13.07.1985 LIVE AID

Ovaj rezime na Queen moram dodati:

On Saturday 13 July 1985, at 6:41 p.m. Freddie Mercury stepped out in front of 70,000 people — plus the estimated 1.9 billion people who tuned into the live broadcasts across the world — and delivered a 20-minute performance of a lifetime.

Queen’s performance has gone down in history as one of the BEST Live Gigs ever and it’s still Pure Magic!

As Queen took the stage at Wembley Stadium, Freddie was a brilliant sight. He had stripped his look to the bare essentials — faded Wrangler jeans, trademark moustache, white tank top showing off his chest and arms, a black studded belt, his comfortable, signature Adidas Hercules wrestling boots and a studded arm band hugging his right bicep.

Amid an atmosphere charged with pessimism, Freddie danced out on stage and welcomed the crowd like his dearest friend. By the time he sat down at the piano and hit the first few notes of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” he was the absolute master of the stadium.

Over the next 21 minutes, his audience, and the 1.9 billion people watching on TV around the world, fell in love with him. His humor, his hyper-masculine yet fantastically camp energy and that phenomenal four octave voice were irresistible. Freddie was indeed a born ringmaster. There was no alienating affectation, no wallowing in sentiment. Where other bands might have been complacent, Queen swept effortlessly through a distilled serving of their greatest and most bombastic hits, shortening some, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, Hammer To Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. Queens goal was to perform a mini concert with the time they were allotted.

As the band performed their hit ‘Radio Ga Ga‘ and second song on the set, the mesmerizing crowd of 72,000 strong, clapped along in unison, on cue to the chorus, Freddie had them in the palm of his hand. The only pause came right after ‘Radio Ga Ga’ when he led the crowd for thirty seconds in a vocal improvisation which was later referred to as “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝,“ 72,000 adoring fans shouted on his command, “Ayyyy-O” across Wembley’s stadium and it was a phenomenal sight.

Brian, Roger and John, his fellow bandmates, executed their role - that of Mercury's foil - magnanimously. He carried the audience, his winks and nods making the triumph a shared one, blown kisses was assurance that he was as turned on by everyone as everyone was by him.

Freddie started with his piano and would dance across the stage after their number one hit ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and would end with his piano for ‘We Are The Champions’ Only leaving his ivory keys once again for the big climax, he took nothing for granted, his vocals were flawless and absolutely remarkable all the way through. He basked in victory at the edge of the stage. Still relishing in their highly successful performance, Freddie and Brian graced the stage once more as part of the finale to perform ‘Is This The World We Created.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 “𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫” 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰!

With Live Aid stripping all the acts back to the basics. No sound checks, no special lighting or effects in broad daylight. Brian May told Mojo in 1999: “𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭....𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫 (𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐟) 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦, 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞. 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥."

Freddieʼs partner, Jim Hutton, had never been to a gig before Live Aid. In his memoir Freddie And Me he described the aftermath of Queenʼs all-conquering Live Aid performance on that historic day at Wembley Stadium: “When he came off, he rushed to his trailer and I tottered behind like a puppy. His first words were: Thank God thatʼs over!ʼ Joe ripped his wet clothes from him and dressed him. Adrenalin still overflowing, Freddie knocked back a large vodka to calm himself. Then his face lit up. As we stepped out of the caravan we met a grinning Elton John. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰!” he said to Freddie.

Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters said, “𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 ‘𝐞𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭; 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.”

Bob Geldof best summed up the mood of Live Aid and Queenʼs impact on it. “𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲,” he remembered. “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐤𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐱. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭?”

Freddie Mercury remains undefined by it. He greeted the world on his own terms and did whatever he loved, as and when he chose to. His spectacular performance at Live Aid, which not only resurrected Queen, but established them as one of the most successful acts of all time, is just one part of his generous legacy. It deserves to be enjoyed for many years yet.

Queen — 20 minutes at their finest. No pyrotechnics, no big screen behind them, no laser light show.
Just four absolutely mind blowing musicians giving an amazing, all time performance.