NFL
By: Greg Rector
When I saw Queen on July 12th, 1986, at Wembley Stadium, I reached Rock and Roll “Nirvana” I was so blown away by the power the late Freddie Mercury had over the entire audience. It was also my father’s birthday so before I departed for the concert I called my dad back in Canada and wished him a Happy Birthday. Might be a reason why I remember this concert so well.
I was in England participating with the United States Marine Corps in a military exercise as the exercise was over I was in London. When I heard that Queen was performing at Wembley Stadium the mecca for any fans of Premier League Soccer and other sporting events such as the Olympic Games I was determined to get my hands on a ticket to see Queen. That turned out to be quite easy as scalpers had seats available.
Now I ended up in the stands and not down on the hallowed ground of Wembley Stadium. The madhouse that was the crowd that evening was amazing to watch. Whenever Freddie Mercury asked for the crowd to sing along with him, his awesome power and incredible voice were so rich and whenever he spoke to the crowd you could feel the response up and down your spine.
Having seen Queen perform a year earlier at the “Live Aid” concert was the inspiration for why I was determined to see them perform live. Live Aid took place on July 13th,1985 so to be able to see Queen live 364 days later was also a great feeling.
“I won’t be touring on my own or splitting up with Queen. Without the others, I would be nothing. The press always makes out that I’m the wild one and they’re all quiet, but it’s not true. I’ve got some wild stories about Brian May you wouldn’t believe.” When Freddie Mercury was asked the question so often that was his response to being asked the question yet again in 1985.
Between Another One Bites the Dust and Who Wants to Live Forever he addressed the audience that kids shouldn’t listen to what he said during this concert as Freddie Mercury does say the F*** word several times and this moment rings true so much for me as this was the last time Queen would tour together with Freddie Mercury.
Here is the song list used that night by Queen at Wembley Stadium.
- One Vision
- Tie Your Mother Down
- In the Lap of the Gods… Revisited
- Seven Seas of Rhye
- Tear It Up
- A Kind of Magic
- Under Pressure
- Another One Bites the Dust
- Who Wants to Live Forever
- I Want to Break Free
- Impromptu
- Brighton Rock Solo
- Now I’m Here
- Love of My Life
- Is This the World We Created?
- (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care
- Hello Mary Lou
- Tutti Frutti
- Gimme Some Lovin’
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- Hammer to Fall
- Crazy Little Thing Called Love
- Big Spender
- Radio Ga Ga
- We Will Rock You
- Friends Will Be Friends
- We Are the Champions
- God Save the Queen
Simply an amazing group of songs and I must admit that while the end of the concert was powerful when Freddie Mercury started singing “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” the audience was singing word for word and as both songs are so well known I have to say my three favorite songs performed by Queen that night were the three songs they used from the 1950s and the 1960s “Hello Mary Lou” by Ricky Nelson “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard and “Gimme Some Lovin” by the Spencer Davis Group, all three songs were performed so well by Queen.
Brian May is such a great lead guitarist and Roger Taylor is also so good on the drums.
The moment of the night though will forever be seeing Freddie Mercury playing the piano and singing “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Seeing that song performed live was a highlight in my musical life. Just as he sang that song so powerfully at Live Aid this night was even better as Queen performed in the daytime for Live Aid. As far as the argument over who the best “Frontmen” for bands goes you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone better than Freddie Mercury.
Now yes I am a dual citizen and am not a fan of the “Royal Family” but I even sang along at the end of the concert and that says a lot for me to sing “God Save The Queen” yet there I was with the entire audience singing that song.
What was your favorite Rock concert? Let us know in the comments.
