Hey everyone, just a quick thought that came to me, did Freddie always knock over the speaker and/or hit his mic off the monitor or even throw it? Or did he just ham it up for the camera crew if the concert was being filmed?
The only instance of Freddie not doing this was on Montreal, possibly because of the expensive cameras!
Here's a compilation video of SHA with all known stage 'destruction' at the end. https://youtu.be/LuAlyAPmeFs
Your thoughts and opinions are welcome! -Chin
I think he was in a very bad mood the second night in Montreal. Also the audience wasn't very enthusiastic.
I think that's the reason he didn't have fun with the mics and amps.
For me it was just silly. Queen hadn't ever been a band that had managed to generate any sort of anger or violence either on-stage or in the audience; their material simply didn't lend itself to it. The Who had been doing it for years and had themselves been copied by Hendrix which was bad enough. Then along comes the Punk movement and Queen decide that in making a kind-of stripped down album in News Of The World, they can turn to that too. And, if nothing else, it simply looks preposterous - an exercise in keeping up with The Jones'.............
If you've ever been three feet from Pete Townshend when he destroys a guitar at the end of a Who show with a look of EXULTATION in his eyes, you'll know exactly how staged Freddie's antics actually were.
Yep, for all his alleged evil streak and 'Mr Bad Guy' persona, I think Fred was fairly harmless, as were the rest of them. I know there are some stories about the mirror and stuff, but they seem to have been a very very very very rare exception (and probably coke-induced). Most of the time, the worst that could happen if you were around Fred would be being told to fuck off or being ignored and that was it.
Sebastian wrote: Yep, for all his alleged evil streak and 'Mr Bad Guy' persona, I think Fred was fairly harmless, as were the rest of them. I know there are some stories about the mirror and stuff, but they seem to have been a very very very very rare exception (and probably coke-induced). Most of the time, the worst that could happen if you were around Fred would be being told to fuck off or being ignored and that was it.
Yeah I seem to remember from Hince's book the they might have used strong language against each other but it was all quickly forgotten. And it went both ways, both the crew and the band would insult and forget.
I also read from Ratty's book about a gig in Sept 11 1980 where Fred wasn't in a good mood because of technical issues like issues with monitors, and the pyros not working, which drove Fred to attack Ratty, who was manning the pyro and the pyro control box in a fit of rage. During the 1st encore, Fred went into a destructive fury on the stage, wrecking anything he can find. After the gig, Fred was not in a rational mood as Ratty was trying to explain he did exactly what he had to do, at which point Fred unceremoniously fired Ratty. In the end, they got over that incident, and moved on with business.
Sebastian wrote:
Yep, for all his alleged evil streak and 'Mr Bad Guy' persona, I think Fred was fairly harmless, as were the rest of them. I know there are some stories about the mirror and stuff, but they seem to have been a very very very very rare exception (and probably coke-induced).
Nah, I doubt they had coke in 1976 (nor the money). They were still super focused at that point. That probably didn't happen until 77 or 78 - precisely when the tempos started to get faster. Coincidence? ;)
Killer_queenIII wrote:
I also read from Ratty's book about a gig in Sept 11 1980 where Fred wasn't in a good mood because of technical issues like issues with monitors, and the pyros not working, which drove Fred to attack Ratty, who was manning the pyro and the pyro control box in a fit of rage. During the 1st encore, Fred went into a destructive fury on the stage, wrecking anything he can find. After the gig, Fred was not in a rational mood as Ratty was trying to explain he did exactly what he had to do, at which point Fred unceremoniously fired Ratty. In the end, they got over that incident, and moved on with business.
But he worked with them through 85 or 86, so when was he hired back?
And there was no gig on that date.
What a dick Mercury could be. There are so many stories.
But most of these guys had to have a relentless side - that's what gets you to the top.
The Real Wizard wrote:
But he worked with them through 85 or 86, so when was he hired back?
Probably immediately after the row in question.
The Real Wizard wrote:
And there was no gig on that date.
Well, Ratty's book isn't the most historically accurate when it comes to dates and stuff. He said it himself: he just doesn't care about that alleged 'trivia for anoraks' and prefers to focus on what he does know and like. With that in mind, it's a nice book, but I obviously wouldn't use it as a chronicle.
The Real Wizard wrote:
But he worked with them through 85 or 86, so when was he hired back?
And there was no gig on that date.
What a dick Mercury could be. There are so many stories.
But most of these guys had to have a relentless side - that's what gets you to the top.
Yeah, he was hired back. He wrote that Stickells gave him and the crew a couple of days off to chill out a bit, as some of them wear raring to quit at that point.
I've been wondering for a while if that gig could have happened in another date, since there was no Sept 11 1980 gig listed in your site.
@Chin: The book says it happened in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena. Though Ratty could be wrong. Like what Sebastian said, the book isn't the most accurate with the dates. If anything, it could have happened somewhere else at a different date.