The concerts are timed to raise awareness of extreme poverty around the world, mainly in Africa, and to pressure the world leaders at the G8 summit in Europe the following week to make tackling the poverty issue a top priority.

The concerts will be held outside the Art Museum in Philadelphia, in London's Hyde Park, at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Circus Maximus in Rome and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Bono called in to the conference from France to confirm that U2 would perform in London, as would Paul McCartney and Coldplay, with Oasis attempting to make it as well. Dave Matthews spoke in Philadelphia as part of the press conference, and his band will be part of the U.S. show. At City Hall in Philadelphia, more artists were confirmed for the U.S. show, including Will Smith, Bon Jovi, P. Diddy, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Keith Urban and Maroon5. Also perfomring in Philadelphia are Rob Thomas, Sarah McLachlan, 50 Cent and Kaiser Chiefs. Elton John will be performing in Philly days later, though he is scheduled for the London Live 8 gig. Electric Factory Concerts' Larry Magid told WMMR/Philadelphia's Pierre Robert that they plan to have acoustic performances in between sets and also hope to have artists collaborate and perform together.

A global broadcast is being planned to link up all the different concerts around the world, with an AOL Internet broadcast already announced.

At the press conference, Geldof spoke of the motives behind Live 8, twenty-years after the original Live Aid. "We don't want your money, we want you, because every few seconds a child dies needlessly of extreme poverty," he said. "Eight world leaders in one room in Scotland on the 8th of July can save millions and millions of lives, but they'll only do it if enough people tell them to."

Complete details can be found online at live8live.com.