Live 8 accounts: London

We asked readers of the BBC News website to tell us about their day at a Live 8 concert.

Rebecca Dean, a student midwife from London, recounts the great singing crowds and wimping out of a trip to the toilets in Hyde Park, London.

200,000 people gathered in London

When they played the films showing the tragic poverty in Africa, you could hear a pin drop.

No one talked or cheered for the next act. We just stood watching the screens, the pictures of starving children and AIDS victims, and it reminded us why we were there.

In between those films, there was some absolutely fantastic music.

We queued from 10am and got through the gates of Hyde Park just after 12. There were swarms of people everywhere.

I find it difficult to even pick a highlight.

Maybe Dido and Youssou N'Dour, or perhaps Robbie, Madonna or even Keane. Then there's Brad Pitt. There was rumours that George Clooney would be with him. It would have been nice to see him but I wasn't overly disappointed.

LIVE 8 ACCOUNTS

CPS:LINK HREF="" ID="4644197" STYLE="rightarrow">TOKYO: Chie Kobayashi CPS:LINK HREF="" ID="4644237" STYLE="rightarrow">JOHANNESBERG: K Mofokeeng CPS:LINK HREF="" ID="4644129" STYLE="rightarrow">BERLIN: Khy Griffin CPS:LINK HREF="" ID="4644025" STYLE="rightarrow">LONDON: Rebecca Dean CPS:LINK HREF="" ID="4644545" STYLE="rightarrow">ROME: Thomas Rocchi CPS:LINK HREF="" ID="4644249" STYLE="rightarrow">MOSCOW: Misha Kozyrev CPS:LINK HREF="" ID="4644183" STYLE="rightarrow">PHILIDELPHIA: Jackie Clark CPS:LINK HREF="" ID="4644187" STYLE="rightarrow">EDEN PROJECT: H Karniewicz

The venue was really compact. It would only take 10 minutes to walk to the toilets but I didn't venture there.

There were hotdog stands and burger vans but again, I wasn't brave enough to try them out.

The advantage of offering tickets for Live 8 in pairs is that there are very few groups of friends.

This has forced everyone to mingle in a civilised manner. But the lack of alcohol probably helped everyone remain polite.

I can't think of one bad set. Even the people who introduced the acts were brilliant. Ricky Gervais was so funny.

Harding hitting message

My lasting impression is the balance of music and politics. They managed to create a very hard hitting message without compromising the music.

It was heart wrenching when Bob Geldolf got everyone at all the concerts to click their fingers in unison every three seconds.

That signified a child dying from preventable disease and was very effective.

I stayed on a real high after the acts. I can't believe I was there listening to all those world famous musicians.

I'm sure Live 8 has increased public awareness.

Obviously I would like it to make a difference politically but I am quite sceptical about the willingness of some politicians to make poverty history.