Freddie Mercury’s last concert with Queen: “My whole body is wracked with pain!”

On August 9, 1986, Freddie Mercury sang for the last time with What in on a stage. She arrived by helicopter over the Thames, rehearsed his impressive vocal range backstage, put on her yellow military jacket and captivated the more than 120,000 fans who packed Knebworth Park to the point of delirium. And no one knew that he would never do anything like it again. However, when he finished the performance, she uttered a prescient phrase: “I can’t do this anymore, my whole body is wracked with pain!”

A great concert in every way

Though no one knew it then,’The Magic Tour‘ became the last tour of What in with the four original members: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor. the band did 26 concerts in Europe to present their twelfth album a kind of magic (1986) before more than 400,000 people. A year had passed since his sensational Live Aid performance and it seemed as if the omnipotence of What in had no limits. His market was inexhaustible. Tickets sold out in hours.. After hanging the ‘sold out‘ (150,000) at Wembley Stadium (July 11 and 12), “We had to add a great show to the end of the Magic Tour. We had a capacity of 120,000 and the first day we sold 30,000 tickets”recalled the promoter of the tour Harvey Goldsmith. And that final big show was on August 9, 1986 at Knebworth.

The huge open-air concert in Knebworth Park – called A Night Of Summer Magic – was great in every way. More than 120,000 people flooded the gardens of the iconic Hertfordshire mansion, a battalion of amplifiers (5,000), almost 14 km of cables and a huge 6 meter video screen on stage. And the weather accompanied that summer day in the largest park in England. Doors opened at 12 noon and the show ended at 10:30 pm. Queen was the final touch of the poster which also included the emerging Beloius Somethe veterans Status quo and the Scots Big Country, in this order. Tickets cost 14.5 pounds (advance) and 16 pounds (at the box office). It was not allowed to bring alcohol, bottles, cans or video cameras. Neither camping.

in the helicopter

What in arrived by helicopter. With great pomp and pageantry. The images are recorded and show incredible aerial shots taken from the device that had been tuned with the album design A kind of magic. They left from the Battersea heliport (in North London), flew over the Thames or the Battersea Power Station and arrived at Knebworth Park after traveling 48 kilometers. The landing and departure of the helicopter generated the now famous images of Freddie in his Hawaiian shirt and aviator sunglasses. They were picked up in a vehicle and went directly to the ‘backstage’ area.

backstage

There are also incredible images of Freddie Mercury in the ‘backstage’ (although not of the concert that, inexplicably, only the audio was recorded). Wearing his yellow tank top, the singer is seen doing push-ups, squats, exercising his voice, and showing off his impressive vocal range. When he asks someone how long it is until the concert starts, they reply: “Ten minutes”. In a moment enter Roger Taylor and joins Freddie in an impromptu duet. After 10 minutes, everyone heads to the stage. Mercury she puts on her yellow military jacket that her friend had designed for the occasion Diana Mosley for the tour. It is the most emblematic image of the singer.

At the concert: “Good night and sweet dreams”

During two hours, What in received an enthusiastic response from the public. Everyone agrees: the acting was outstanding. That day, to Mercury He was full of energy, in a very good mood and full of energy. They opened the concert with one vision, with a perfect epic intro to further warm up the already heated atmosphere. And from there, a whole tour of his greatest hits: A kind of magic, Under pressure, Another one bites of dust, I want to break free or Radio Ga Gaplus several guitar solos and classic vocal improvisation by Mercury, the “daaaay-oh” call-response that so impressed at Live Aid.

And to finish, already in the second batch of encores, while an exciting version of the national anthem was playing god save the queenwith Brian May on guitar, a resplendent Mercury he said goodbye to the crowd: “Good night and sweet dreams“. Y What in disappeared from the stage. The triumph of the night turned to sadness when the band learned that a 21-year-old fan had been fatally stabbed in the melee and the doctors had been unable to do anything to save him.

“If I’m still alive”

No one knew then that the last concert of the magic tourit would also be the last of Freddie Mercury with Queen. Those who were there were unaware that they were witnessing a historical event. Knebworth Park would become the last stage in which the impressive torrent of voice of Farrokh Bulsara.

They didn’t even imagine it John DeaconRoger Taylor neither Brian May. When in Guitar World they asked the guitarist that question, this is what he answered: “What if we knew it would be the last time? Nope”. And he added something else: “Freddie was like, ‘Oh fuck, I can’t do this anymore, my whole body is wracked with pain!’ But he would say stuff like that at the end of a tour. So we don’t take it seriously.”

Even a year later Freddy did not know he had AIDS, two weeks before Knebworth, at a group stop in Budapest, the singer, displaying his black humor, he told a journalist that he would return to the Népstadion (Hungarian capital stadium) “If I’m still alive.”

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Freddie Mercury’s last concert with Queen: “My whole body is wracked with pain!”