The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

I want to know people's thoughts about the Tribute Concert. What is the general consensus? Do you think it was really "the biggest send-off in history"?
It's too bad I was only 4 and a half at the time. I didn't even know what Queen was. :( I continue to blame my existence to this day for not having been born earlier.
I got a copy of this on VHS recently, from an uncle who lives in Canada. I personally think Brian pulled it off fantastically. I believe it to be the greatest send-off for any person in history till now. ;)
And is that really James Hetfield where they all sing "We Are The Champions"? I'm a big Metallica fan but I didn't expect him to sing along to it. XD Furthermore, why is Robert Plant not singing along to Liza Minelli's "We Are The Champions"? Everyone else is but he's the only one whose lips are sealed(literally)...

An extremely emotional concert. Even the recordings make me almost cry sometimes, which is definitely not the feeling I'm used to have during rock concerts :-)

I remember seing it on czechoslovak TV live, I didn't know what it is (I was only 11), but I suddenly realised that I know the songs, so I watched it till the end and I spent many years searching for a proper recording :-)

Well James Hettfield is a big Queen fan, like members of many other heavy metal bands, so it doesn't surprise me that he's there, I was more surprised by Axl's appereance, since he had some anti-gay comments in the past

I think that the Freddie Mercury tribute concert is one hell of a gig. From the beginning to the end. Open up with Metallica in their prime. Rock on with Guns, Roger Daltery, Robert Plant, Bowie, Extreme and so on, and so on. What could go wrong? For me it´s a very emotional concert. Bowies prayer and then singing Heroes is just right. Robert Plant singing Thank you, Innuendo/Kashmir as a tribute to Fred ,just right. Tony Iommi stepping on and of stage, sidekicking Brian and occationally beating off his signature powerchords, great. And who would have thought they see Axl Rose and Elton John on the same stage ,at the same time, singing the same song lovingly hugging eachother. The only "let down" is Liza Minelli who doesn´t give me any chills. I think Freddie would have been proud, I think he is. Great job by Brian, John, Rog and their support. I don´t think we´ll se a tribute concert of that caliber again. No, I don´t.

A fantastic concert indeed. The calibre of acts on show was a true testiment to the influence queen had on other bands/musicians. I definitely felt at the time that the various acts were there for the rights reasons not just for self pubicity. Not to mention the fact that many well acclaimed vocalists struggled with trying to emulate the great man. A true tribute but it often saddens me to think had he just been that bit more carefull in his private life about who he hung about with that he may stll be here today and the tibute concert would never have happened. Sorry, strayed slightly off message there.

Yeah, I didn't like Liza Minelli's performance either. But Metallica, GN'R George Michael w/ Lisa Stansfield and ESPECIALLY Extreme were my highlights of the concert. :D I don't think any major band had done anything for another major band like what Extreme did for Queen. Also, I loved it at the end of Extreme's performance when Gary Cherone quips "There's really not a lot to say, we know why we're here today, we know why you people are here today. We love you, Freddie!"

But why isn't Robert Plant singing at the end, during "We Are The Champions"? BTW, pittrek, I don't think Metallica are really BIG Queen fans. I mean they may be fans, but they really appeared to boost their popularity in the UK.

For me the highlight is when John is talking to the audience. And his way of announcing "METALLICA!"

I was at the concert. To be honest, some of the 'guest' acts were a bit pointless. I would like to have seen a bit more creativity in the set-list and choice of vocalists
Too much of the heavy side was in evidence, would've been nice to have more 'pop' friendly stuff!

I know he's unfashionable, but I think Cliff Richard would've been an excellent and appropriate guest - Radiogaga for him.

How about Tom Jones, Prince, McCartney...

It was huge and powerful. Not all acts quite delivered (Zucchero, Seal), but overall, what a celebration of good rock and respect for the Man.

Yes, I think it was the "biggest send-off in history" and one of the greatest moments of rock.

My favorite bits?

The Axl Rose/Elton John duet - to me, it was a message of tolerance. Bowie and Lennox with their haunted, sexy version of Under Pressure. Metallica playing stuff from their Black Album. Robert Plant's chilling Innuendo/Kashmir. Brian's deeply intimate première of Too Much Love Will Kill You.

And they´we given their time and energy really, to make this tribute to Freddie a reality. So, now, the show must go on. And we´ll start off with a band from america. Please welcome: METALLICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! (Wrote this from memory, it might be wrong but you´r right, John sure has a metal voice...)

I was there too, I was 15 at the time.
Looking back...yes it was a fantastic day out, I attended with my uncle and my cousin, but now I feel as though it was a bit of an ego trip from Brian. Why IWIA? Why LPDA? Why HTF? Lets open with TYMD. I would rather it had been based around the songs that Freddie had written. I would have also like to have seen Cliff Richard, Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart there. Paul Young was terrible.

It was great - the "opening acts" were pretty groovy, considering the audience of grandparents, their children and their children's children. The typical Queen pop audience was treated to a killer lineup of early 90's rock acts. I remember Metallica launching their set and a flock of pidgeons, literally, shitting themselves!

Liz Taylor was a complete and UTTER embarassment; I couldn't think of a person less suited to espousing the merits of safe sex. Given the number of her marriages and high profile affairs, I wonder how much safe sex she took part in? Liza, well, it was a nod to Freddie's love of her, but, other than her great legs, she didn't exactly set the place on fire and WATC was a low-key finale.

George Michael was obviously the highest profile success, but Daltrey, Iomi and Plant for me were the great successes. Seeing Brian's, Roger's and John's faces as they played with their heroes and battled the emotions when they suddenly realised that Freddie couldn't be with them again, truly touched anyone there that night.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Brian_Mays_Wig wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I was there too, I was 15 at the time.
Looking back...yes it was a fantastic day out, I attended with my uncle and my cousin, but now I feel as though it was a bit of an ego trip from Brian. Why IWIA? Why LPDA? Why HTF? Lets open with TYMD. I would rather it had been based around the songs that Freddie had written. I would have also like to have seen Cliff Richard, Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart there. Paul Young was terrible.[/QUOTE]
Well every singer chose the song s/he did perform, so if they've chosen Brian's songs, it's their thing.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]henke1980 wrote: [/QUOTENAME]And they´we given their time and energy really, to make this tribute to Freddie a reality. So, now, the show must go on. And we´ll start off with a band from america. Please welcome: METALLICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! (Wrote this from memory, it might be wrong but you´r right, John sure has a metal voice...)[/QUOTE]
And they've given their time and energy, to make this tribute to Freddie a reality to happen today. First of all, the show must go on and we'll start with an american band, 3 times grammy award winners, please welcome - METALLICA !

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]pittrek wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]henke1980 wrote: [/QUOTENAME]And they´we given their time and energy really, to make this tribute to Freddie a reality. So, now, the show must go on. And we´ll start off with a band from america. Please welcome: METALLICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! (Wrote this from memory, it might be wrong but you´r right, John sure has a metal voice...)[/QUOTE]
And they've given their time and energy, to make this tribute to Freddie a reality to happen today. First of all, the show must go on and we'll start with an american band, 3 times grammy award winners, please welcome - METALLICA ![/QUOTE]And there you have it! So close, yet so far.

While I do feel "Innuendo" is pretty shambolic, there were a couple of moments in there where Plant did get the notes he was after. He's still pretty badass.

Highlight for me was Roger Daltrey. He was probably the only guy to do his chosen song in the original key, without sounding like crap.

I don't know who invited Axl Rose but they should've thought about it a bit more.

George Michael was awesome, for once.

Liza Minelli was hilarious.

This is purely because I'm sentimental, but I did enjoy seeing the survivors of Queen doing "Tie Your Mother Down".

"Too Much Love Will Kill You" was understandably shaky in spots, but I say it's a highlight, definitely.