It just came to me that I remember reading, back in 1986, that two nights at Wembley were like night and day. One was great, the other one not so. This was the opinion of a well-known rock reviewer in my country at the time (former Yugoslavia). I remember reading her review of the Budapest concert (to which she went, I don't know if she went to the two Wembleys) and she basically said she didn't really enjoy it, except for the encore (from Radio Ga-Ga onward). I know she could've been full of it, but I'd like to hear your views.
Now, I don't know if the above assessment was correct. Could you share your views/opinions/information on this? State if your opinion is based on: personal experience, reviews, friends' words, bootlegs etc. I'd really like to know if this is true, and if it is, why? As far as I know, it is the second night at Wembley that was released on DVD, but I'm not sure if that was the 'good night'.
The second night (Saturday 12th July) is the one filmed complete and released in it's entirety on DVD recently. The first night (I was there) was 'test' filmed but not in it's entirety unfortunately. As far as I know the first nights perfomance was better (and the rain didn't turn it into a damp squib!). I think the band were nervous on the second night - because of the filming? I can't believe this to be the case as they've been filmed so many times prior to this.
I was present at both Wembley shows and thought they were both fine,with a great atmosphere on the Saturday show.The performances were deliberately slightly different and extra dates were considered(the demand was half a million tickets or seven nights!)but Freddie in particular was keen to move on and try new venues.Queen were actually most pleased with the Budapest show which shows them on top form and may surface on DVD soon...They are reluctant to release the early stuff because few films at the time capture the excitement and atmosphere and the film quality is poor by todays standards.One exception was the '77 Earls court gigs but unfortunately a problem exists with a microphone on the playback(Freddie's).And,for the record,the FULL show of Knebworth lies in the vaults but is no match in terms of film/sound quality to Wembley.More positively,watch this space for something from the Works 84 era (Live in Rio was only part of the show)which really was spectacular for those of you who were there...
I only started to enjoy after "God Save the Queen" on both nights ; )
Really, they shouldn´t send reporters who don´t like Queen (or any other band) to their concerts. Their opinion doesn´t going to change even if it is the best concert of their lives!
Take care
mercury20 wrote: I was present at both Wembley shows and thought they were both fine,with a great atmosphere on the Saturday show.The performances were deliberately slightly different and extra dates were considered(the demand was half a million tickets or seven nights!)but Freddie in particular was keen to move on and try new venues.Queen were actually most pleased with the Budapest show which shows them on top form and may surface on DVD soon...They are reluctant to release the early stuff because few films at the time capture the excitement and atmosphere and the film quality is poor by todays standards.One exception was the '77 Earls court gigs but unfortunately a problem exists with a microphone on the playback(Freddie's).And,for the record,the FULL show of Knebworth lies in the vaults but is no match in terms of film/sound quality to Wembley.More positively,watch this space for something from the Works 84 era (Live in Rio was only part of the show)which really was spectacular for those of you who were there...