On Saturday (May 8), Bono addressed an audience of 5,000 people at Battery Park for the Tribeca Film Festival‘s free concert. Speaking at length about AIDS and poverty in Africa, Bono urged the audience to become involved in putting out “the fire of AIDS in Africa.” He apologized for not performing, saying he “felt naked on stage without a band behind him,” and promised to return to New York to perform with U2.

Photos at Getty Images and LFI.