Midge Ure hit the high notes during his performance at the show on Friday night (30756/07)WEST WILTS SHOW 2005: FROM the dizzy heights of organising the Live 8 concerts to Trowbridge bandstand is quite a leap but rock legend Midge Ure was happy to be in the town.

Ure was headlining the West Wilts Show in Trowbridge on Friday night and wowed the audiences with hits including Vienna and Dancing With Tears In My Eyes.

Undeterred by the season, and the unseasonable rain, he also performed the huge Live Aid and Live 8 single Do They Know It's Christmas?, which he co-wrote with Bob Geldof, to the huge appreciation of the crowd.

Speaking before going on stage he said: "This is very different to Live 8, you just can't compare the two. Live Aid and Live 8 were such amazing events and they just keep getting bigger and bigger, this time there were seven or eight concerts around the world and that is amazing.

"Playing here was booked in before I knew about Live 8 and I wouldn't cancel other shows because it would disappoint people, so I've gone from fielding phone calls and emails from around the world to jumping in my car to play an acoustic show, but I enjoy the variety."

Ure, who lives in Bath and has four daughters, is just one of many top performers who have decided to settle in this area, believing it to be a better place to raise a family than in a big city such as London.

He said he enjoys playing at gigs in the West Country but seldom gets the opportunity to do so.

"Events like this are great for the community and for the towns, they give people the sense their council is doing something for them.

"The beauty is that 15 minutes after I walk off the stage I can be heading for my bed."

Ure, who has been performing since he was 18, enjoyed success with Slik in the 1970s before becoming the frontman for innovative 80s group Ultravox.

In 1984 he and Geldof co-wrote Do They Know It's Christmas?, the ultimate fundraising anthem that captured hearts and minds around the globe, raising millions for Ethiopian famine relief.

A new version of the song was released in the run-up to last month's Live 8 concerts.

Despite his world-famous profile Ure remains down-to-earth and said he is equally at home in front of an audience of 300 or of 100,000 and praised the local musicians taking part in the West Wilts Show.

"This is good for young musicians who are given the chance to perform in front of an audience." he said.

"It must be petrifying for some of them and a steep learning curve, but they are getting out there and doing it and that's what it's all about."

See this week's Wiltshire Times for a seven-page guide to the West Wilts Show 2005