Was Queen the loudest band at Live Aid?

It's a cheeky moment in the film. The band's manager, Jim 'Miami' Beach, sidles up to the sound controls at Live Aid and removes the limiters so that Queen upstaged everyone else. The story was already one of many urban legends about the band, except it was their actual long-time engineer Trip Khalaf at the desk in real life. But did he really 'cheat' with a sneaky trick? Even Brian May said: "We sent our brilliant engineer to check the system, so he set all the limiters for us. We were louder than anyone else." The man in charge of the sound desks on the day says it was completely impossible anyone could actually go over the legal sound limit imposed by the authorities. So, what really happened? The truth is, Queen stole the show because they were better than most bands on the day in two major ways.

Malcolm Hill's company Hill Pro Audio was in charge of the sound systems at Wembley Stadium for Live Aid. His company even received a formal letter from the Greater London Council commending them for maintaining the strict sound levels put in place.

He told Express Online: "Nobody on or around the stage would have had any control of, or even knowledge of, the sound system operation... The system was controlled by a 'processor rack', 100 metres away, in the middle of the pitch, tucked out of the way, to the side of the mix platform."

Basically, it was impossible for anyone to increase the sound limit.

Hill says: "The SPL (sound pressure level) is the objective measure for sound level, rather than the subjective sense of 'loudness'. It's measured in decibels, being a logarithmic scale where 0dB is the threshold of hearing for a normal human being. A typical rock gig is frequently hitting around 100dB, which is 10,000,000,000 times more powerful than the smallest sound you can hear.

"Trip deserves full credit for his skilful and optimal use of the system, but not for any 'tricks' or favouritism."

In layman's terms, Queen weren't actually any louder, but they sounded louder. Queen did sound better than most of the other bands at Wembley for two very impressive reasons.

Firstly, Queen's talented sound engineer was one of the few who knew how to properly maximise the output within the limits so Queen sounded clearer and louder. Brian May was correct when he said Trip made them sound louder.

Hill explains: “Trip Khalaf from Queen wasn’t phased by anything. He just walked up to the mixing desk he’d never seen before in his life, set it all up and the rest is history. You wouldn't be able to launch Bohemian Rhapsody if their set (sound) hadn’t been massive."

Hill told Express Online The Who, Status Quo and Dire Straits were really good for the same reason. But many other acts blatantly weren't as well prepared and didn't have their own skilled engineers: "The lack of a soundcheck really seemed to throw them and then they panicked."

There was one other factor, of course, which really set Queen apart and above the rest.

Hill adds: "Queen didn’t come on and do their normal set, they rehearsed a specific set that would work with no soundcheck and a 15-minute slot."

Live Aid organiser Bob Geldoff and Brian May have both acknowledged Queen's precise understanding of the importance of delivering a hit-packed set tailored to the event and the time limit.

Piled on top of the extraordinary talents of the four men on stage and the calibre of their material, it all perfectly combined to prove Queen were the supreme live stadium act of the time.

It's fun to imagine a little bit of cheeky trickery – and plays well in a movie –  but it's much more satisfying to know Queen sounded so good purely and simply because of the sheer talent involved.

WATCH MALCOLM HILL TALK ABOUT HIS WORK ON LIVE AID AND MANY OTHER ICONIC TOURS AND EVENTS HERE

The old Wembley Stadium was the setting, on July 13, 1985, for one of the greatest live concerts ever staged: Live Aid. Sting, U2, Dire Straits, The Who, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Elton John, and George Michael were among the acts performing in London that day (Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tom Petty were at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the American counterpart). But of all the high-caliber artists on display that day, there was unanimous agreement that Queen’s Live Aid performance stole the whole show with a magnificent, 21-minute tour-de-force set.

The 2019 hit biopic Bohemian Rhapsody starts and ends with footage recreating Queen’s Live Aid concert – a performance that remains the high point of the band’s live history. Their participation was initially in doubt, however, and as recently as June 2019, guitarist Brian May admitted: “We definitely hesitated about doing Live Aid.”

Rehearsals and preparation

After finally accepting The Boomtown Rats’ Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s invitation to play the benefit concert for Ethiopian famine relief, Queen – who comprised Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano, and guitar), Brian May (guitar and vocals), John Deacon (bass guitar), and Roger Taylor (drums and vocals) – were consummate professionals and decided to rehearse their set thoroughly to get timings and solos down to perfection for what would be a truncated performance.

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They booked out the 400-seat Shaw Theatre, near King’s Cross train station in London, and spent a week honing their five-song setlist, getting it ready for the 72,000 fans who would be at Wembley – and the estimated 1.9 billion people watching on television from 130 countries around the world.

Though the band did not like performing in daylight – and knew they would have no soundcheck to get the quality levels they wanted – they knew the concert gave them a chance to show the world what a great live band they were. “It was our opportunity to show that it’s the music first and foremost,” said May.

Geldof had advised all the participants not to promote new hits but to do their old favorites. Queen took the message to heart. When it came to choosing time slots, they were shrewd, opting to go on at 6.41pm, which was close to prime time in the UK and also after the satellite feed from London of the live broadcast had gone global.

Queen’s Live Aid performance

Queen were immediately preceded at Wembley by the comedians Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith – who were dressed as policemen and joked about receiving a complaint about the noise “from a woman in Belgium.” They introduced “the next combo” as “Her Majesty… Queen.”

A truly charismatic Mercury, who looked full of confidence, jogged out on to a vast stage whose top was adorned with a banner saying “Feed The World.” Mercury, sporting his trademark mustache and wearing white jeans, a white tank top, and with a studded band around his right bicep, began by sitting at the piano and playing a short, inspired version of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

“The note heard around the world”

During “Radio Ga Ga” he got up and strutted around the stage, using the microphone and stand as a prop, and getting the fired-up crowd to join in with the chorus. The next few moments were remarkable, as Mercury led the 72,000 spectators in some spine-tingling vocal improvisation, as they sang along to “ay-oh.” His final, wonderful vocal was dubbed “the note heard around the world.”

The singalong fun was followed by a version of “Hammer To Fall,” a song written by May. Mercury, who had strapped on an electric guitar, then addressed the crowd. “This next song is only dedicated to beautiful people here tonight – which means all of you. Thank you for coming along, you are making this a great occasion,” he said, before launching into an energetic, exuberant performance of his own composition, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”

After a short version of “We Will Rock You,” the swaying, delirious crowd were treated to a finale of “We Are The Champions.” Mercury was simply mesmerizing. “I’d never seen anything like that in my life and it wasn’t calculated, either… it was the greatest day of our lives,” said May.

Queen - Radio Ga Ga (Live Aid 1985)

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“You bastards, you stole the show”

It wasn’t only Queen who realized they had been sensational. Paul Gambaccini, who was part of the BBC broadcasting team at Live Aid, recalled the awe among other superstar musicians watching backstage. “Everybody realized that Queen was stealing the show,” said Gambaccini. These were the very words Elton John uttered when he rushed into Mercury’s trailer after the set. “You bastards, you stole the show,” joked the charismatic star.

“Queen smoked ’em. They just took everybody. They walked away being the greatest band you’d ever seen in your life, and it was unbelievable,” said Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. “And that’s what made the band so great; that’s why they should be recognized as one of the greatest rock bands of all time, because they could connect with an audience.”

“It was the perfect stage for Freddie: the whole world”

Two months later Queen began work on the album A Kind Of Magic, which sold six million copies and was promoted with a record-breaking world tour.

The choice of album title was apt. Queen provided magic on that summer day in 1985. Their impact was summed up by Geldof. “Queen were absolutely the best band of the day,” the Live Aid organizer said. “They played the best, had the best sound, used their time to the full. They understood the idea exactly, that it was a global jukebox. They just went and smashed one hit after another. It was the perfect stage for Freddie: the whole world.”

Looking for more? Check out music journalist Richard Havers’ personal memories of the Queen Live Aid performance and listen to the best of Queen on Apple Music and Spotify.

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