RE-UPLOAD Classical Composer reacts to Queen at Live Aid | The Daily Doug (Episode 338) 

When Freddie was asked what his favourite instrument was. He replied "the audience darling". He wasn't lying.

Freddie stole the show..... while suffering from laryngitis. Legend

The timing of Freddie's "aaaa-oooo" was planned out to the second in many practice sessions in preparation for the concert. If you listen closely, you can hear a very faint drum beat towards the end of Freddie's "improv" which is Roger alerting Freddie that it's time to wrap up. Perfection! In fact, the whole 20 minutes is PERFECTION. Iconic performance! Love Queen! Great reaction!

When Queen walked on stage, they had no sound check so their sound engineer Trip Khalaf immediately removed all the limiters on the front of house PA.. Queen were by far the loudest band of the evening. They rehearsed the hell out of the set, down to the second... you can see there are coloured lamps on the stage signalling when the sound would be cut.. they performed the hell out of Live Aid. Genius on all fronts.

I once heard a critic say about Freddie: "he holds that little mic stand in one hand, and the crowd in the other".

Freddie was such a brilliant performer it makes sense that his greatest ever performance would be for the largest ever crowd.

I still shed a tear for Freddie - amazing to look back on this.

as a sound engineer myself soundchecks can sometimes be a pain with multiple acts on ,but i feel this is probably the best live performance of the 20th century

Freddie had a horrid sore throat that night and was advised not to go on. He was actually drinking lemonade with honey on stage. He went on and made history.

I was there that day and also saw Queen at Wembley with Status Quo, INXS and the Alarm. I was 17 and Freddie & Queen were just unbelievable in how they reached every person in that big stadium. Oh my, just fantastic, Doug.

I first saw Queen live in the seventies and saw their last gig at Knebworth and was extremely lucky to be able to attend Live Aid at Wembley, a great, long day and, yes, Queen were great. As a Queen fan, I was worried that the crowd wouldn't like them as they weren't that cool at the time, I needn't have worried. A wonderful performance, a memorable day.

Never gets old. My favorite story about them for this show: According to Geldof he had to call Freddie to get a commitment, & told Freddie “it’s the perfect stage for you.” When Freddie asked why, Geldof replied, “bc it’s the world.” Geldof asked Brian & Freddie specifically to perform is this the world we created. Just Freddie, Brian & his 12 string. Perfection.

Freddie... Best rock vocalist ever.... !!!!

Queen is the only group that each member are credited with writing #1 hits.

My first comment here. But this was just an amazing moment for me. This Georgia gal found herself in London this particular day. We stood outside of Wembley and were transported. We decided to look for a pub for a brew. This was playing on every television in London that day. The dancing, the joy reached its crescendo when Queen took the stage. None of knew that this terrifying thing called AIDS would steal Freddie from us all.

Mercury has to be one of the most engaging front men in all of rock.

Even in death Freddie commands the stage. When I saw the movie and radio gaga came on the whole theater clapped along with Freddie.

Brit comedians, not real police. Queen were phenomenal. I watched Live Aid from start to finish on the day. I really enjoy your channel. Thank you ❤

Freddy Mercury was asked what his favorite instrument was. He replied: "the audience, darling"

What I love is the ability of Freddie to clearly enunciate every word of the songs in that there is no guessing what he’s singing!

Imagine having polyps, your doctor says to take a few days off, and you go in front of 60,000+ people and perform what is arguably the best concert performance in history. That's some undeniable power as a band.

Freddie had a throat infection that day and against doctors advice he went onto the stage and produced this iconic performance.

The greatest 20 minutes of live music ever. Their rehearsing shows clearly here. Note the way they look at each other and gather round Roger's drum kit to ensure they are all in time.

Watch Brian May tell how they recorded Bohemian Rhapsody on an almost see-through tape on Rick Beato's youtube channel. He said they didn't really rehearse for the recordings! Real musicians of the day.

On "Crazy Little Thing" Dr. Brian May uses 3 different guitars. He starts on an acoustic, then goes to a Fender Stratocaster, then on to THE Red Special. Great reaction. Love your Queen breakdowns.

Shame you missed the joke by the "policemen" about the noise disturbing some older people in the area, "including Status Quo".

I was watching a guy who was studying this and he watched the time. They had a 20 minute set including hus interaction with the crowd. They were about 10 seconds off that 20 minutes. They were that precise.

Loved your edit on Queen’s live aid performance, I have viewed quite a few but have to say, your respectful reaction & added knowledge, was the best. Freddie was born for that performance, and too the rest of the band, Brian, John and Roger. Their timing was brilliant, & given that Freddie was advised by the medics not to perform because of his sore throat. We are all blessed to have that performance in our memory, and to be able to keep seeing it online is just Fab! I like seeing the lyrics to songs, which are just poetry set to fabulous music, At 74 I still Rock. 🇬🇧👍🎸

I remember watching all this live on TV in the US. It was near sunset. What a day !!! The whole band Queen always played flat out, pedal to the metal, and the energy from them jumped right thru the live tv broadcast. Epic! Few years later, Willie Nelson gave the US farmers FARM AID.

It’s even more amazing when you realize this isn’t a Queen concert. The crowd wasn’t a “Queen crowd,” per se. Also you should do U2’s Live aid set, it’s a solid set, but they aren’t Queen.

it just can not get any better than this, just an amazing show, freddy is the man

u forgot the end part Queen played out live aid with a song.. "is this the world we created" .. alot of people leave out the most emotional song of the entire night

What can you say Freddie had the world in his hands at the moment and hè had only 20 minutes and hè taken Every second of it

Going to school from 2007-2020 in Canada, Queen dominated pep rallies, School Dances and whenever they played music in between classes. Even people that don't know that much about Queen know most of their songs by heart

I was 14 and at my grandparents house watching this live. I was mainly watching for U2's set, but saw Queen almost immediately after... both sets were just jaw dropping amazing. I am forever grateful for being alive right in that moment and getting to experience this event.

the two guys dressed as policemen are Mel Smith (rip) and Griff rhys Jones both popular comedians in the UK then

This might be my mom's favourite ever if not some Beatles. It was so powerful to watch this with family. To this day you can feel the electric and hypnotizing atmosphere in the broadcast. You simply can't resist joining Freddie. I can't describe with words the abilities of Queen members in music and showmanship. They truly sound like album performing live, how many bands can sound so tight? The only way this could've been more perfect is if Show Must Go On would've been somehow done and performed here with the same intensity it had, as a closing number. I didn't think that much of them when I was younger, I understood why they were a big and successful band but I didn't understand on a personal level what was so amazing about them. But I started understanding when I grew up and realized that there has probably never been a band like this and it's hard to imagine there will be. Similar thing about Beatles or Cream or Hendrix. But they weren't quite Queen either. The policemen warming up were british comedians, I forget the show's name. I used to watch them as a kid with my parents. I guess after googling the finnish name, the show was just called Alas Smith and Jones. From 1984 to 1998.

Freddie remains the greatest performer I have ever seen, not just as a musician but as a showman, he seemed to feed off the crowds energy and grow in stature from it.......

i meet Freddie. 2 times ..End of 80´ in Colonge and Munich /Germany ....i never forget this time :-)

Love the input…if you want to see HUGE crowd participation, check out Love of My Life in Rio where Portuguese is their first language. Biggest crowd I’ve ever seen.

I have seen this video probably a hundred times and I will keep watching it over and over until I die. I will never get tired of watching it. Geniuses

When queen came on it was 1.45pm at 2nd Live Aid concert venue in Philadelphia which later on took over from Wembley in London

What .... A ...... Voice ! Greatest rock singer of all time.

For 20 minutes, the entire world was ruled by a QUEEN!!!!!!

I still get teary eyed when I see videos of Freddie!!

Can you imagine having to go on stage after this?

Interesting reaction. Definitely one of my favourites. Love the fact drops.

Yes, he's doing an Elvis impersonation during "Crazy Little Thing...". Only a few years earlier, "Jailhouse Rock" had been part of their set.

his voice was insane

To expand on your comment about the lack of cellphones, I think it's easy to view historic gigs through the lens of modern technology and forget just how seminal this event was. At the time, stadium concerts were still a relatively new phenomenon having only really taken off the '70s. No-one had yet grown up in families that were familiar with the concept of a rock concert in a stadium, nor had many people seen any on TV before this. Betamax and VHS were about a decade old, and only just making into peoples' homes - there was not yet a big catalogue of rock concerts on tape. So to most people this was a life-changing event, despite watching on a 20ish" TV of limited resolution with a mono speaker. We truly are blessed today with the internet and a massively distributed set of HD cameras, even if we don't always appreciate when to just enjoy the band.

It was the best set ever...and im a floyd fan..saw them in 94....class act..in 85 it was epic.❤❤

Damn, I can't believe how great he sounded live it is crazy! :D

QUEEN! Champions of the world!

I just met your channel and loved! Thank you a lot for your reacts!!

That drum sound check was my bezzy mate, Roger Taylor's drum tech. He was so drunk that day he threw all of Roger's drum sticks into the crowd because the crowd had started booing him, they had realised it wasn't Roger on drums yet. That's why the the 2 coppers (Smith & Jones)came on early to buy a bit of time for my mate to recover some drum sticks. After this, ROGER always breatherlised him before he went on stage or into the studio.

They only had 20 minutes. The symmetry is perfect. ❤

All these years later and I still miss Freddie...and nobody has come close to matching him

Oh Freddie.... we will never forget you!

So nice to see you have so much fun, I was belting it out! 🎉🎉🎉love Queen.

Not sure why you had to re-upload, but it was fun to watch and listen again. :)

I was There !!!!

Freddie is a true legend. I will love you forever, darling.

It is Monty Python introducing. I was there - it was out of this world!

I always took the hammer to be the Bomb.

For 20 minutes in 1985, England was ruled by a different Queen

23:00 Love hearing Spike Edney their touring pianist/keyboard player going for it. Doesn't get enough credit

The other musicians for the line up were all watching queen under the stage area and were so happy for them killing it!!! He looks like a beautiful god their!!! I love queen and we miss u Freddy!!!!!!

I remember seeing this live with my mum on tv.. was great 👍🏼

As I recall Freddie was performing onstage... he picked the mic stand up and the base fell off. They then had a mic stand designed which looked like it had no base on it because of that incident.

Give a listen to Queen's Live at Wembley from 1986. One of the greatest live performances by anyone ever recorded.

Best singer ever. Then Elvis and then nobody for a long time. Oh Freddie you will never die!

We sat and watched this on TV all day from Status Quo to Let it Be!

As Queen left the stage after their performance, Freddie past Elton John back stage and all that Elton said to Freddie was F You.

I too was 8 years old during Live Aid. I knew it was happening but I was too interested in playing with my friends. I do however remember going in different people's houses throughout that day and EVERYONE had it playing on the TV.

Hey Doug, if just cutting out " Is This the World We Created" avoids their blocking and a copyright strike, that's is your end around. I know, frustrating!

Greatest performer ever. I only wish.

Is This The World We Created " is never included , it should always be included when viewing the Queen Live Aid performance , the album version is a beautiful version , haunting .

Have you seen the closing ceremony of the London Olympics? They put a video,of Freddie addressing the crowd…and the crowd reacted as if he was alive!

We are the same age and hearing you talk about listening to We will Rock You and looking up to high school kids is spot on. It was that song and Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd that make me think of that time. Funny both those songs were released in the seventies but were still getting radio play when we were 8! Both groups are timeless. Thanks for this video, it was fun watching your enthusiasm. Put a smile on my face 😊

I think I’m having fun watching you enjoy the concert 😊

Smith and Jones were a comedy duo - Griff Rhys Jones lives near me in Suffolk and is now an elder statesman of Theatre Comedy and TV presentation - does a lot for heritage and preservation. There is a great country walk across his land and past his alpacas. Mel Smith turned more to directing and sadly died a few years back. A talented poker player too! I saw/heard this in patches as I had to get a train to audition for MACBETH at Sheffield Crucible. I got the gig! The whole event was extraordinary. According to the movie this was Freddie’s return to the band after drifting away from them.

Fun fact, Queen’s sound system was used for this concert and Tripp Kaliff, their sound engineer turned up the volume for Queen

happy to say I've seen them 8 times

The call and response with the audience he used to do at regular queen shows ive heard. Its really neat how they did their line up. Before bohemian rhapsody he told the guys I'm gonna do 7 keys and we go etc, they wanted to have a unique variety of stuff and thats how and why they go from each song. The hamner to fall isnt in highlander. I thought it was on the album with i wanna break free.

It was televised here in the states all day on MTV. After Queen played, me and my friends just sat there looking at each other wondering what just happened. My friend said I think we just saw the greatest live performance ever. We played our cassettes and Queen records for 6 months straight after that show.

Wow. What a showman!

The 2 guys at the start in the police uniforms are comedians Mel Smith and Griff Rease Jones who has their own show “Smith and Jones” back in the 80s. Popular at the time and I remember watching them as a child

The thing to keep in mind, this was not a Queen concert. Queens popularity had waned a bit by this time, but Freddie and Queen drew them in.

Yes, had so much fun watching this iconic concert with you. When Crazy Little Thing first came on the radio it stopped me in my tracks for a minute... actually thought it might be an Elvis song I'd never heard b4

72,0000 people at Wembley, another 100,000 in Philadelphia, and 1,2 billion watching on TV globally. The Olympics have 3 satellites...Live Aid had 13. The world for Africa! 👏👏 I remember it was very hot that day in Wembley Stadium July 13th 1985 but it was worth it, best day in my life! 🇳🇱

No auto tune then. Thank god

Its an absolute pleasure to listen to the amount of fact and research that you have quoted before and during your review. Its so sad to hear the amount of young Americans on Utube reacting to this video and really screwing up on their comments. Best wishes from Northern Ireland.

I was tuned in from Texas. Had just had my oldest son in May and I wrote about this concert and performance in his baby book. Thank you for your analysis

Well, thanks for your comments. While the version you just reviewed contained the opening with the two comedians dressed as “Bobbies” it didn’t include the last song performed by Freddie and Brian alone at 9:27pm. They came back on stage and did an encore. I happened to be in country, stationed at RAF Lakenheath, which was a couple of hours drive from the stadium. While mission requirements didn’t allow any of us to attend, we were able to watch it on tv in our break room. England is a great place to visit and a helpful hint--the farther away from the big cities you are the less expensive it will be and the locals will be happy for your hard earned money. Cheers and Happy Holidays

This performance is so timeless. If there was any request i could make at all please check out sultans of swing - dire straits live at alchemy. Truly one of the best live performances of all time.

I remember this concert , watch it on tv all day , I was 32 at that time .

I'm pretty sure the second to the last song was played and sung just a little faster than the studio recording for timing. Just a touch. Those last two were short songs that are usually played together. I've watched this performance multiple times.

Look at the 17:00 minute mark - the cord guy about rips the mike from Freddie, but Freddie doesn't flinch. He grabs the cord and twines it in his fingers for safety without a misstep. After the song you can see him teasing the cord guy about it.

Cheers mate 😎 👌

The intro to Death On Two Legs... A "need to use headphones" intro. Sets the mood for the song instantly. I have never ever heared something like that ever again. Love your stuff Doug !!