BrƎИsꓘi
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They called it paradise, I don't know why...You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Apr 10, 2020 16:40:39 GMT
I've put the NEC one here, as it's part of my whole set of five gigs (and anyhow, it was "almost" 1980 by this point)
■ 1979-11-24 - NEC my first gig after starting work in October. I didn't know until afterward - think the Birmingham Evening Mail reported it set a record for largest indoor UK attendance (at that time) The setlist was an "almost" classic Queen setlist. 70s Queen setlists always sounded more like Queen - less hits, more tunes, if you get my drift. Some great tunes; STL, SYW, and after '39, the place rocked hard.
■ 1982-06-05 - Milton Keynes was truly great, but people forget what a long day of "nothing" it was. We got into the place just after midday and the first act wasn't til just before 5pm! Being so close to the stage helped. I've explained in other threads how we (me and my mate Ian Goss) ended up so close to the front.)
In essence, it was quite early on (we'd been sat out on the left bank of the bowl eating and drinking) - maybe during the first song or two of the Teardrops set, but gaps appeared nearer the front - when Queen arrived in a helicopter? - think there was a mass exodus to go an "see" the arrival. My mate and I took the opportunity to leave the left-side hill of the "bowl" and without too much effort ended up where we stayed, literally 3 or 4 heads in front of us (see photos in MK thread).
I'm ashamed to say, I was one of the morons who gave the Teardrops a bad time. We hurled pies, slices of bread and sandwiches - even a baked potato. We were responsible for taking aim at the (seated) Horn player - trying to "block up" the instrument. After a couple of minutes people realised what we were doing and stopped hurling things at Copey and joined our "game" Eventually, I succeeded and the horn player actually gestured wildly and mouthed the word c**t - he was correct, of course.
Cope, to his credit; introduced every song as a "gem" "classic" or other such adjective. The band to their credit, took this shit for almost 40 minutes. I admit, I felt ashamed and stopped hurling after my success with the Horn. Cope is a legend, I went out and bought ALL of their stuff after that gig and followed his solo career too.
I preferred Heart to Joan Jett - she did too many covers; Woolly Bully, Shout, Do You Wanna Touch...but Crimson and Clover was a decent tune. Heart, I'd not heard much about, but liked Barracuda, Crazy on You and Magic Man.
Freddie "did" apologise for Hot Space - we were close enough to see that the "only a bloody record" comment was a little "forced". The setlist (HS tracks aside) was excellent. Somebody to Love was IMO - one of the most special Queen Live moments and will stay with me forever..."are you ready, brothers and sisters?"...indeed!
MK was a great day out.
■ 1984-09-02 - NEC: we'd just bought our house and moved in together (bank holiday 84) the gig was the very next week - it was a first time out of the house after a whole week of painting, decorating and assembling furniture. the gig itself - i remember my ears ringing for a day afterward - not because of the volume, probably more the echo of the NEC shed. We were lucky - well I was (my wife never really liked Queen - the things she did for love), we'd managed to get tickets for the third and final NEC date. It was great to hear some of the oldies in the set: SSOR, KYA, Liar and even a snippet of GKR - and better still to hear Somebody To Love (again) - i could never tire of hearing this one live. Queen even squeezed an Elton classic into the the set - i can't recall Elton playing this song when we saw him at the NEC on his European Express Tour a couple of months earlier!
■ 1986-07-12 - Wembley Stadium: I'd been before for footie matches, but this was my one and only gig I've ever attended at the new or old wembley. I remember the Alarm being really good, INXS were great - you could see Hutchence had something special about him. Quo were - well Quo. I'd seen them previously in 81? (Never Too late) - so I knew what to expect. they certainly got the place bouncing. Queen were good, but Freddie's voice didn't sound great. There was the incident with a balloon un-tethering and drifting off toward Heathrow.
Also an incident in the car park, we'd been waiting over an hour and no cars were moving at all. We later found out that Boy George had been arrested (someone died in his flat a few days earlier) and when the police finally caught up with George he'd was taken to a nearby (maybe Ealing?) police station. Anyhow, several cars had turned off engines and lights once they realised there was no chance of moving...someone thinking they saw a gap (in the dark) hit the accelerator and ploughed into a queue of "invisible" cars...sending them domino-ing into each other on the car park ramps. We rolled back into home at 4am! shattered having not left the stadium car park until after midnight and the jams and detours needed to get out of London (thanks George) were tiresome. Also with no M40 in those days, most of our trip home was rural. Drove home with window open to try and stay awake.
■ 198608-09 - Knebworth: again lucky with the tickets - i think Knebworth was an added date - i think Queen had originally wanted 3 nights st Wembley. i know it certainly wasn't available to buy tickets for when Wembley went on sale - otherwise i'd have probably never bothered with Wembley - such a pain to get to from here. traffic jams! the last few miles of the M1 before Stevenage queued solidly. the boredom was alleviated by "raiding parties" where groups would run up and down the motorway pouring bottles of water through other cars' open sunroofs. There must've been dozens involved in this and it did pass the time.
Queen were great, I think there was an "out with a bang" "end of tour" approach from the band. They were obviously glad to be at the end of the tour and really put on a show. More significantly, in 91, it struck me that I was one of those lucky enough to see "Freddie's Last Stand".
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Steve
Wordles & Heardles 
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Post by Steve on Apr 10, 2020 17:11:29 GMT
You are a lucky man Martin. Some people have only seen them once. Some not at all. I'm hugely jealous!! 😀
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Post by Harry_Bohammy on Apr 11, 2020 9:39:39 GMT
Great read! Always nice to read those stories.
I never saw the them live (Born in the early 80s).., must have been the best!
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moonie
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Post by moonie on Apr 11, 2020 12:00:36 GMT
I agree about the NEC show. I was deaf for a couple of days after that one. The only band who came close volume wise, for me, was Iron Maiden in a small venue (Bradford St George's Hall). And I've seen all the usual LOUD suspects, Motorhead, Purple, ACDC, etc
Gigs are definitely not as loud these days. Or maybe it's just that my hearing is shot..
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Dean
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Post by Dean on Apr 11, 2020 15:24:37 GMT
Thanks for sharing that!
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Post by woodi485485 on Apr 11, 2020 16:21:25 GMT
I have not checked the date of the show, but I was at one of The NEC shows, it was certainly a Saturday night, as I remember leaving a home game of Manchester City to avoid the traffic, to make sure we got to The NEC in time. I vaguely recall a band call The Beat being support act, but what sticks in my mind most is the wall of sound. I have never been to a gig that loud before, it was amazing. Hearing a bit of Great King Rat and Freddie saying he didn't give a fuck if he couldn't remember all the words gave me a chuckle. Surprise for me that night was how powerful and heavy Staying Power sounded. I will have to have a look to find a bootleg of this show, because it was truly amazing.
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BrƎИsꓘi
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Apr 11, 2020 17:56:25 GMT
I agree about the NEC show. I was deaf for a couple of days after that one. The only band who came close volume wise, for me, was Iron Maiden in a small venue (Bradford St George's Hall). And I've seen all the usual LOUD suspects, Motorhead, Purple, ACDC, etc Gigs are definitely not as loud these days. Or maybe it's just that my hearing is shot.. it was something very peculiar to the NEC at that time (i think). Right up until 1987, I saw many bands there - including some very loud ones; Quo, AC/DC, etc - also saw Elton John, David Bowie, Dire Straits and others at the NEC during this period. but apart from Queen, the only other band to seriously disrupt my hearing was INXS in '87 - think was mainly down to two songs - "Guns In the Sky" and "Kick". I think it must be something about the tinniness of the acoustics at that time. Bands that had their sound mixed with more bass didn't produce the terrible echo. |
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Post by Chopin1995 on Apr 11, 2020 22:41:28 GMT
Reading those stories about Queen shows are always fascinating.
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BrƎИsꓘi
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They called it paradise, I don't know why...You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Apr 12, 2020 17:58:36 GMT
woodi485485 if you went on a Saturday - it'd be Sep 1st 1984 - the day before the one I attended on the Sunday.
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Post by The Real Wizard on Apr 13, 2020 1:27:33 GMT
I have not checked the date of the show, but I was at one of The NEC shows, it was certainly a Saturday night, as I remember leaving a home game of Manchester City to avoid the traffic, to make sure we got to The NEC in time. I vaguely recall a band call The Beat being support act, but what sticks in my mind most is the wall of sound. I have never been to a gig that loud before, it was amazing. Hearing a bit of Great King Rat and Freddie saying he didn't give a f**k if he couldn't remember all the words gave me a chuckle. Surprise for me that night was how powerful and heavy Staying Power sounded. I will have to have a look to find a bootleg of this show, because it was truly amazing. It's gotta be this one:
There are several tapes of the show. The best sounding one is missing a few songs at the end, so I did up a merge of two sources for you:
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Post by woodi485485 on Apr 13, 2020 6:40:27 GMT
woodi485485 if you went on a Saturday - it'd be Sep 1st 1984 - the day before the one I attended on the Sunday. Many thanks Brenski........I see there is a link, I will have to download the gig. |
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Post by woodi485485 on Apr 13, 2020 6:44:23 GMT
The Real Wizard......thank you so much, I am downloading the gig now. It is sure to bring back some great memories.
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Steve
Wordles & Heardles
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Post by Steve on Apr 14, 2020 10:19:37 GMT
I agree about the NEC show. I was deaf for a couple of days after that one. The only band who came close volume wise, for me, was Iron Maiden in a small venue (Bradford St George's Hall). And I've seen all the usual LOUD suspects, Motorhead, Purple, ACDC, etc Gigs are definitely not as loud these days. Or maybe it's just that my hearing is shot.. You know you've been to a good gig if you can't hear fuck all for 2 days! 👂👂 |
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bepina
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Post by bepina on Apr 20, 2020 19:29:39 GMT
Thank you for sharing this. I was born too late to see Freddie live so I envy you so much!
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lincsat
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Post by lincsat on May 1, 2020 14:25:54 GMT
I was at Leeds in 1982, it was a Week before the Milton Keynes show. Queen were great of course, I was pleasantly surprised at Heart and yes I did give grief to Teardrop explodes. We came to the conclusion that the only reason they were on the tour was to get rid of all the missiles before the other support bands.
Didn't get to see them again until Knebworth 1986. Was supposed to be going to Newcastle but it was oversubscribed and the agent got us tickets for the additional Knebworth show instead. It was quite a crowd and my biggest non-Queen memory was being queued at the bar for the entire Quo set.
I got to see Brian on his solo tour and a few Q+AL shows but that's a different story - I wouldn't mention the view of my bald patch during IWTBF in the official video from Sheffield
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Post by theepicranger6 on May 2, 2020 23:26:18 GMT
I was at Leeds in 1982, it was a Week before the Milton Keynes show. Queen were great of course, I was pleasantly surprised at Heart and yes I did give grief to Teardrop explodes. We came to the conclusion that the only reason they were on the tour was to get rid of all the missiles before the other support bands. Didn't get to see them again until Knebworth 1986. Was supposed to be going to Newcastle but it was oversubscribed and the agent got us tickets for the additional Knebworth show instead. It was quite a crowd and my biggest non-Queen memory was being queued at the bar for the entire Quo set. I got to see Brian on his solo tour and a few Q+AL shows but that's a different story - I wouldn't mention the view of my bald patch during IWTBF in the official video from Sheffield Leeds is a great gig, you were definitely lucky to go there. I quite wish I was alive to see some shows, but at least I can listen to them. |
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ethan
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Post by ethan on Jun 20, 2021 17:47:23 GMT
I've put the NEC one here, as it's part of my whole set of five gigs (and anyhow, it was "almost" 1980 by this point) ■ 1979-11-24 - NEC my first gig after starting work in October. I didn't know until afterward - think the Birmingham Evening Mail reported it set a record for largest indoor UK attendance (at that time) The setlist was an "almost" classic Queen setlist. 70s Queen setlists always sounded more like Queen - less hits, more tunes, if you get my drift. Some great tunes; STL, SYW, and after '39, the place rocked hard. ■ 1982-06-05 - Milton Keynes was truly great, but people forget what a long day of "nothing" it was. We got into the place just after midday and the first act wasn't til just before 5pm! Being so close to the stage helped. I've explained in other threads how we (me and my mate Ian Goss) ended up so close to the front.) In essence, it was quite early on (we'd been sat out on the left bank of the bowl eating and drinking) - maybe during the first song or two of the Teardrops set, but gaps appeared nearer the front - when Queen arrived in a helicopter? - think there was a mass exodus to go an "see" the arrival. My mate and I took the opportunity to leave the left-side hill of the "bowl" and without too much effort ended up where we stayed, literally 3 or 4 heads in front of us (see photos in MK thread). I'm ashamed to say, I was one of the morons who gave the Teardrops a bad time. We hurled pies, slices of bread and sandwiches - even a baked potato. We were responsible for taking aim at the (seated) Horn player - trying to "block up" the instrument. After a couple of minutes people realised what we were doing and stopped hurling things at Copey and joined our "game" Eventually, I succeeded and the horn player actually gestured wildly and mouthed the word c**t - he was correct, of course. Cope, to his credit; introduced every song as a "gem" "classic" or other such adjective. The band to their credit, took this shit for almost 40 minutes. I admit, I felt ashamed and stopped hurling after my success with the Horn. Cope is a legend, I went out and bought ALL of their stuff after that gig and followed his solo career too. I preferred Heart to Joan Jett - she did too many covers; Woolly Bully, Shout, Do You Wanna Touch...but Crimson and Clover was a decent tune. Heart, I'd not heard much about, but liked Barracuda, Crazy on You and Magic Man. Freddie "did" apologise for Hot Space - we were close enough to see that the "only a bloody record" comment was a little "forced". The setlist (HS tracks aside) was excellent. Somebody to Love was IMO - one of the most special Queen Live moments and will stay with me forever..."are you ready, brothers and sisters?"...indeed! MK was a great day out. ■ 1984-09-02 - NEC: we'd just bought our house and moved in together (bank holiday 84) the gig was the very next week - it was a first time out of the house after a whole week of painting, decorating and assembling furniture. the gig itself - i remember my ears ringing for a day afterward - not because of the volume, probably more the echo of the NEC shed. We were lucky - well I was (my wife never really liked Queen - the things she did for love), we'd managed to get tickets for the third and final NEC date. It was great to hear some of the oldies in the set: SSOR, KYA, Liar and even a snippet of GKR - and better still to hear Somebody To Love (again) - i could never tire of hearing this one live. Queen even squeezed an Elton classic into the the set - i can't recall Elton playing this song when we saw him at the NEC on his European Express Tour a couple of months earlier! ■ 1986-07-12 - Wembley Stadium: I'd been before for footie matches, but this was my one and only gig I've ever attended at the new or old wembley. I remember the Alarm being really good, INXS were great - you could see Hutchence had something special about him. Quo were - well Quo. I'd seen them previously in 81? (Never Too late) - so I knew what to expect. they certainly got the place bouncing. Queen were good, but Freddie's voice didn't sound great. There was the incident with a balloon un-tethering and drifting off toward Heathrow. Also an incident in the car park, we'd been waiting over an hour and no cars were moving at all. We later found out that Boy George had been arrested (someone died in his flat a few days earlier) and when the police finally caught up with George he'd was taken to a nearby (maybe Ealing?) police station. Anyhow, several cars had turned off engines and lights once they realised there was no chance of moving...someone thinking they saw a gap (in the dark) hit the accelerator and ploughed into a queue of "invisible" cars...sending them domino-ing into each other on the car park ramps. We rolled back into home at 4am! shattered having not left the stadium car park until after midnight and the jams and detours needed to get out of London (thanks George) were tiresome. Also with no M40 in those days, most of our trip home was rural. Drove home with window open to try and stay awake. ■ 198608-09 - Knebworth: again lucky with the tickets - i think Knebworth was an added date - i think Queen had originally wanted 3 nights st Wembley. i know it certainly wasn't available to buy tickets for when Wembley went on sale - otherwise i'd have probably never bothered with Wembley - such a pain to get to from here. traffic jams! the last few miles of the M1 before Stevenage queued solidly. the boredom was alleviated by "raiding parties" where groups would run up and down the motorway pouring bottles of water through other cars' open sunroofs. There must've been dozens involved in this and it did pass the time. Queen were great, I think there was an "out with a bang" "end of tour" approach from the band. They were obviously glad to be at the end of the tour and really put on a show. More significantly, in 91, it struck me that I was one of those lucky enough to see "Freddie's Last Stand". "I can't recall Elton playing this song when we saw him at the NEC on his European Express Tour a couple of months earlier!" Do you recall what date you saw Elton at the NEC?  |
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BrƎИsꓘi
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Jun 20, 2021 18:01:21 GMT
Monday 25th, June.
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ethan
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Post by ethan on Jun 20, 2021 18:06:41 GMT
There's a recording of the night and yes he did play it |
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BrƎИsꓘi
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Jun 20, 2021 18:15:54 GMT
There's a recording of the night and yes he did play it really couldn't remember it being played, but nice to be wrong about it. do you have a copy? if you're happy to share, PM me |
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ethan
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Post by ethan on Jun 20, 2021 18:24:58 GMT
There's a recording of the night and yes he did play it really couldn't remember it being played, but nice to be wrong about it. do you have a copy? if you're happy to share, PM me That should be with you |
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BrƎИsꓘi
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They called it paradise, I don't know why...You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Jun 20, 2021 18:26:41 GMT
really couldn't remember it being played, but nice to be wrong about it. do you have a copy? if you're happy to share, PM me That should be with you cheers i suppose i can be excused for not recalling a song being played almost 40 years ago? |
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ethan
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Post by ethan on Jun 20, 2021 18:32:21 GMT
That should be with you cheers i suppose i can be excused for not recalling a song being played almost 40 years ago? Yeah ahahaha, I wish the other nights had recordings! |
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BrƎИsꓘi
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They called it paradise, I don't know why...You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.
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Post by BrƎИsꓘi on Jun 20, 2021 18:39:32 GMT
cheers i suppose i can be excused for not recalling a song being played almost 40 years ago? Yeah ahahaha, I wish the other nights had recordings! i've just corrected my post - having checked the ticket - it was Monday 25th that we attended. |
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ethan
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Post by ethan on Jun 20, 2021 18:45:12 GMT
Yeah ahahaha, I wish the other nights had recordings! i've just corrected my post - having checked the ticket - it was Monday 25th that we attended...so my OP about the "third and final NEC night" is correct. In that case, if it was played on the first night. I don't see why he wouldn't play it on the 2nd and 3rd nights (no recording from the last 2 nights)  |
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alibat
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Post by alibat on Jun 30, 2021 8:03:19 GMT
I was at Leeds in 1982, it was a Week before the Milton Keynes show. Queen were great of course, I was pleasantly surprised at Heart and yes I did give grief to Teardrop explodes. We came to the conclusion that the only reason they were on the tour was to get rid of all the missiles before the other support bands. Didn't get to see them again until Knebworth 1986. Was supposed to be going to Newcastle but it was oversubscribed and the agent got us tickets for the additional Knebworth show instead. It was quite a crowd and my biggest non-Queen memory was being queued at the bar for the entire Quo set. I got to see Brian on his solo tour and a few Q+AL shows but that's a different story - I wouldn't mention the view of my bald patch during IWTBF in the official video from Sheffield Leeds is a great gig, you were definitely lucky to go there. I quite wish I was alive to see some shows, but at least I can listen to them. Leeds was my first concert, tagging along with my older brother and his mates ( not sure how he felt about that). I remember really enjoying Heart and Joan Jett, and all the abuse Teardrop Explodes got ( no, I wasn't part of that). Couldn't shut up about it for weeks, much to the annoyance of my school friends, most of who were Duran Duran fans (remember, liking Queen was very uncool at the time). |
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vh
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Post by vh on Jul 2, 2021 11:02:23 GMT
Brighton Centre 1979.
Incredible show. They were tight and powerful and really seemed to be enjoying the evening. It remains one of the loudest gigs I've seen. Great to hear Liar which I wasn't expecting and a full version of Brighton Rock. Even more unexpected I managed to meet the band, minus Freddie, during the afternoon of the gig and have a long chat with Brian. After the gig I briefly met Freddie.
Lyceum 1979.
A week or so after Brighton but a slightly smaller venue, again they were on fire. The pacing during these shows seemed, at the time, to be off the chart and the band seemed to be enjoying the small venues . Again a really loud gig.
Birmingham NEC 1980.
Another great gig though not as good sounding as Brighton, the sound lacked a bit of bass and sounded a little thin about two third back. The lighting was thing I remember most about the gig, at the time, I hadn't seen any truly mobile lighting rigs.
Milton Keynes 1982.
Out doors in the uk so we had warmth, a cold wind, rain and sunshine all in one day. Joan Jet was ok but seemed a bit lost on the big stage in daylight. The Teardrop Explodes I wasn't a fan of, some of the audience even less so than me! I didn't really enjoy them though they played well and Julian Cope seemed to enjoy enticing the hostilities.
Heart, I was a fan of, though I'd never seen them. I thought they were brilliant, the perfect band for that gig. They also seemed to be the first band that day who knew how to handle a big open air gig. Ann Wilson's opening line "hey you look beautiful, we're gonna play until the sun comes out" seemed to get most on side and the sun did come out!
The wait for Queen seemed to last as long as the length of Heart's set! When they finally appeared the sound was noticeably loader then for the first three bands. The gig, as the DVD shows was great. I must admit though, I had seen three gigs at the start of the Hot Space tour which were indoors. They were loud, always good but had the advantage of darkness which Milton Keynes lacked thereby missing the full visual effect of the opening and some of the later effects.
Wembley 1984.
Just wow! We were in the third row, amazing view. Like Brighton in 79 they were loud and tight and played with a real edge that they sometimes lacked after the 70's.
The lighting, stage set and back drop were very impressive and looked almost too big for the venue! The setlist was as perfect as any, visiting every album but still managing to showcase The Works. Leaving the venue the traffic outside seemed really quiet. . . . Quite a loud gig then!
Paris 1986.
Excited to see the band after a year of nothing live. They played well, the sound was as perfect as it could be, the lighting was huge, but some how this was a different version of the band I loved in the 70's. They were late on stage, 10:45 and didn't look like the happiest band in the world. I'm still glad I was there and although it remains the Queen gig I enjoyed the least it was still a great gig.
Q+PR x 5 and Q+AL many times. I enjoyed the PR gigs but feel the Lambert fronted gigs have felt more like Queen!
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Lord Fickle
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Post by Lord Fickle on Jul 2, 2021 12:12:47 GMT
Brighton Centre 1979. Incredible show. They were tight and powerful and really seemed to be enjoying the evening. It remains one of the loudest gigs I've seen. Great to hear Liar which I wasn't expecting and a full version of Brighton Rock. Even more unexpected I managed to meet the band, minus Freddie, during the afternoon of the gig and have a long chat with Brian. After the gig I briefly met Freddie. Lyceum 1979. A week or so after Brighton but a slightly smaller venue, again they were on fire. The pacing during these shows seemed, at the time, to be off the chart and the band seemed to be enjoying the small venues . Again a really loud gig. Birmingham NEC 1980. Another great gig though not as good sounding as Brighton, the sound lacked a bit of bass and sounded a little thin about two third back. The lighting was thing I remember most about the gig, at the time, I hadn't seen any truly mobile lighting rigs. Milton Keynes 1982. Out doors in the uk so we had warmth, a cold wind, rain and sunshine all in one day. Joan Jet was ok but seemed a bit lost on the big stage in daylight. The Teardrop Explodes I wasn't a fan of, some of the audience even less so than me! I didn't really enjoy them though they played well and Julian Cope seemed to enjoy enticing the hostilities. Heart, I was a fan of, though I'd never seen them. I thought they were brilliant, the perfect band for that gig. They also seemed to be the first band that day who knew how to handle a big open air gig. Ann Wilson's opening line "hey you look beautiful, we're gonna play until the sun comes out" seemed to get most on side and the sun did come out! The wait for Queen seemed to last as long as the length of Heart's set! When they finally appeared the sound was noticeably loader then for the first three bands. The gig, as the DVD shows was great. I must admit though, I had seen three gigs at the start of the Hot Space tour which were indoors. They were loud, always good but had the advantage of darkness which Milton Keynes lacked thereby missing the full visual effect of the opening and some of the later effects. Wembley 1984. Just wow! We were in the third row, amazing view. Like Brighton in 79 they were loud and tight and played with a real edge that they sometimes lacked after the 70's. The lighting, stage set and back drop were very impressive and looked almost too big for the venue! The setlist was as perfect as any, visiting every album but still managing to showcase The Works. Leaving the venue the traffic outside seemed really quiet. . . . Quite a loud gig then! Paris 1986. Excited to see the band after a year of nothing live. They played well, the sound was as perfect as it could be, the lighting was huge, but some how this was a different version of the band I loved in the 70's. They were late on stage, 10:45 and didn't look like the happiest band in the world. I'm still glad I was there and although it remains the Queen gig I enjoyed the least it was still a great gig. Q+PR x 5 and Q+AL many times. I enjoyed the PR gigs but feel the Lambert fronted gigs have felt more like Queen! Lucky you! I'm often in awe of people who manage to meet band members before and after gigs, as I've never managed to do so. |
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vh
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Post by vh on Jul 2, 2021 22:03:39 GMT
^^^^ it was just luck. The Hotel I was staying in was next door to The Brighton Centre. I was waiting at the front of the venue with a couple of hundred people early in the afternoon. I saw a black Merc limo pull up outside the hotel, a couple of people got out and one was Roger Taylor. No one in the crowd noticed, I just walked over to the hotel went into the reception lobby just as JD was arriving in another limo.
Roger was friendly and signed an autograph for me, John kind mumbled hello and signed JR Deacon Dec Brighton, gave me the autograph then snatched it back and wrote Queen under what he'd already written. Brian was really friendly and chatted to me for twenty minutes.
I met Freedie in the hotel after the gig. I said hello told him I really enjoyed the gig. He said good, signed my program, then said I'm in a rush. With that he was gone.
What a day that was!
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Post by Chopin1995 on Jul 2, 2021 22:50:36 GMT
Brighton Centre 1979. Incredible show. They were tight and powerful and really seemed to be enjoying the evening. It remains one of the loudest gigs I've seen. Great to hear Liar which I wasn't expecting and a full version of Brighton Rock. Even more unexpected I managed to meet the band, minus Freddie, during the afternoon of the gig and have a long chat with Brian. After the gig I briefly met Freddie. Lyceum 1979. A week or so after Brighton but a slightly smaller venue, again they were on fire. The pacing during these shows seemed, at the time, to be off the chart and the band seemed to be enjoying the small venues . Again a really loud gig. Birmingham NEC 1980. Another great gig though not as good sounding as Brighton, the sound lacked a bit of bass and sounded a little thin about two third back. The lighting was thing I remember most about the gig, at the time, I hadn't seen any truly mobile lighting rigs. Milton Keynes 1982. Out doors in the uk so we had warmth, a cold wind, rain and sunshine all in one day. Joan Jet was ok but seemed a bit lost on the big stage in daylight. The Teardrop Explodes I wasn't a fan of, some of the audience even less so than me! I didn't really enjoy them though they played well and Julian Cope seemed to enjoy enticing the hostilities. Heart, I was a fan of, though I'd never seen them. I thought they were brilliant, the perfect band for that gig. They also seemed to be the first band that day who knew how to handle a big open air gig. Ann Wilson's opening line "hey you look beautiful, we're gonna play until the sun comes out" seemed to get most on side and the sun did come out! The wait for Queen seemed to last as long as the length of Heart's set! When they finally appeared the sound was noticeably loader then for the first three bands. The gig, as the DVD shows was great. I must admit though, I had seen three gigs at the start of the Hot Space tour which were indoors. They were loud, always good but had the advantage of darkness which Milton Keynes lacked thereby missing the full visual effect of the opening and some of the later effects. Wembley 1984. Just wow! We were in the third row, amazing view. Like Brighton in 79 they were loud and tight and played with a real edge that they sometimes lacked after the 70's. The lighting, stage set and back drop were very impressive and looked almost too big for the venue! The setlist was as perfect as any, visiting every album but still managing to showcase The Works. Leaving the venue the traffic outside seemed really quiet. . . . Quite a loud gig then! Paris 1986. Excited to see the band after a year of nothing live. They played well, the sound was as perfect as it could be, the lighting was huge, but some how this was a different version of the band I loved in the 70's. They were late on stage, 10:45 and didn't look like the happiest band in the world. I'm still glad I was there and although it remains the Queen gig I enjoyed the least it was still a great gig. Q+PR x 5 and Q+AL many times. I enjoyed the PR gigs but feel the Lambert fronted gigs have felt more like Queen! Wonderful! Details like these often cannot be heard or replicated on bootlegs. |
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