| Mr. Scully 07.06.2006 06:28 |
I'm still trying to find out what dates Queen played in Sun City in 1984 and what dates were cancelled. Almost all concertographies and books say: Queen played on October 5, 10, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 20. Cancelled gigs were on October 6, 7, 9, 12. Now I managed to get at least some info from a South African promoter who worked for Queen: Queen played 11 gigs over 3 weeks with Mondays/Tuesdays off and the 3 x cancelled shows on the Sunday, Tuesday & Wednesday. Cancelled gigs were on October 9 and 10 (October 7 was interrupted after Under Pressure). --- Now I'm trying to put all this info together. I assume the "11 gigs" include the two cancelled and the one interrupted. I can't imagine Queen planning 14 gigs in one city :-) So I've come to conclusion that Queen played on October 5, 6, 7 (interrupted), 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 20. Two gigs (October 9 and 10) were cancelled. Does it sound reasonable? :-) |
| deleted user 07.06.2006 11:13 |
I personally find 11 gigs in Sun City unbelievable already. No one could fill Sun City's stadium for 11 nights in one run. Moreover, 11 shows, and only ONE bootleg recording, which itself is of dubious nature? That would be surprising to say the least, especially halfway through the '80s. |
| Rick 07.06.2006 13:24 |
<b><font color = "crimson">Thomas Quinn wrote: I personally find 11 gigs in Sun City unbelievable already. No one could fill Sun City's stadium for 11 nights in one run. Moreover, 11 shows, and only ONE bootleg recording, which itself is of dubious nature? That would be surprising to say the least, especially halfway through the '80s.How do you know that there is only one bootleg recording? |
| Paul Mark 07.06.2006 14:01 |
Actually the Sun City "Superbowl" is an indoor arena seating 6000. Not hard to believe really then that Queen could sell it out 11 times. They were and still are huge in SA. |
| Mr. Scully 07.06.2006 14:55 |
PLEASE let's not make this turn into another discussion about bootlegs from Sun City. A 6000 arena? A South African article says that "by noon on the first day of booking, all 63,000 seats were sold out." Now I found another old email from a South African Queen fan who attended a gig there and he thinks that "Queen signed up for five nights. Fred lost his voice after the first gig so the 2nd and 3rd nights were cancelled. I have seen them on the fourth night of the tour so in reality they only played 3 nights." More and more confusion! |
| Penetration_Guru 07.06.2006 15:49 |
Is there any info on why the concert stopped after Under Pressure, or was that Fred's voice? |
| breakthru1989 07.06.2006 15:59 |
i like to read more information from south africa in october 1984. because there is someting mysterious about this 1984 south african tour. where can i find this information. please don’t mention link i’ve been there and it’s avery good site on the net. what i want if it’s exists an anotyher queensite with detailed information or magazins or books about queen live in sun city. what has happened,music they played,what the audience did,wich voice problems accured to freddie,maybe wich support act was out there. maybe recordings from the south african 1984 tour. maybe not. i can search for this what i did. but i did’nt find anything. there is an possibilaty that missed something. or i searched in the wrong way/arrea. does anyone has other queensites in mind. if so many thanks. |
| Roy ® 07.06.2006 16:06 |
Mr. Scully wrote: PLEASE let's not make this turn into another discussion about bootlegs from Sun City. A 6000 arena? A South African article says that "by noon on the first day of booking, all 63,000 seats were sold out." Now I found another old email from a South African Queen fan who attended a gig there and he thinks that "Queen signed up for five nights. Fred lost his voice after the first gig so the 2nd and 3rd nights were cancelled. I have seen them on the fourth night of the tour so in reality they only played 3 nights." More and more confusion!Maybe 11 times 6000 seats makes an total of 66.000 seats. It could be possible. note: maybe our big friend Mr. Brooks could help us out and search the archives. |
| Bobby_brown 07.06.2006 17:00 |
This is a very interesting topic about the most hidden information about Queen concerts. As far as i´m concern, i found it strange that no- one knows the answer to this question, but to tell you the truth i think that on this one i´m going for the Greg Brooks live compilation, unless someone finds new (with substantial facts) information about this. just be carefull, because i think this is TABOO for the Queen people!! Take care |
| Paul Mark 07.06.2006 17:25 |
I am South African and I can say for definite that there is no 63 000 seat stadium at Sun City. I am sure the article refers to the number of seats sold over all nights. link Not 100% sure of the number of nights as I was too young to remember. An old friend of mines parents still have their program from the concert. That might shed some light on the number of gigs played but I have since lost touch with them. |
| radio_what's_new 07.06.2006 20:06 |
Mr. Scully wrote: I'm still trying to find out what dates Queen played in Sun City in 1984 and what dates were cancelled. Almost all concertographies and books say: Queen played on October 5, 10, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 20. Cancelled gigs were on October 6, 7, 9, 12. Now I managed to get at least some info from a South African promoter who worked for Queen: Queen played 11 gigs over 3 weeks with Mondays/Tuesdays off and the 3 x cancelled shows on the Sunday, Tuesday & Wednesday. Cancelled gigs were on October 9 and 10 (October 7 was interrupted after Under Pressure). --- Now I'm trying to put all this info together. I assume the "11 gigs" include the two cancelled and the one interrupted. I can't imagine Queen planning 14 gigs in one city :-) So I've come to conclusion that Queen played on October 5, 6, 7 (interrupted), 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 20. Two gigs (October 9 and 10) were cancelled. Does it sound reasonable? :-)Maybe you can write Brian May a letter (if you didn't do that already). I also remeber Queen got banned by some international organisation after playing at Sun City. Maybe you can aks the organisation some more details.... |
| wstüssyb 07.06.2006 20:33 |
I was told the Sun city bowl, with the Queen gear for stage made it to were it was less then 6,000 people, around 5,500 a show. I'm sure the tour internary can help, I dont fantom Queen staying there for 2 weeks, I think it was little more then 1 week. |
| Mr. Scully 08.06.2006 03:28 |
I'll check the tour program when I get home on Friday, it should give us at least an idea about how many gigs were SCHEDULED. Tour itinerary would be the best but I have never seen it. |
| cmi 08.06.2006 05:48 |
My summary is: Queen played: October 5, 6 (interrupted), 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 20. Cancelled gigs: October 7 (Sunday), 9 (Tuesday), 10 (Wednesday). |
| deleted user 08.06.2006 06:01 |
Mr. Scully wrote: PLEASE let's not make this turn into another discussion about bootlegs from Sun City. A 6000 arena? A South African article says that "by noon on the first day of booking, all 63,000 seats were sold out." Now I found another old email from a South African Queen fan who attended a gig there and he thinks that "Queen signed up for five nights. Fred lost his voice after the first gig so the 2nd and 3rd nights were cancelled. I have seen them on the fourth night of the tour so in reality they only played 3 nights." More and more confusion!I think this sounds more realistic, actually. Could it be possible that 11 nights were considered as possible dates, out of which 5 were finally set? |
| john bodega 08.06.2006 07:00 |
Maybe they never really went. They probably made it up just to piss people off. PS. Did they play Man in the Shadows or Hiding in Public? |
| Madman 08.06.2006 10:58 |
For me it's still to much gigs in South Africa... and don't see a reason to play about 11 gigs there. Well myabe except this that if this venue is only for ~6000 people they wanted to play for more people - each venue in Europe in this time have capacity about 15000 so it will be some reason. 2 concerts and 12000 so like one gig in Europe but... no, it's still to much for one country. But there is another confusion - for What people they played ? I know that this town is quite rich and probably only for "rich" people they played. But why if Queen idea was to play for "all people" so also for primeval peoples in this continent - but they are poor and don't will be have lot's of money to buy ticket... Realy don't understand... And don't forget about funny incident on African savanna. So for sure they are week in South Africa. Lesley Ann Jones in his book mentioned that after that night where Freddie lost voice they have 4 days break. So if Freddie lost voice 7th then next concert was at least 12th. So Martin's theory is right here. And who for the first time write concertography when this dates - from 5th to 20th October - was showed ? Ken Dean, press, fan club ? Brian May for sure don't help use ;) |
| Serry... 08.06.2006 11:29 |
"Linda Ronstadt gave her concerts in a structure called the Sun City Super Bowl, which really isn't very super. It is just a big auditorium with a red curtain, orange seats and fountains on either side of the stage. The uniformed guards and ushers are black. The crowd that came to see Linda Ronstadt was almost totally...99.44....percent pure-white. It was also relatively small. There were 6200 seats in the Super Bowl. About half of those were empty." Linda Ronstadt: Snow White in South Africa by Aaron Latham (Rolling Stone, August 18, 1983) "The Superbowl was opened by Frank Sinatra, who was paid $1.6 million for a nine day stand. Performances by US entertainers and athletes any- where in South Africa are very controversial. Anti- apartheid organizations and the United Nations have long advocated a cultural and sports boycott of South Africa. When Ray Charles went in 1981 he was forced to cancel his performance in the black township of Soweto because of strong opposition from the community. US performers who have defied the boycott have come home to criticism and picket lines. Artists going to Sun City justify themselves by claiming on the one hand that they are not political and on the other that they are not performing in South Africa but in an independent country. They choose to ignore the fact that Bophuthatswana's in- dependence is entirely unrecognized outside South Africa and is rejected by the majority of South Africans. The big bucks have drawn well-known American stars to Sun City. These include Millie Jackson, Cher, The Beach Boys, Glen Campbell and Linda Ronstadt. Audiences are not officially segregated at Sun City. But the cost of the more expensive tickets often makes this the de facto reality. Liza Minelli performed her opening night to a crowd of 4,500 people, of which about 200 were black. There was only one black face in the most expensive seatsthe rest were high up in the auditorium in seats that sold for $13.00. And Southern Sun, which owns the hotel, admitted to giving tickets to blacks free. It does this not out of generosity but so that artists do not per- form to all-white audiences. "I don't mind about anything except that I'm playing in front of mixed audiences," said Liza Minelli, ignoring the fact that by performing there she was helping apartheid score propaganda points." "Many famous musicians such as Queen and Elton John also performed at the Sun City Super Bowl, a large auditorium which seats 6,200." (Wikipedia) Bryan Adams played 5 shows there too in April 1994 just during one week. I think that's because of contract between musicians and owners of Super Bowl - several shows or nothing at all. |
| wstüssyb 08.06.2006 21:49 |
Little off topic, My old friend who went to 3 shows( Cannot remember which, if in a row or a night here and a night in the middle and end) told me in a email long ago, the setlist were the same every night, said by the 3rd show he was already bored somewhat and gave or sold away his tickets for the final show. |
| FriedChicken 10.06.2006 07:07 |
Maybe the sun city gigs are the biggest Queen related hoaxes :D Even the people from the music industry are in it |
| Mr. Scully 12.06.2006 03:48 |
Btw., there are no tour dates in the South African tourbook... |
| Richy Mercury 13.06.2006 17:42 |
Somebody needs to ask Mr. Brooks. |
| Rick 14.06.2006 03:52 |
Okay, who wants to risk his life? :-P |
| jasen101 19.06.2006 03:50 |
My parents went to one of the Sun City shows...I asked my mom and she said that as far as she remembers Freddie Lost his voice on opening night and some shows were cancelled...my parents were lucky enough to have had tickets on the first night the shows resumed....i think the 12th. She remembers reading in the papers that the tabloids had printed rumours about Freddie having many male escorts up to his hotel suite...don't jump on me for saying this...but it was reported! FYI: the shows were not segregated...Sun City, at that time...wasn't technically in the country of South Africa...it was in a seperate country called Bhaputatswana...(forgive my spelling) in which there was no aparteid. |
| Bobby_brown 19.06.2006 16:57 |
jasen101 wrote: My parents went to one of the Sun City shows...I asked my mom and she said that as far as she remembers Freddie Lost his voice on opening night and some shows were cancelled...my parents were lucky enough to have had tickets on the first night the shows resumed....i think the 12th. She remembers reading in the papers that the tabloids had printed rumours about Freddie having many male escorts up to his hotel suite...don't jump on me for saying this...but it was reported! FYI: the shows were not segregated...Sun City, at that time...wasn't technically in the country of South Africa...it was in a seperate country called Bhaputatswana...(forgive my spelling) in which there was no aparteid.Don´t you guys have in South Africa a place where you can read old newspapers (I don´t know the english name for this). Kind of a Papers library, where you could read what really happened in that Queen period over there? Take care |
| Celia 07.02.2019 08:12 |
I was at the 5th October 1984 Queen show live at Sun City. The show was absolutely spectacular and I am not surprised Freddie's voice started giving in... The air was sooooo dry, we as travellers from Pietermaritzburg were suffering immensely from the heat and dehydration. Freddie's voice started to crack up the 1st night (the concert we attended) but hey, in true form to the amazing showster he was, the SHOW WENT ON!! I am so chuffed that I can say I saw them LIVE at Sun City. We had no idea that Freddie was ill and would die in a few years, but what a true LEGEND. I lived and breathed Queen. The movie has again awakened the Queen spark and I am sure millions of fans across the world pay tribute to this phenomenal band. They were the CHAMPIONS!! |
| aristide1 07.02.2019 10:42 |
Nice to hear that also Afrikaners "were suffering immensely", although your standards for suffering do not coincide with those of your unfortunate compatriots. |
| thomasquinn 32989 07.02.2019 12:09 |
aristide1 wrote: Nice to hear that also Afrikaners "were suffering immensely", although your standards for suffering do not coincide with those of your unfortunate compatriots.Bravo, well said! My mother is from Namibia, which was illegally occupied by South Africa. She saw this world with her own eyes. And, btw, in Namibia, black people and white British and German people were united against Afrikaner oppression. |
| Holly2003 07.02.2019 13:04 |
What a lovely way to welcome someone to the forum... Hello Celia. Thanks for sharing your memories of the show. Very little is known about these concerts so any info you have is very welcome. |
| Blackvy 07.02.2019 13:38 |
Welcome Celia :) As Holly2003 said, if you have any other info about these concerts, it'll be appreciated. |
| Nathan H 07.02.2019 19:17 |
Celia wrote: I was at the 5th October 1984 Queen show live at Sun City. The show was absolutely spectacular and I am not surprised Freddie's voice started giving in... The air was sooooo dry, we as travellers from Pietermaritzburg were suffering immensely from the heat and dehydration. Freddie's voice started to crack up the 1st night (the concert we attended) but hey, in true form to the amazing showster he was, the SHOW WENT ON!! I am so chuffed that I can say I saw them LIVE at Sun City. We had no idea that Freddie was ill and would die in a few years, but what a true LEGEND. I lived and breathed Queen. The movie has again awakened the Queen spark and I am sure millions of fans across the world pay tribute to this phenomenal band. They were the CHAMPIONS!!Do you remember the setlist from this show? Or can you confirm whether they played Stone Cold Crazy, Great King Rat, Keyboard/Guitar Solos and the ending of Brighton Rock at that show because it's unknown whether they played these songs at Sun City. |
| Marlamir 07.02.2019 22:33 |
Thanks for the story celia. Is allways great to hear something new from this show |
| FunLovinCriminal 08.02.2019 00:59 |
Queen are still being dicks fro having played Sun Fucking City at all. I bet Mary Austin had a word in them having played there. She was and still is the genesis of all evil in the world. |