Queen
Live at Wembley Stadium (Special Event: LIVE AID)
London, UK
July 13th, 1985
Audience Recording
Sound Quality: A
Attendance: 72,000

TIMESTAMPS
1. Introduction by Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith [cut] - 0:00
2. Bohemian Rhapsody - 0:28
3. Radio Ga Ga - 2:39
4. Ay-Oh! - 6:53
5. Hammer To Fall - 7:34
6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love - 12:08
7. We Will Rock You - 16:04
8. We Are The Champions - 17:20
9. Is This The World We Created...? - 21:12

What more can be said about this legendary set? This audience recording is a fantastic way to experience Live Aid in a fresh new way, and I thought I'd give it a new coat of paint for the show's 38th anniversary.

Freddie and Brian are easily the highlights of the show, both playing with a fiery spirit and energy that were dulling out amidst the long and controversial Works tour.
Bohemian Rhapsody features Freddie going for every single Bb4 in the song besides "carry on", an amazing rendition and the definitive medley version.
Radio Ga Ga and Hammer To Fall are often considered the best live versions of the songs, for good reason. Freddie goes for some rare phrasings and notes that he wouldn't even dream of attempting during The Works tour.
We Are The Champions is by far the greatest live version of the song, and the odds are astronomically small that it will ever be topped. Freddie goes for the high octave in ALL THREE choruses for the only time in recorded history, and the first time he went for any of them at all in years. He even gets the rare "keep on FIGHTING" C5, last heard in 1981. For the only time in recorded Queen history, Brian plays BOTH of the rare guitar licks from the studio version, likely inspired by Freddie's amazing showing.

This audience recording is notable for having a very different mix to all the others that circulate.
- This mix is the only one that features the "On and on and on and on!" vocoder in We Are The Champions.
- Spike Edney's rhythm guitar is MUCH more prominent during Hammer To Fall
- Brian's vocal harmonies are blended in much better than any other mix of Live Aid.
- Roger's vocal harmonies are muted at the start of Crazy Little Thing Called Love
- John's bass is very quiet at the start of We Are The Champions
Overall, the mix that the audience heard on the day has its ups and downs, but it's very important that it be preserved. This is what those lucky 72,000~ people got to hear in person at that amazing show.

When listening to the raw recording, I thought it was nice, but it definitely felt like I was listening to a cassette tape recorded at Live Aid. My goal with this remaster was to make it FEEL like you're down there at Wembley Stadium watching the show. To close your eyes and feel yourself in the hot July summer day enjoying the music. I believe my mix has gotten much closer to that feeling.
I focused the bass, which was very reverberated and messy. Originally, it was more like "bass is prominent on the right channel, mids are prominent on the left." I used EQ to make the stereo channels play nicer and compliment each other.

Before Live Aid, Queen were going through a very tense time. They saw failure in North America, controversy through playing in Sun City during an apartheid-based boycott, Freddie's inconsistent vocal condition, amongst other problems, and these struggles came across on stage. Many of the later shows on The Works tour show a band just wanting to get the tour over with.
Live Aid saved Queen's spirits, and the band very often credit it to Queen's revitalization.
Roger: "Live Aid was a shot in the arm. We were so jaded by that point. We didn't think we'd tour again for five years if at all - we'd just had it."
Freddie: "From our perspective, the fact that Live Aid happened when it did was really lucky. It came out of nowhere to save us. For sure that was a turning point. Maybe you could say that in the history of Queen, it was a really special moment."

Thanks to Live Aid, Queen continued recording together until Freddie's passing, and Brian and Roger continue to perform with Adam Lambert to this very day.

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