Queen: The Complete Works (111 page)

August 20: The Summit, Houston, Texas

August 21: The Reunion, Dallas, Texas

August 24: The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia

August 27: City Myriad, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

August 28: Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri

August 30: McNichols Arena, Denver, Colorado

September 2: Portland Coliseum, Portland, Oregon

September 3: Seattle Coliseum, Seattle, Washington

September 4: PNE Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia

September 7: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California

September 10: ASU Arena, Temple, Texas

September 11/12: Irving Meadows, Irving, Texas

September 14/15: Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles, California

After a lengthy summer break, the band flew to Montreal on 18 July to set up camp and make final adjustments to the set list. Several of the newer songs from
Hot Space
were introduced: ‘Life Is Real (Song For Lennon)’ made its live debut, while ‘Calling All Girls’ and ‘Body Language’ became mainstays in the set and ‘Somebody To Love’ and ‘Staying Power’ made less frequent appearances. ‘The Hero’ was replaced entirely by ‘Rock It (Prime Jive)’, a startling opening number since it wasn’t as concise as its predecessor and tended to meander at times. Surprisingly, for the first time since its debut in November 1977, ‘Love Of My Life’ was dropped altogether; this may have been done to create the illusion that Queen were still a rock band at heart, and omitting the popular ballad was one way to reinforce that image.

The tour started on 21 July at The Forum in Montreal, with support by Billy Squier, and any theories that
Hot Space
had damaged ticket sales were quickly dispelled. While their American fans hadn’t reacted favourably to the new album, they were relieved to find that Queen still knew how to rock, and were surprised when songs like ‘Calling All Girls’, ‘Action This Day’, ‘Back Chat’ and ‘Staying Power’ (on the rare occasions that it was performed) sounded fresher than on the album. The band, too, worked hard to reassure their audience they hadn’t lost their edge, blazing through their set with aplomb and maintaining a steady schedule of tour dates to make sure they remained on top of their game.

There were some personnel changes: Morgan Fisher hadn’t been asked back as the keyboardist. He told the Italian Queen Fan Club in 2009, “I had been accustomed to rock the way Mott played it. It was rougher, wilder, more spontaneous than Queen, who were very perfectionist in their approach. Plus by that time I had changed my lifestyle and was not the funny hard-drinking guy Queen had known during their tours with Mott. I think the timing was wrong – I didn’t feel so comfortable with Queen in 1982, and I think they sensed it. During a break between the Europe tour and the forthcoming US tour, they sent me a telegram to say that they had decided they didn’t need a keyboard player any more. Perhaps they were a bit embarrassed to tell me that actually they didn’t feel comfortable with me either – they soon found another keyboard player for their US tour.” Fred Mandel was instead drafted, and with a resumé including Alice Cooper’s
Alice Cooper Show
and Flush The Fashion and Pink Floyd’s
The Wall
, he instantly added a new energy to Queen’s songs. Mandel would later work on Star Fleet Project and Mr Bad Guy after the
Hot Space
tour ended, and Queen would also ask him to assist with
synthesizers and arrangements on
The Works
. Sadly, Mandel’s tenure with Queen was short-lived: when the tour ended in November, he was offered a job by Elton John and worked on most of the flamboyant pianist’s mid-1980s albums.

At the tour’s second stop in Boston, the city declared 23 July an official Queen Day, with the band present for a short speech and to receive the keys to the city. This, of course, helped solidify Queen’s confidence in their American reception, and the Boston gig became an early highlight of the tour. Most of the dates passed without incident, though a scheduled concert in Memphis on 25 August was cancelled. Earlier, at the Meadowlands in New Jersey on the 9th, one of The Red Special’s strings snapped mid-solo, exactly the same thing happening to its replacement only moments later. In an uncharacteristic display of vexation, Brian threw the offending guitar over a bank of Vox amplifiers into the darkness.

The tour ended in LA, as most of their previous ones had, with a two-night stand at the Inglewood Forum. (An early itinerary indicated that a gig in Hawaii was planned on 26 September, but the band opted to perform on national television instead.) The band were in high spirits, with Billy Squier joining them on stage during ‘Jailhouse Rock’. After their appearance on
Saturday Night Live
on 25 September (playing ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and ‘Under Pressure’ to rapturous applause, despite Freddie’s strained voice), the band flew home for a few days’ rest before their Japanese dates.

Just to prove that
Hot Space
hadn’t permanently damaged Queen’s reputation, the critics took note of the new energy in the set. “The concert was a sellout, with fans applauding wildly for all of the band’s older hits and its stunning light show, which features scores of aircraft landing lights,” the
Indiana Gazette
reported. “But the response was no more than polite when the group launched into several of its thumping, rhythm and blues tunes off the new album, including the first single, ‘Body Language’. Deacon conceded that after three dancehall singles in a row – ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘Under Pressure’ with David Bowie, and ‘Body Language’ – the band may have disillusioned many of its long-time fans. ‘Yes, I think we have possibly lost some of the rock fans,’ he said when asked about the muted audience reaction to the new tunes. ‘It’s something we are aware of and will bear in mind when we make our next album.’”

The New York Times
was still cautious. “Although a visitor was duly impressed by the band’s dynamic control, the clarity of its sound and the intricacy of its arrangements at Tuesday’s concert, the emotional atmosphere on stage was closer to a military pageant than to a rock concert.”
The Washington Post
, however, was especially complimentary. “Although some of Queen’s newer songs have yet to attain the comfort of familiarity, there is a spectacular energy at the heart of its repertoire. Freddie Mercury, looking as if he’d been outfitted on the set of
A Clockwork Orange
, is an appropriately mercurial front man, energetic and appealing and possessed of a convincing and clear rock tenor ... Queen’s blatant disco hits – including ‘Bus’ (?!), ‘Body Language’, and ‘Hot Space’ – were overwhelming but not particularly convincing as funk, making Mercury come across as a plugged-in George Chakiris. Still, with remarkable sound and light systems to back them, Queen was a model of crunching efficiency and polished professionalism seldom matched in the rock arena.”

The Elyria Chronicle
opined, “There were no slow spots in the two-hour-plus concert. Mercury does not slack up on his voice. He constantly grimaces and plays to the audience, especially to seat-dancing girls. The show seemed especially well-planned but the secret may be in the ten-year bond between the members of the group. They know each other well and play easily.” Meanwhile, the
Toronto Sun
positively dripped with praise: “While the funk-chic
Hot Space
album is facing a certain amount of radio programmer reluctance, it is providing their live show with a visceral immediacy it has not had in years. Shifting the foreground burden more towards the rhythm section has brought back the feeling of a band with four inseparable parts. Roger Taylor was set up with several pithy, punchy drum solos near the beginning, and John Deacon’s impeccable basswork offered inescapable momentum. Atop that is all the visual and sonic flair we have come to expect of the flashiest band of our time ... A superbly-paced stream of sensuous consciousness was maintained for two hours of electrifying togetherness.” An ironic statement, considering the band was slowly splintering during this time. Indeed, the Japanese leg of the tour was performed as if the band was racing down the final stretch, with the finishing line just in sight.

HOT SPACE JAPAN TOUR

19 OCTOBER TO 3 NOVEMBER 1982

Musicians:
John Deacon
(bass guitar)
, Brian May
(guitars, vocals, piano on ‘Save Me’, acoustic guitar on ‘Love Of My Life’ and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’)
, Freddie Mercury
(vocals, piano, acoustic rhythm guitar on ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’)
, Roger Taylor
(drums, vocals, Syndrums, co-lead vocals on ‘Action This Day’)
, Fred Mandel
(piano, keyboards, synthesizer) Repertoire:
‘Flash’
(taped intro)
/ ‘The Hero’, ‘We Will Rock You’
(fast)
, ‘Action This Day’, ‘Somebody To Love’, ‘Play The Game’, ‘Calling All Girls’, ‘Now I’m Here’, ‘Put Out The Fire’, ‘Dragon Attack’, ‘Now I’m Here’
(reprise)
,

‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Save Me’, ‘Back Chat’, ‘Get Down, Make Love’, ‘Instrumental Inferno’, ‘Body Language’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘God Save The Queen’, ‘Rock It (Prime Jive)’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’, ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’

Itinerary:

October 19/20: Kyuden Auditorium, Fukuoka

October 24: Hankyu Nishinomiyakyujo, Osaka

October 26: Kokusai Tenjijo, Nagoya

October 29: Hokkaidoritso Sangyo Kyoshinajaijo, Sapporo

November 3: Seibu Lions Stadium, Tokyo

For Queen’s final tour dates of 1982, the band returned to Japan to perform six nights at five venues. The set list more closely resembled the one used on the European tour, with ‘The Hero’ and ‘Rock It (Prime Jive)’ alternating as the opening song, and ‘Love Of My Life’ reinstated; ‘Calling All Girls’ and ‘Body Language’ remained, with ‘Put Out The Fire’ added during the ‘Now I’m Here’ medley. Obviously, ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’ was also performed, though three covers – ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ and ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On’ – were also played at least once. The set lists were still unpredictable and fresh, which is a lot more than can be said for the static sets that would be played on their 1984 and 1986 tours.

However, as fresh as the sets were, the band were at odds with each other: the
Hot Space
tour had been lengthy and gruelling, and each band member was becoming weary of touring. Even Brian, who would sympathize with fans in later years over Queen’s lack of live shows, had become fed up; all were looking forward to a well-deserved break.

The final night was filmed for future use, with an abridged version released the following year on the Japan-only release Live In Japan. ‘Flash’, ‘The Hero’, ‘Now I’m Here’, ‘Put Out The Fire’, ‘Dragon Attack’, the ‘Now I’m Here’ reprise, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’ were eventually released worldwide as extras on the 2004
Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl
DVD release.

Brian and John flew home on 4 November to spend time with their families, while Roger travelled to Hong Kong, Bangkok and Thailand for a short holiday. (He would return to Surrey by the 13th, premiering the
We Will Rock You
film at his home for friends of the band.) Freddie stayed on in Japan for an undetermined time to explore the finest boutiques the country had to offer; a fitting end to a trying year.

1983

CANCELLED SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1983

Itinerary (all dates cancelled):

October: Stadium, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

October: Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

October: Morumbi Stadium, São Paulo, Brazil

October: Stadium, Curitiba, Brazil

October: Olympico, Porte Allegro, Brazil

November 23: Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay

In the spring of 1983, it was announced that Queen intended to return to South America to play bigger stadiums (including Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, which could hold 206,000 people and was the largest stadium in the world). An itinerary was drafted for a series of five dates in October 1983, with all dates in Brazil, and a date in Montevideo on 23 November. Unfortunately, in a repeat of the band’s first trek there in 1981, the planned tour was plagued with problems from the start: promoters, money and equipment all contributed to the endless hassle and, after discussions with Jim Beach and Gerry Stickells, the band decided to cancel the tour altogether and instead focus on their follow-up to
Hot Space
. The band would not tour in South America again, although they would play at the Rock In Rio Festival in January 1985.

1984

SAN REMO FESTIVAL

3 FEBRUARY 1984

Musicians:
John Deacon
(bass guitar)
, Brian May
(guitar, vocals)
, Freddie Mercury
(vocals)
, Roger Taylor
(drums, vocals)

Repertoire:
‘Radio Ga Ga’

Queen were asked to appear at the San Remo Festival, marking the band’s first time performing in Italy. Unfortunately for the 2000 assembled fans, Queen’s set – along with those of Paul Young, Bonnie Tyler and Culture Club – was mimed and reduced to just one song, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, performed twice for the cameras. However, the audience didn’t seem to mind, nor did the 30 million people who tuned in across Europe to watch the event.

MONTREUX GOLDEN ROSE POP FESTIVAL

12 MAY 1984

Musicians:
John Deacon
(bass guitar)
, Brian May
(guitar, vocals)
, Freddie Mercury
(vocals)
, Roger Taylor
(drums, vocals)

Repertoire:
‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Tear It Up’, ‘It’s A Hard Life’, ‘I Want To Break Free’

The Golden Rose Pop Festival was a four-day event that took place in idyllic Montreux. Considering Queen owned a studio in the city, it was no surprise that they were asked to appear. On the third night of the festival, the band took the stage to an ecstatic audience, miming to four songs from
The Works
. Though no advocates of mimed performance, the band figured that the exposure was too good to pass up, though Freddie made it particularly obvious that he wasn’t singing live. Couple this with Brian and John’s humorously unrealistic attempts to play along to the synth backings of ‘Radio Ga Ga’ and ‘I Want To Break Free’ and the result is one of the more unique Queen performances. The footage was released in 2003 on the
Greatest Video Hits 2
DVD.