Back in 2005 we experienced a day which we will never forget. We were fortunate to know about Live8 before the concert was announced, although we had no idea how massive this event would turn out to be. As the line-up grew, so did our expectations.

We didn't realise the kind of access we would be privileged to have until we reached the gates of Hyde Park and even then it wasn't until we found ourselves inside the Artist Garden that we fully understood how special the following twelve hours would be. Imagine walking into a sealed off area and the first person you bump into is The Edge from U2 who gives you a wave followed by a nod from Paul McCartney.

One person I personally always wanted to meet was Madonna; time and time again I had tried and narrowly missed a formal introduction with the superstar herself at BBC Centre. But it was at Live8 when this dream came true, just an hour before we had a brief chat with Bill Gates and was introduced to Brad Pitt by Guy Richie who was standing a few metres away from Elton John - You see what we mean about the day being special?

This is the final article we are going to revisit before the first decade of ABLE2 comes to a close. But choosing the relevant story wasn't difficult; this is the tale of how one very lucky journalist had the most amazing day of his life in the company of his best mate and guest-list to die for. If only Twitter was available on July 2nd 2005...

Over the past 5 years we have tried to start our reviews with a witty, amusing or just a damn right interesting opening sentence, hopefully you may have noticed some! However, we are stuck. In this review, story, report call it whatever you wish, no words, no matter how Shakespeare they are put together could do justice on the day we had on July 2nd 2005. A date which will stick with us until we die. It is with a great honour and a little lump in our throats bulging with unforgettable memories ready to burst we can now bring you our memories from Live8...

Pick a number 1 to 6. We were. The only thought going through our heads whilst waiting for our passes to arrive was, if we were lucky enough to be given a laminate which number would be printed on the outside? The laminates were graded with priority. 6 being the least imported and restricted access backstage and 1 being the most. Which was a pretty good job as the twenty minutes the butterflies had fits flying around in our stomachs the waiting was over and a '1' laminate was draped over our heads. We felt as we had just been knighted. After being graced with our access all areas pass we walked through Hyde Park and marched into the venue compound passing the Hard Rock Cafe VIP area, the Clear Channel hospitality, the press area and the D-List guest area. There was no time to visit these compounds, we wanted the stars, we wanted what the editor of Heat magazine would die for, and we wanted to be in the artist garden area. And we were. ABLE2UK had finally arrived at Live8 and we made a promise to stay out of the celebrities’ way and go unnoticed for the next 12 hours. But that went to pot within the first minute as the first person we bumped into after going through the fence was U2'S Adam Clayton. Something told us that the day was looking pretty promising and you know what? We weren't wrong. Lets first off all try to review the mammoth show in the best way we can and then we will come back and escort you backstage as our plus one!

The line up was a music lovers dream as well as a journalist's nightmare. Workers from various publications and tabloid papers had 27 potential reviews to report back from within hours. Many opted for the easy way out and splattered photos over a two page spread in their entertainment columns. Believe us; we were tempted to do the same. Before the stage had McCartney's footprint marked on it at 2pm we could see our article stacked with assorted gifs of band images swiped from various WebPages. Although we thought better of it. Today was history and we wanted to keep it as fresh in our minds for everyone who reads this site. So here's a fairly in-depth report, in order of how the gig of the decade unraveled...