The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, April 92...
Friday, 22 August 2003 03:29![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apollaJust got through watching my shiny new double-video set of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. I was going to get the DVD, but that only had the second half of the concert and I wanted to see it all. And thusly, I have some thoughts. Not really thought out much, so just go with it, OK?
First off, not one performance was a patch on Freddie. This did not shock or surprise me in any way, shape or form. Roger Daltrey is a fantastic singer. So is Robert Plant and so is Annie Lennox, although I don't like her stuff much, but none of them could sing Freddie's songs like Freddie could. There are some people who are truly irreplaceable, and the artist formerly known as Farouk is one of them.
The first half of the concert wasn't great, mostly because none of the artists were ones that really appealed me. I don't like Def 'Not Zep' Leppard and I really don't like Metallica much (especially since seeing the video for their shocker of a cover of 'Whiskey In the Jar') and I've never seen/heard Extreme outside of the context of this concert. The Freddie montages and bits of live archive film were really lovely although some of the clips were repeated with new music over them. That said, I'm glad I chose the video in order to have it, if only for Elizabeth Taylor's really quite beautiful speech at the end, which led into the second, main part of the concert. At first, I was highly suspicious and expected it to be preachy or just plain crap… but the fact is, for whatever reasons, Elizabeth Taylor truly cares about AIDS and its victims. When she told 'us' that we were the future and owed it to ourselves and the world to respect ourselves, I thought I might well cry. However, I never want to hear such a distinguished old broad as Dame Liz tell us about safe sex. It was just a bit weird and squicky, man.
The second half of the concert is where it all kicks off and unlike say, Live Aid, most of the performances are really quite good (although I'm reliably informed that some stuff has been cut out). Queen themselves are pretty much excellent- they were always good live. I couldn't help but find it slightly annoying the way that Brian May insisted on introducing everyone as 'Mr', not least when he introduces Seal as 'Mr Seal'. It just sounded a bit odd to me.
The Good: Seal's version of 'Who Wants To Live Forever' which was best simply because he wasn't even trying to be like/sound like Freddie. George Michael. I don't like him much (except for Older) and I don't think he was a patch on Fred, but he sung his little heart out. Bowie's rendition of Heroes was really just great. I'm glad they put that in, even if I didn't like Annie Lennox and him doing 'Under Pressure' beforehand. Slash was great on guitar, as was Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath. It's easy for guitarists in front of 70,000 people to try and outplay the 'other guy' but they both held back and let Brian May do his thing. In the same respect, he did the same for them- no cutting contests here. The fans, because I swear they worked even harder than the guys up on stage. They sang their hearts out and cheered like crazy for everyone.
Mick Ronson. I've given him a paragraph of his own because he was a fantastic bloke who could play guitar like nobody's business and he was soooo preeeetttty. Most of you will recognise him as David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust-era guitar, but Ronno was the real Ziggy Stardust. Considering that at the time of the concert he'd already been diagnosed with cancer and would be dead in a year, he's just great. He still looks as totally handsome as he always did and just played my socks off, man. It was great to see him and Bowie together on a stage again, especially knowing that he's only got a year… Was nice.
The Bad: 'Stone Cold Crazy' with the dude from Metallica (I want to say James Hetfield?) singing. It's a hard song to sing, and I don't think he quite pulled it off. Also, Innuendo (as sung by Robert Plant) was apparently so terrible it got cut out. 'All The Young Dudes' as sung by Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople, David Bowie and the Def Leppard guy and someone else doing back-up. Hunter was out of tune and I couldn't even hear Bowie on the saxophone. Axl Rose, although that may just be me. Also… I can't help feeling that stuff was cut out and shouldn't have been. The first video is only an hour long, the second somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours long- was it really a length issue? No matter how shite some of it might have been, I think it was still worth seeing.
The ugly: Robert Plant's royal blue crushed velvet shirt. It is seriously, seriously bad. His rendition of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' was really good, but the shirt was just wrong and distracted me. But then, I would notice that. Oh, Elton John as well: he's just crap and I can't stand him much at all. His 'duet' with Axl Rose might have been worth the famous hug between the two, but musically it was just painful for me to watch. David Bowie's impromptu Lord's Prayer… I don't know whether this comes under 'good' or 'ugly' because I just can't work it out at all. It seems very unlike him from what I know of him and really out of place at a rock concert. Yet, it also seemed so sincere and well meaning that I couldn't help smiling. Even if he did do the protestant version and not the Catholic version I know!
And finally… Liza Minnelli was really great, if out of place, but she was also spookily reminiscent of her mother. I was watching and suddenly saw Judy singing the same song. Don't you think Judy would've done a truly wonderful rendition of 'We Are The Champions'? Anyway, Liza with a Z sang brilliantly, leading into the obligatory everyone-on-stage-to-sing-the-final-song-for-ten-minutes bit. That much big hair was a bit overwhelming, but it rocked more or less in the manner that such finales are supposed to, with a long, drawn out end and lots of hugs and stuff.
At the end of the day, as we say in football, this was Queen's time and the three members of the band are far and away the best part of the whole thing. They're surprisingly unimposing, considering it's their concert- perhaps they're just content to let blokes like Extreme's Gary Cherone twat about around them or perhaps they really are just there for Freddie. After all, these guys were his friends and to stand up on a stage only five months after he died can't have been easy. Mucho respect and love to Roger, Brian and John for that.
There was one moment though when I was watching, where something just hit me and I have to tell you about it. All those people weren't just there for Freddie, not really. They were there- performer and fan, for every single person who was/is infected with HIV or AIDS. They were there because in 1991 people still thought it was only a gay disease, or a drug addict disease. I hope I'm preaching to the choir right now, but it isn't. It is truly a blot on humanity's landscape. We don't hear so much about it anymore, despite it reaching epidemic proportions in parts of Africa and despite a generation of girls and boys in Britain apparently being quite blasé about sexually transmitted diseases.
72,000 people didn't just go to Wembley for Freddie. They went for him and Kenny Everett. They went for Rock Hudson and for the millions of faceless sufferers who have to face the fact that they are going to die and they have no choice about it. Dying from AIDS related illness is rarely without pain and suffering and it wasn't for Freddie- just watch the 'Those Were The Days' video if you require proof. With that, I will end, because I'm not an expert on AIDS and I am one of the fortunate few who has not been personally touched by AIDS. I have been able to watch from a distance and I've only lost musical and comedic heroes like Freddie and Kenny to it. But that is more than enough for me. Just had to say that.
First off, not one performance was a patch on Freddie. This did not shock or surprise me in any way, shape or form. Roger Daltrey is a fantastic singer. So is Robert Plant and so is Annie Lennox, although I don't like her stuff much, but none of them could sing Freddie's songs like Freddie could. There are some people who are truly irreplaceable, and the artist formerly known as Farouk is one of them.
The first half of the concert wasn't great, mostly because none of the artists were ones that really appealed me. I don't like Def 'Not Zep' Leppard and I really don't like Metallica much (especially since seeing the video for their shocker of a cover of 'Whiskey In the Jar') and I've never seen/heard Extreme outside of the context of this concert. The Freddie montages and bits of live archive film were really lovely although some of the clips were repeated with new music over them. That said, I'm glad I chose the video in order to have it, if only for Elizabeth Taylor's really quite beautiful speech at the end, which led into the second, main part of the concert. At first, I was highly suspicious and expected it to be preachy or just plain crap… but the fact is, for whatever reasons, Elizabeth Taylor truly cares about AIDS and its victims. When she told 'us' that we were the future and owed it to ourselves and the world to respect ourselves, I thought I might well cry. However, I never want to hear such a distinguished old broad as Dame Liz tell us about safe sex. It was just a bit weird and squicky, man.
The second half of the concert is where it all kicks off and unlike say, Live Aid, most of the performances are really quite good (although I'm reliably informed that some stuff has been cut out). Queen themselves are pretty much excellent- they were always good live. I couldn't help but find it slightly annoying the way that Brian May insisted on introducing everyone as 'Mr', not least when he introduces Seal as 'Mr Seal'. It just sounded a bit odd to me.
The Good: Seal's version of 'Who Wants To Live Forever' which was best simply because he wasn't even trying to be like/sound like Freddie. George Michael. I don't like him much (except for Older) and I don't think he was a patch on Fred, but he sung his little heart out. Bowie's rendition of Heroes was really just great. I'm glad they put that in, even if I didn't like Annie Lennox and him doing 'Under Pressure' beforehand. Slash was great on guitar, as was Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath. It's easy for guitarists in front of 70,000 people to try and outplay the 'other guy' but they both held back and let Brian May do his thing. In the same respect, he did the same for them- no cutting contests here. The fans, because I swear they worked even harder than the guys up on stage. They sang their hearts out and cheered like crazy for everyone.
Mick Ronson. I've given him a paragraph of his own because he was a fantastic bloke who could play guitar like nobody's business and he was soooo preeeetttty. Most of you will recognise him as David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust-era guitar, but Ronno was the real Ziggy Stardust. Considering that at the time of the concert he'd already been diagnosed with cancer and would be dead in a year, he's just great. He still looks as totally handsome as he always did and just played my socks off, man. It was great to see him and Bowie together on a stage again, especially knowing that he's only got a year… Was nice.
The Bad: 'Stone Cold Crazy' with the dude from Metallica (I want to say James Hetfield?) singing. It's a hard song to sing, and I don't think he quite pulled it off. Also, Innuendo (as sung by Robert Plant) was apparently so terrible it got cut out. 'All The Young Dudes' as sung by Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople, David Bowie and the Def Leppard guy and someone else doing back-up. Hunter was out of tune and I couldn't even hear Bowie on the saxophone. Axl Rose, although that may just be me. Also… I can't help feeling that stuff was cut out and shouldn't have been. The first video is only an hour long, the second somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours long- was it really a length issue? No matter how shite some of it might have been, I think it was still worth seeing.
The ugly: Robert Plant's royal blue crushed velvet shirt. It is seriously, seriously bad. His rendition of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' was really good, but the shirt was just wrong and distracted me. But then, I would notice that. Oh, Elton John as well: he's just crap and I can't stand him much at all. His 'duet' with Axl Rose might have been worth the famous hug between the two, but musically it was just painful for me to watch. David Bowie's impromptu Lord's Prayer… I don't know whether this comes under 'good' or 'ugly' because I just can't work it out at all. It seems very unlike him from what I know of him and really out of place at a rock concert. Yet, it also seemed so sincere and well meaning that I couldn't help smiling. Even if he did do the protestant version and not the Catholic version I know!
And finally… Liza Minnelli was really great, if out of place, but she was also spookily reminiscent of her mother. I was watching and suddenly saw Judy singing the same song. Don't you think Judy would've done a truly wonderful rendition of 'We Are The Champions'? Anyway, Liza with a Z sang brilliantly, leading into the obligatory everyone-on-stage-to-sing-the-final-song-for-ten-minutes bit. That much big hair was a bit overwhelming, but it rocked more or less in the manner that such finales are supposed to, with a long, drawn out end and lots of hugs and stuff.
At the end of the day, as we say in football, this was Queen's time and the three members of the band are far and away the best part of the whole thing. They're surprisingly unimposing, considering it's their concert- perhaps they're just content to let blokes like Extreme's Gary Cherone twat about around them or perhaps they really are just there for Freddie. After all, these guys were his friends and to stand up on a stage only five months after he died can't have been easy. Mucho respect and love to Roger, Brian and John for that.
There was one moment though when I was watching, where something just hit me and I have to tell you about it. All those people weren't just there for Freddie, not really. They were there- performer and fan, for every single person who was/is infected with HIV or AIDS. They were there because in 1991 people still thought it was only a gay disease, or a drug addict disease. I hope I'm preaching to the choir right now, but it isn't. It is truly a blot on humanity's landscape. We don't hear so much about it anymore, despite it reaching epidemic proportions in parts of Africa and despite a generation of girls and boys in Britain apparently being quite blasé about sexually transmitted diseases.
72,000 people didn't just go to Wembley for Freddie. They went for him and Kenny Everett. They went for Rock Hudson and for the millions of faceless sufferers who have to face the fact that they are going to die and they have no choice about it. Dying from AIDS related illness is rarely without pain and suffering and it wasn't for Freddie- just watch the 'Those Were The Days' video if you require proof. With that, I will end, because I'm not an expert on AIDS and I am one of the fortunate few who has not been personally touched by AIDS. I have been able to watch from a distance and I've only lost musical and comedic heroes like Freddie and Kenny to it. But that is more than enough for me. Just had to say that.
