Monday, August 9, 2010

Queen Anniversary: Knebworth Park Concert

Today marks the 24th Anniversary of the last time that the four original members of Queen played together in concert. The show took place at Knebworth Park in Stevenage, U.K. on August 9, 1986. For a full account of the day, including video and audio footage, click here to visit another one of my favorite sites Queen Concerts.

Originally the band wasn't going to play a show in Knebworth during The Magic Tour, but the gig was added at the last minute due to the high demand for tickets. Many speculate that at the time Freddie Mercury already knew of his illness and those in attendance reported that the band seemed particularly energetic and passionate at the show, as if they perhaps knew it would be their last time touring together.

Of course, once this show officially became Queen's last performance as the original foursome, those who claim to have been in attendance increased exponentially to the point that basically anyone who happened to be alive and living in the U.K. in 1986 claims to have been there. In reality, the crowd was estimated at about 120,000 which didn't even fill the venue.

Here's a clip from the show (unfortunately the video is rather spotty) of the band performing Who Wants to Live Forever.


Happy Listening!

2 comments:

  1. So sad! I'll bet all the fans were thinking that he was singing about Queen's fame not living on forever, but he was literally singing about his own life...

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  2. Yeah very sad. Husband was surprised that the last tour was so early. They kept recording albums, but just couldn't tour anymore (which is why Roger formed The Cross - he wanted to tour)

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