I never got to see the crown lighting rig,was it as spectacular as people say it was.Has anyone got a good picture of it ?My favourite rig was pizza oven, which at the end of the show was shining upright into the crowd.It was also at the NEC 10,000 people all standing up ,no seating.I think at the time it held the record indoor attendance for a show.Also peoples favourite intro tape ? I liked the intro at The Bowl, very dramatic ,i was right at the front for that show and it was great when Freddie or Brian came to the front of the stage,even though Brians Guitar unpluged itself during his solo !
The Crown lighting rig was quite spectacular for it's time. There were actually two crown rigs. One was put together for the Earls Court shows. It was basically the same rig they had toured with in 77., but at Earls Court the rig was hung from a circular structure on to which was built an elaborate chrome frame work which provided the crown section. The rig was raised at the start of the show using four electric motors.
The second crown was smaller, and was built to tour with. It used canvas sections streched over a frame. I believe the structure was built by a sail making firm. The light rig was made up of curved and straight trusses, a fairly standard method of ganging lights in an arena. Again the rig lifted at the start of the show. It was spectacular in as much as very few bands toured with a moving lighting rig. It was simple in that it used the electric motors which are used to hang lights and PA. At one or two shows it was hung ( flown ) without the crown section.
In my opinion the Pizza oven was a more striking lighting rig. Used with the droning intro tape with the thunder claps it provided a great visual impact. The NEC crazy tour date was indeed the largest indoor audience in the UK at the time I believe that 13900 tickets were sold
The fly squatter rig was amazing, truly mobile it actually added to what was happening on stage. In some cases come within 2 or 3 feet of the bands heads. Very effective during GDML and BM's solo.
The rig used with Adam Lambert in 2012 kind of echoed the Pizza oven and to a lesser extent the fly squatter rig.
The 82 rig was great, but early evening in the summer out doors washed away some of that rigs impact!
Check out Queenlive.ca loads of really good info and pics of what your asking about
Yeah, the flying nun. 648 par cans. Modern colour changing filters on lighting units have largely done away with needing that many lamps in a rig. I remember those plans were published in the Complete Works box set book. Good to see them again. The picture of the chair plan with the spot lights is from the 82 Hot Space Tour
That's the front page of The Carnet. This is basically an equipment list carried by the tour manager and truck drivers. It lists everything that is being transported on a tour from country to country. It acts like a kind of passport for the gear. It usually lists make, country of manufacture, serial numbers and numbers of each unit carried.
I'm afraid the crown was quite poor, hardly recognisable as a crown, I saw it at Wembley empire pool in may 78, and then ELO's spaceship in June 78. No competition im afraid.
But what a gig, right at the front, Queen were on fire.
This is right up my alley! My cousin Joe was Queen's lighting director for those two tours and helped design both rigs including Earls Court. The crown at the Court was so huge that after those two gigs he said they had to cut it up to dismantle it to get it out of the venue. From what I understand he was a little pissed off when ELO bought the truss and made a UFO out of it. I remember as a kid Joe coming home between tours and showing us a black and white photo of the crown being constructed. It may have been a shot from Houston taken by Ratty. He pulled the photo out of a manila envelope that had John Reid Enterprises stamped on the front. It was quite impressive to see at the time not knowing what it did or how it worked but he seemed pretty proud of it He toured all over the world with those two rigs and then went back out in 84/85 with the band for The Works tour. He still has his lighting cues and a ton of other things in a trunk which I'm determined to get into one of these days.
Thanks for those pictures Real Wizzard,they look really dramatic and i bet to see the Crown rise from the stage was awsome.Going off topic and back to the all standing show at the NEC on the crazy tour.It really was like a cattle shed,i think Brian said something during the show about not being too impressed.Anyway it was my first ever concert and i was 15 years old.I remember at the start of Bo Rap i passed out due to standing for so long,the heat,or just the excitement of it all ! I came roiund at the end of Bo Rhap.There was no such thing as medical services to help in those days,even if there was they would never have got to me in that crowd.Anyway it did not put me off as i went back at the next NEC show and they had seating and it was great as i saw the whole show.I saw Queen nine times and the best two shows were Milton Keynes and Knebworth.We were on a bus at Knebworth, it was a real job just to find the right bus in the car park ! We then sat in the car park for three hours and got back to Nottingham at five in the morning.Well worth it though,what a day and the sun was out all day.
