of action which kick-starts Geldof's "Long Walk to Justice", which calls on the leaders of the G8 group of nations to act on global poverty when they meet in Edinburgh on July 6th-9th.

To coincide with the summit, a concert takes place next Wednesday at Murrayfield Stadium featuring Geldof, Bono, Midge Ure, The Corrs and Ronan Keating, among others.

As part of a huge logistical effort for tomorrow's event, more than 1,000 wired microphones are being supplied to stages in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Philadelphia.

Live coverage of the event is available on RTÉ and BBC television, starting with the Hyde Park concert, which is due to finish at about 9.30pm, and then switching to the Philadelphia gig, due to end at about 3am on Sunday.

Among the highlights of the London concert will be the reunification of Pink Floyd in public for the first time in 24 years.

Other eagerly awaited performers are U2, whose lead singer Bono provided one of the most memorable moments of the original Live Aid concert when he plucked a girl from the crowd and danced with her onstage. Free tickets for tomorrow's event were distributed through a text message competition. Barriers have been erected around Hyde Park to discourage non-ticket holders from congregating in the area, which will be secured by more than 1,000 police officers.