deadenthusiasm: “… The single became a beloved anthem for impoverished nations, and was
deadenthusiasm: “… The single became a beloved anthem for impoverished nations, and was always well received when performed live between 1984 and 1986. When the band performed the song on the Works! tours, Freddie would appear with a pair of false breasts, revealing them to a delighted crowd (and usually thrusting them in John’s face) at the conclusion of the song.However, when the band appeared at the Rock In Rio Festival in January 1985, reports trickled back that this cross-dressing move wasn’t so well received: “Pop star Freddie Mercury … received a royal pelting when he appeared on stage in Rio de Janeiro wearing women’s clothes, huge plastic falsies and a black wig,” People magazine reported. “A near riot erupted when the crowd of 350,000 began tossing stones, beer cans and other missiles at him as he started to sing Queen’s ‘I Want To Break Free’. Why the violent reaction, especially when fans obviously knew they weren’t paying to see Lawrence Welk? Explains Maria Caetano, who worked as an interpreter at the concert: ‘The song is sacred in South America because we consider it a political message about the evils of dictatorships.’” Record Mirror reported: “There’s a spot of trouble when Freddie decides to dress up in his best Bet Lynch gear for ‘I Want To Break Free’. Some outraged Brazilians decide this just isn’t on and get very nasty. Instead of throwing beer cans at the stage in time honoured tradition, they decide that pebbles and bits of concrete are far more effective. Fred does a sprint to safety and it’s all forgotten quickly.” The truth is that the audience did boo and react negatively, but nothing was flung at Freddie, as shown in the uncut video. Just to be safe, the following week Freddie opted to go flat-chested.”Via Queen: The Complete Works by Georg Purvis -- source link
#queen band#john deacon#freddie mercury