Closing out the whole show with TYMD was done a couple of times on the Game tour, yes, but they closed the set proper with Rock You and Champions. They basically switched the encores, not really any experimentation there.
Closing the whole show with BoRap would've been odd. That song is, imo (and apparently in Queen's opinion too for most of their career), most effective as a showstopper before a high-energy number. The guys only closed the set proper with it twice that we know of, iirc. Once at the first show of the Jazz tour, and once during the Hot Space tour when they were tweaking the encores again.
Speaking of the Hot Space tour, that's the most experimental the band ever got with the setlist. Look at how many changes they went through in the first two months of that tour. They opened with popular encore numbers a couple of times, kicked TYMD around like a Canadian baby, and couldn't decide quite where Liar fit in the set before dropping it altogether. Those are my favorite Queen shows to listen to, because you can almost see the discussions the guys must have been having after virtually every show about which songs fit best and where.
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You're spot on regarding the Hot Space tour; as you state there were many setlist changes in the beginning and as a result, they were a few different songs used to close the set proper - Liar, Now I'm Here, Bo Rhap, etc.
Rubbersuit · Member since
It's good to remember that they toured before the internet, where the next day every fan in the world could know exactly what was played and download the whole show on Youtube.
Queen were very much about getting a "perfect" set and touring it around so fans all over could experience a well-rehearsed and polished show.
DanQueen2008 · Member since
Wrong! They did indeed do encores. Official Wembely Release for exapmle:
01. One Vision 02. Tie Your Mother Down 03. In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited 04. Seven Seas Of Rhye 05. Tear It Up 06. A Kind Of Magic 07. Under Pressure 08. Another One Bites The Dust 09. Who Want's To Live Forever 10. I Want To Break Free 11. Impromptu 12. Guitar Solo 13. Now I'm Here 14. Love Of My Life 15. Is This The World We Created? 16. (You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care 17. Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart) 18. Tutti Frutti 19. Gimme Some Lovin' 20. Bohemian Rhapsody 21. Hammer To Fall 22. Crazy Little Thing Called Love ENCORE 23. Big Spender 24. Radio GaGa ENCORE 25. We Will Rock You 26. Friends Will Be Friends 27. We Are The Champions 28. God Save The Queen
Legy · Member since
They didn't do a spontaneous encore. They planned to end the show with Rock You and Champions.
I've seen Fleetwood Mac a few times and they did an encore. They came back and performed a different songs for every concert I attended. Last time they played in Houston they played Oh Well for one of their encores. Not bad considering Peter Green left Fleetwood Mac ages ago.
rhyeking · Member since
The only live act I've seen regularly, repeatedly, over the last 15 years is Rush. One thing I love about their live sets is that they are not locked in to playing the 'popular' stuff each and every tour. When they get sick of a song, they drop it and make no apologies for it ("Closer To The Heart," for example, is their "WATC" in many ways and they stopped playing it for a few tours and only recently brought it back out).
Not only that, every tour they mix up the set list, pulling out 20 year old album tracks, some never played live EVER. This current tour, which I saw the Toronto date last night (it kicked so much ass!), they were a) touring just for the hell of it (not promoting an album) and b) just before they started the tour, they released a single, old-school style, with an A-side and B-side...just because they felt like it! Two new Rush songs, out of nowhere (though it was widely known they're working on an album schedule for release a YEAR from now!), and c) they played their entire Moving Pictures album, front to back! It was mind-blowing!
Take a moment and imagine Queen playing A Night At The Opera or Queen II in its entirety, album order, in the middle of the concert!
Now, take a moment to wipe the drool off your chin.
Queen's set lists were well-considered, but in many ways were trapped by their own hits. Sure, they gave the audience what they wanted and were concious of what they were doing. Technically, yes, they had encores, but when you step back and understand what they were doing, there is no way the show was done after CLTCL. It's funny to picture what might have happened if everyone just up and left after that and the band was backstage thinking, "Uh, okay, I guess we're done early tonight, boys!"
If and when Queen tour again, with whichever line up, I think it would be awesome if they STARTED with WWRY & WATC! Because after that, they could go in any direction they wanted; play anything!
Encores, when you're Queen, or Rush or U2, these days, is a tad self-indulgent. To "end" the show knowing the audience expects you to return to play your traditional closing numbers is kind of saying: "Yeah, we know you love us, but we just want to hear you say it!" But, we audience members go in knowing that, so it's become part of the tradition, in a way.
Holly2003 · Member since
DanQueen2008 wrote: Wrong! They did indeed do encores. Official Wembely Release for exapmle:
01. One Vision 02. Tie Your Mother Down 03. In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited 04. Seven Seas Of Rhye 05. Tear It Up 06. A Kind Of Magic 07. Under Pressure 08. Another One Bites The Dust 09. Who Want's To Live Forever 10. I Want To Break Free 11. Impromptu 12. Guitar Solo 13. Now I'm Here 14. Love Of My Life 15. Is This The World We Created? 16. (You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care 17. Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart) 18. Tutti Frutti 19. Gimme Some Lovin' 20. Bohemian Rhapsody 21. Hammer To Fall 22. Crazy Little Thing Called Love ENCORE 23. Big Spender 24. Radio GaGa ENCORE 25. We Will Rock You 26. Friends Will Be Friends 27. We Are The Champions 28. God Save The Queen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Err... maybe you should read the rest of the thread.
rhyeking · Member since
Be gentle, Holly, he's a newbie.
Holly2003 · Member since
rhyeking wrote: Be gentle, Holly, he's a newbie. ---------------------------------------------------------------
That is gentle! Especially as I've had a few and am feeling a little frisky ;)
rhyeking · Member since
Haha...
:-)
Rick · Member since
A Queenfan once told me he attended a Queen show in 1975 (either SHA or ANATO, I cannot recall), where Queen played an instrumental excerpt of The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke. Not as an encore though, but by request. Whether this is true, I cannot confirm.
Planetgurl · Member since
Rick wrote: A Queenfan once told me he attended a Queen show in 1975 (either SHA or ANATO, I cannot recall), where Queen played an instrumental excerpt of The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke. Not as an encore though, but by request. Whether this is true, I cannot confirm. Only part of it was played as part of the medley back then. It was part of the show though, not by request.
Benn · Member since
Because of the reliance on elaborate light shows, Queen had to pre-plan their set list and, as a result, their sets became sterile and predictable.
The beauty of a band like The Who was that because they didn't need any gimmicks to get their show across, they could afford to be spontaneaous and didn't need to keep to a schedule - and, as a result, if you got an encore, it was either because they didn't want to end the show or, the audience reaction was SO strong that they couldn't resist.
tcc · Member since
I think in all shows, the encore songs are pre-planned and programmed as part of the show. There are strict working hours to be observed for the crew members and therefore the bands cannot perform beyond a certain time.
Benn · Member since
tcc,
Not necessarily so. A band's crew was a band's crew and not unionised. Therefore, they were at the beck and call of the band and it's schedule. What WAS and still is beyond a band's control are LOCAL issues regarding performance curfew restrictions. For example, the UK has always been strict on this given that many theatres are in residential areas and curfews are strictly set. In the US, the restrictions are few and far between, whereby someone like Zeppelin or Springsteen could happily knock out a 3 hour set finishing after midnight.
rhyeking · Member since
The Touring Crew is likely made up of various different union personel under specific contracts. The Lighting Designer is part of the Designer's Union, for example and the same with audio. The contracts are pretty standard union-approved documents, listing what they're responsibilities are.
The guys who load in and load out the show, doing the heavy lifting, are different unions as well. IATSI's local would cover the assembly and disassembly of the equipment and lighting and sound (inside the venue). Stevedores would load the gear in and out of the venue and on and off the trucks. Shipping company is responsible at the point the gear is on the trucks.
Plus, it's pretty standard now to have three full production's worth of equipment during a tour, each leap frogging from venue to venue. While A is tearing down the last show, B is already set up for tonight's and C is setting up for tomorrow's show, and once A is done the tear down (the show strike) it goes to the venue playing two nights from now...and on and on.
