The idea for hosting the concert was envisaged by Ronnie Lane, ex-bassist for The Small Faces and The Faces, himself a casualty of multiple sclerosis. The concert featured a star-studded line-up of British musicians, including Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, John Paul Jones, Andy Fairweather-Low, Bill Wyman, Kenney Jones and Charlie Watts. The concert was particularly notable in the fact that it was the first occasion on which Clapton, Beck and Page, each a former lead guitarist for The Yardbirds, had performed together on stage.

The set list for the ARMS Charity Concert was as follows:

• Everybody Oughta Make A Change
• Rita Mae
• Lay Down Sally
• Ramblin' On My Mind/Have You Ever Loved A Woman?
• Cocaine
• Man Smart Woman Smarter
• Roadrunner
• Take Me To The River
• Slowdown Sundown
• Gimme Some Lovin'
• Star Cycle
• The Pump
• Goodbye Pork Pie Hat/Led Boots
• Hi Ho Silver Lining
• Prelude
• City Sirens
• Who's To Blame
• Stairway to Heaven
• Tulsa Time
• Layla
• Goodnight Irene

Clapton, Beck and Page each performed sets, with Andy Fairweather-Low and Steve Winwood also performing songs. Clapton, with Fairweather-Low, Bill Wyman, Chris Stainton, percussionist Ray Cooper, Kenney Jones, James Hooker, Steve Winwood and Fernando Saunders performed a selection of blues and rock numbers, each one culled from one or more of his albums - Cocaine and Lay Down Sally from Slowhand, Rita Mae from Another Ticket and Everybody Oughta Make A Change from Money & Cigarettes. Jeff Beck's set consisted largely of instrumental rock jazz-fusion numbers, though he did (to both the surprise of his fellow musicians, the audience, and indeed, himself!) perform his 1960s hit Hi Ho Silver Lining. Jimmy Page's set was made up, first, of three numbers taken from the Death Wish II music he had put together for director Michael Winner earlier that year. The set ended with "Stairway to Heaven", which evoked a great cheer from the audience.

After Page's set, the entire cast of musicians gathered on stage to perform Tulsa Time, a blues rock/country number from Clapton's album Backless, and then, what is arguably Clapton's most famous song, Layla. In each number, Clapton, Beck and Page each shared lead guitar duties, and, notably in Layla, each performed a different, and unique guitar solo.

At the concert's end, Ronnie Lane appeared on stage. Expressing thanks not only to the audience, saying that what had been achieved was 'terrific', he also thanked 'all the boys on the stage too', and then led the musicians in a rendition of Goodnight Irene.