44 years ago today (27 June) a little known band, Smile, performed their first ever gig with their new frontman Freddie Bulsara. Soon after, they went from Smile to Queen, Bulsara became Mercury, and the rest is history.
To celebrate the inception of one of the most iconic rock bands in history, we've charted Queen's career through six of their seminal live performances. Many of the band's songs, including 'We Will Rock You', were written with audience participation in mind, and to see Queen live was to see something truly unforgettable.
44 years later, even if you have to watch them through grainy, muffled YouTube footage because you were -22 when they started out, Queen's live shows are still nothing short of iconic. link
Without looking, my take on that is as follows:
Imperial College - 1973
The Rainbow - 1974
1st Jap show - 1975
Hammersmith (Christmas) - 1975
1st South American show - 1981
Live Aid - 1985
In my Opinion, I think the top six most important Queen Gigs were:-
Blackpool - UK - 1st March 1974 (first time Queen went on "Tour" as the Headlining act)
Rainbow - London - UK - 31st March 1974 (A landmark "at the time" for Queen to play this venue)
Manchester - UK - 30th October 1974 (First gig back after Brian's Illness "Could have easily been no more gigs if Brian had died")
Buenos Aires - Argentina - 28th February 1981 (first time a major act ever toured South America)
Live Aid - London - UK - 13th July 1985 (well it was "Live Aid" wasn't it)
Knebworth - UK - 9th August 1986 (Last ever "Freddie" Queen Gig)
tcc wrote:
What about the gigs at Sun City in 1984 ? They are very significant too.
Yes the "Sun City" gigs were very significant, but at the time I think "Queen" would have wished that all the bad publicity would just go away, even though Queen played there for all the "Right" reasons.....but unfortunately in the 1980's people just jumped on the band wagon in slating bands for playing there, without even getting their facts right first.
but I wouldn't say it was one of the most important gigs (again in my opinion) Now if the "South African" government said, that "No Black" people were allowed to attend & "Queen" defied that order & made a protest that saying "We will only play to mixed crowds, that or nothing" & the government backed down & let a mixed crowd happen, because of this....then Yes, I would have included the first "Sun City" in my top six...but since it was a mixed crowd, to some degree anyway....I did not think it warranted being in the top six (again only in my opinion.)