I'd absolutely love to visit all those Queen landmarks someday... Queen never were in my country so I can't contribute here but hopefully a lot of people will.
Sunderland Locarno. Demolished 6 years ago and the site of Queens only Sunderland gig. Queen 2 tour March1974.Now a Tesco store.
I live less than a mile from here and at the time I had no idea that they were playing just along the road or enen who they were.
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Caird Hall in Dundee, they played there in 1975. That's how the hall looked this April when I was giving a concert there with the local symphony. I was playing the piano, and no, it's not the piano Freddie used, that one in the photo was bought in the 80s.
They never came to Northern Ireland but they did play several times in the Republic Of Ireland. Notably Dublin in '79 and twice in '84, but by far the most infamous one was in Slane in '86.
All the venues (RDS Simmons Hall and Slane Castle Grounds) are still there and I've driven past Slane Castle a few times and man is it big haha.
-Chin
I grew up close to Honiton Hall, Penketh (which is a parish of Warrington).
Queen didn't play there but Freddie did in 69 when he was in Ibex.
I've been past places Queen played in the early days like Wade Deacon school for girls in Widnes and the College of Technology in St Helens.
I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit. Queen played Joe Louis Arena (still standing but defunct and scheduled to be demolished next year, now that the Red Wings have a new arena) in '80 and '82. I never saw any concert there, I usually went to either the Palace of Auburn Hills or Pine Knob (now DTE something-Theater), but I saw more than a few Red Wings games and even a few games of the Detroit Drive (former arena football team).
There is a Beatles connection though.
When the Beatles went to Hamburg in 1960 they stopped in Arnhem and John Lennon stole a harmonica (a Hohner Marine Band) from musicstore Bergmann. I used to buy my musical theory and sheetmusic books there. But they went out of business 3 years ago.
They used this harmonica on Love Me Do
Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto still exists (Queen played there in 77/78/82, but the inside of the building changed greatly over the last 20 years. They gutted the hockey rink and installed a smaller one in its place, and the rest of the building is now a grocery store. link
I never saw a hockey game or a concert there, but I did see the lacrosse championship final in 1999. The arena was surprisingly small compared to most arenas of its ilk (which is why it was torn down, of course).
Exhibition Stadium (where Queen played in 1980) was torn down in the late 90s, replaced with a parking lot, and then replaced with another stadium more or less in the same spot called the BMO field.
The Toronto FC play there, but there has only been one concert there to date - Genesis in 2007 (which I attended).
And here is the magnificent Massey Hall in Toronto. Queen were supposed to play here in 1974 and 75, but both shows were cancelled (due to Brian's and Freddie's health, respectively).
The building remains intact, although it's currently undergoing a major renovation. Those balcony seats, as beautiful as they look, are fucking uncomfortable. I've seen countless shows there, but no matter how good they are, after two hours you just can't sit down anymore.
Interestingly enough, Montserrat Caballe once performed here.
FriedChicken wrote:
There is a Beatles connection though.
When the Beatles went to Hamburg in 1960 they stopped in Arnhem and John Lennon stole a harmonica (a Hohner Marine Band) from musicstore Bergmann. I used to buy my musical theory and sheetmusic books there. But they went out of business 3 years ago.
They used this harmonica on Love Me Do
Thanks Bob for your expertise! Is it a good word? Massey Hall is especially interesting because of Queen, Ms. Caballe, faithfulness of the building to the older times, and those seats :p
The 'Hardrock Theatre' (Stretford, Manchester UK) as it was known in the 1970s which later became a bowling alley and then a B&Q store and is currently empty.
This is where Queen recorded Killer Queen for the Granada TV show '45' in 1974 which unfortunately no longer exists!
A number of big names of the time like Bowie, Led Zepp, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Roxy Music etc
On a 'school outing' in 71 we went to watch a recording of the pop TV show 'Lift Off With Aysha' !
Reviving this thread real quick (sorta):
Cool Insuring Arena a.k.a Glens Falls Civic Center
Haven't been inside but headed by it a few times, Queen performed here during The Game tour.
Here's a photo of the outside: link
I've also been to the New York City apartment building Freddie lived in as well as Madison Square Garden (Neither really in my town but I've been to the city a few times)
The King Of Rhye wrote:
Also, this is what the Joe Louis Arena looked like with a concert going on (though I have no idea what concert is pictured...lol):
Sad to see a venue being demolished. I'm surprised they never played the Detroit Michigan Theater - It really sad to see that now. I'd love to see it in person.