By: Giselle Rojas
On Saturday July 13, 1985, about 2 billion people tuned in on the worldwide broadcast of “Live Aid”, a global charity concert held by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the famine crisis in Ethiopia. This event raised about 127 million dollars and was live streamed from two major stadiums in two different continents, JFK Stadium in Philadelphia and Wembley Stadium in London. Called by many “The Greatest Concert on Earth”, filled with a line up of many talented 80’s artists like Elton John, George Micheal, David Bowie, Madonna, Beatles legend Paul McCartney and many more who helped record the live version of the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” written by both Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, which sold many copies worldwide. During the 16 hour broadcast, one particular performance took over the crowd just like Jimi Hendrix did when he performed at Woodstock in 1969. In only 21 minutes, the legendary band Queen stole the show with a historic performance that moved the crowd and is rewatched and relived by many, who only wish they would have been apart of that event in 1985.
Queen’s success had plateaued around the early 80’s due to new pop hits and many new artists sensations. Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon gave an amazing performance which catapulted their rock legacy with a newer generation and gave Queen the momentum they deserved again. As last minute performers, Queen’s set started around 6:41 pm at Wembley Stadium with their legendary song “Bohemian Rhapsody”, a classic song itself that captivated the crowd with Freddie’s vocals and piano solo. After the quick two minute solo Freddie cut “Bohemian Rhapsody” short to “Radio Ga Ga”, where Freddie Mercury with his stage presence and broken mic stand, commanded the audience of about 72,000 people to sing along to the song. Along with chants, claps and Freddie’s rock star moves and commands made the audience feel a part of the performance and made the stadium tremble not only in London but in Philadelphia too where the audience also clapped and sang along as if they had Freddie Mercury live on stage and not on a television screen.
Brain May, lead guitarist of the band Queen, says he credits Freddie Mercury for the entire performance and it’s success. Freddie Mercury’s is considered a rock legend due to his song writing, his incredible vocals and his flamboyant stage presence. Freddie had an amazing ability to command the stage and make the audience feel a part of the performance. “Radio Ga Ga” had the crowd screaming back the chorus so loudly you would think the crowd was mic’d up. The crowd also clapped along on beat and fist pumped every-time Freddie did. After “Radio Ga Ga”, Freddie continued with an improvisational chant “Ay-Oh” where he again broke the barriers between him and the audience and enticed the audience to sing and chant along with him. Queen’s energy and songs they sang throughout this set is what set them apart from all the other talented artists who took the stage that night. Making this set one of the most historic concerts in history because of the energy shared with the audience and the audience excitement and willingness to shout back all the chants Freddie encouraged the crowd to sing.
Continuing the set list, Queen sang their current single at the time “Hammer To Fall”, where Brian May and John Deacon took center stage to show off their guitar melodies and Freddie followed mimicked their guitar motions using his broken mic stand as a guitar to play along side them while singing. Followed by “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” which Freddie introduced saying “This next song is only dedicated to beautiful people here tonight….that means all of you” The song had the crowd clapping their hands and was performed with Freddie Mercury and Brain May sharing the center stage back to back with a guitar. A song that with its melodic chorus and instruments makes your head want to nod up and down.
“We Will Rock You” is a song that growing up every kid was taught to chant at sports games or school assemblies to intimidate other schools. It’s a song all kids grow up on and used to give confidence to the students singing them. It’s a motivational rock anthem that is known all over the world and has become one of Queen’s biggest hits. For this song, the crowed stomped and clapped to the beat and lead the song while Freddie clapped along with them and gave crowd the mic.
They ended their twenty-one minute set with their song “We Are The Champions”. Another one of their classic rock anthems that shows off confidence and is another worldwide song that is loved by many. The choruses of these songs are extremely ironically since they stole the show, the song was the perfect ending to their setlist subconsciously claiming their successful contribution to the show. “We Are The Champions” is also the kind of song that even if people have never heard of the name Queen, they at least know the chorus to “We Are The Champions” or “We Will Rock You”. Elton John, a performer at Live Aid who performed minutes before Queen and close friend of Mercury told Queen after they came off stage, “No need go on now Freddie, you’ve swept the board and were absolutely brilliant”, giving Queen the credit they deserved. Mercury responded saying “Yes darling, we were”.
This legendary performance that will live on forever that makes people wish they could own a time machine and go and view that once in a lifetime performance. Every concert goer wishes to be a part of a crowd or an ambience with such enthusiasm and energy for the love of music. As well as every artist wishes to be able to receive that kind of love and energy back from a crowd, almost every artists dream. The artists present at Live Aid knew the kind of performance Queen had put on would go on in history and it has long after Freddie Mercury death. Queen’s performance live of the songs “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Radio Ga Ga” alone have about 122 million views on YouTube. Over the years, Queen legacy has continued and flourished but nothing will top their iconic performance at Live Aid and no other artist has come close to the energy that Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon put on that night at Wembley.
Bibliography:
Got A Million Rhymes 