Brian May paid homage to Freddie Mercury during the Queen concert at the AO Arena in Manchester (May 31) by cheering the crowd on with a typical “Ay Oh!” of the late Queen frontman. He also shared various impressions of the gig. You can find the posts at the end of the article.
“Ooh!”
On one video, May said “Ay Oh!” instead of AO, echoing Freddie Mercury’s famous way of goading the crowd. Mercury practiced this, among other things, at the legendary Live Aid concert in 1985. According to Mercury, it served to get the audience on his side:
“It’s part of my role, I have to win it for myself, otherwise it’s not a successful gig. It’s my job to make sure I win them over and make them feel like they had a good time. I’m very frivolous and enjoy myself, and what better way to do that than on stage in front of 300,000 people. I just cook on stage, that’s just my nature. I’m not like that in real life, my character is made of all sorts of ingredients and that’s part of me.”
dream came true
Queen and Adam Lambert’s UK tour is now back on after a two-year postponement. Accordingly, Brian May’s anticipation for the upcoming show in Manchester was great. The Queen guitarist shared his excitement on Instagram:
“I had a secret dream that we could actually do that on a live show. Well, our amazing production team gave me a great device to make that wish come true. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction to reach that point in the song and walk out there device in hand and see (and hear) the joy it unleashes in our beloved audience! I think it also makes me play better!”
“So where could I be? I could be at the AO Arena in Manchester which is actually the biggest arena in the country, I didn’t know if you guys knew that. But now you know, and that’s pretty cool. I’m very excited! Some people have waited two years for this moment. Especially me. God bless you.”
stage magic
The moment was particularly spectacular when May held a guitar during the song “A Kind of Magic” and sparks flew out of it. The effect was based on the 1986 music video.
May also thanked the audience after the tour stop: “Thank you Manchester! A great night – so long awaited – so insatiably enjoyed! SWIPE! Here are 10 pics of Pete backstage tonight. Obviously he has too much time to himself! Cheers !Bri.”