HOW and WHY were Queen SO good at Live Aid in 1985?

TIME STAMPS - 2:43 Checking Sound 7:36 Freddie's Vocal 12:25 Off-Stage Piano – Frees Freddie for Show 16:46 Electric Snare Trigger 17:15 Breaking Down the Invisible Wall 20:42 Timed Choreography 21:00 They were LOUDER! 26:36 Backing Vocals 29:13 Freddie's Air Guitar 32:59 Transitions and Potential Wireless System Failure 34:41 Using Visual Cues 36:05 Offstage Piano 39:48 Covering Mistakes 42:15 Seamless Instrumental Transitions 43:47 Working as a Team Vocally 47:07 Mind Blowing Timing

Fascinating analysis. I was lucky enough to be there that day, in the middle of the pitch, about 50 yards from the stage and to the left of the mixing/lighting desk! As a non-musician I'm in awe of your comments. Could I humbly suggest you glossed over the "Ey-Yo" interaction with the crowd!? It was the highlight of the set for many of us. Remember, it was 92 degrees that day - some people had even passed out and been carried off the pitch. Many of us were dehydrated plus drunk and/or stoned. Typical Brits, we were not prepared fo the blistering hot sun. I'd had a stinking headache for hours and there was no hiding place, no escape if you wanted to keep your spot (you'd never have made it back to your mates if you'd left). We were also exhausted because the music had already been going for 7 hours at that stage and we'd arrived hours before that. What Freddie did was not just put on an unforgettable show. He rejuvenated everyone, got us involved. Plenty of musicians have done that since but I'd never witnessed that before. It was one aspect of his genius for showmanship. Anyway, just my tuppence worth, thanks for a great video.

A microphone in one hand and the crowd in the other...absolute legend ❤️

I recently heard Roger Taylor interviewed and when asked if they were scared because of the crowd size, he said yes. He went on to the the acoustics, the sound, on the stage itself were SO bad THEY COULDN'T HEAR EACHOTHER AT ALL! Roger said that entire performance required a lot of eye contact, body language and each playing by memory. Considering that, as if each were deaf....really..flawless, timeless performance. If you watch this knowing that, you can see them communicating that way...once they huddled even. Cheerio.

One of the things that is most impressive about that set is......................the crowd were NOT a Queen crowd, they had come to the day to see what ever band they were a fan of, but Freddie still had them eating out of his hand, purely because he was such a showman..........that was the mark of the man and the band....

Freddie owned the stage like no other. Queen's Live Aid performance still gives me goosebumps after all these years.

At the time of Live Aid I was serving in the British Royal Marine Commandos in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. We listened to it on the radio. We were surrounded by the full horror of the Famine, but when Queen came on the radio those poor soles who were there even reacted in a very positive way. I remember that a lot of us Royal Marine Commandos were crying watching some of the children dancing along, I'm teary eyed just remembering. I looked around at men I had fought alongside, who were tough, hardened Royal Marine Commandos who had fought a life and death war against Argentinian's in 82. By the end of Queen's set we were dancing with the children. It went along way to help build their trust in us. The famine is only one of many terrible memories I have from 34 years of active service, and over 2 years hospitalisation. But when I remember the smiles on the children's faces, and their laughter at the terrible way we danced always reminds me that humanity will always find it's way through even the worst of times. I only watched it for the first time last year, my son put it on the TV. A lot of memories came back and a lot of tears. My amazing Wife took me to see Queen at Wembley, U.K., in 1986 two weeks after I got back from Ethiopia as a surprise, we also went to the last Queen concert they ever did. I saw Queen live 8 times in all (my wife only 6 ha ha), they were incredible live. And yes, I am an old fart.

Freddie did say in an interview that his favorite instrument was the crowd

The piano was played by Spike Edney who filled in on piano regularly while Freddy was downstage being Freddy. Spike is their piano man to this day for Queen+Adam Lambert. He’s one of the family.

Freddie on a bad vocal day still put on one of the most iconic performances in the history of music.

Best performance of all time, no fancy light show, no back screens, pure connection.

Loved that Freddie warmed up the keys with Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto #1. His background in the classics was not lost on me.

I am 65 and still never get tired of watching Freddie with Queen in the Live Aid concert. Iconic performance.

I love how you can't stop smiling at Freddie. He does that to me too, or makes me cry. He's still so alive to me

This is undoubtedly the greatest 20 min in Rock and Roll history.

Freddie was so ahead of his time, he's been dead for 30 years and there is STILL nobody who can touch him! That my friends is why we are still talking about this performance almost forty years later!

Here I am again 2023 and I still love this performance. I have shared this with my grandson who loved the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. I needed to show him the real deal.

The kiss Freddie blew during Bohemian Rhapsody while singing the phrase "Mama"... was for his mother. He told her he would blow her a kiss during his performance.

The shot of the sea of people (70,000) is simply ridiculous looking. Amazing. The older I get the more I appreciate Queen not only as consummate performers but incredible, INCREDIBLE songwriters and technically proficient (amazingly so) musicians.

i love that you analyze the interactions of the whole band and don't just comment on Freddie as so many reactions to this Live Aid segment do. I always learn so much from your analysis.