What was the most *groundbreaking* tour?

I don't just mean your favorite, but in terms of going beyond conventional music performance; turning it into an experience. Staging, visuals, lighting, theatrics etc.

Would be interested to hear some opinions.

:o)

Crazy tour...by far the best. true rock & roll performances, getting back in touch with fans! loud, fast, raucous, fantastic lighting , hot & sweaty as a concert should be,saw them at manchester apollo..truly superb !!! will never forget it.

NOTW dates and the Crown lighting rig. Did a longer set than usual too...

[QUOTE] [b]craigob11 wrote:[/b]
Crazy tour...by far the best. true rock & roll performances, getting back in touch with fans! loud, fast, raucous, fantastic lighting , hot & sweaty as a concert should be,saw them at manchester apollo..truly superb !!! will never forget it.[/QUOTE]
100% agree. i had been working for one month, and my first gig since starting work - was at the new NEC, birmingham (nov 79)...amazing - think it was a record indoor UK attendance at that time - just remember it being massive compared to the pub/club gigs i'd been to

have been to some gigs since that rivalled it for power and "leaving an impression"

I think some may say the US Hot Space tour.

After the album bombed, the boys kicked things up a notch. The lighting show was spectacular, they sounded heavier than ever, Brian played a flying V and had the "cool" factor, and most importantly - they consistently got good reviews.

If you asked the band, they'd probably say the Magic tour. They poured so much money into their show year after year, always growing it in one way or another, and almost always took a loss. This was the one time they actually made a profit on the road.

The shovel tour

Hot Space tour, which cemented their status as a stadium rock band. Ok, the album wasn't the best, but they were at the top of the game live, which really showed in the Hot Space tracks live.

I personally would have thought the South American tour would have been the most "groundbreaking" tour as far as breaking in new territory & audiences. They were also at the peak of their live performances at this time for me.

As far as non-Queen tours go it would have to be U2's Zoo TV tour which takes the cake. It was so far ahead of anything else at the time.

I would say anything between '78 and '82.

I would say The Works tour because the ground shook after they played the sun city gigs :-)

NOTW tour. Great set list and crown lighting rig
Jazz and Crazy Tour. As a live act they were at a peak, and again great lighting rig!
South America was a truly ground breaking tour in terms of the countries and the size of the venues.
The Hot Space tour, again they were very much on top of their game, but was it really ground breaking?

[QUOTE] [b]Vocal harmony wrote:[/b]
NOTW tour. Great set list and crown lighting rig
Jazz and Crazy Tour. As a live act they were at a peak, and again great lighting rig!
South America was a truly ground breaking tour in terms of the countries and the size of the venues.
The Hot Space tour, again they were very much on top of their game, but was it really ground breaking?[/QUOTE]
That seems about right. They had a number of live transitions in their career, from pubs/clubs to the Hammersmith Odeon, from small-medium sized arenas to Hyde Park and the arena tours in the USA. Brian said getting to play Madison Square Garden generated a real sense of achievement. It was the S. American tour that shifted them semi-permanently from indoor to outdoor arenas. On the musical side, incorporating acoustic songs seems to have been a big moment for them -- a new way to connect with the audience and add a new dynamic to the show. And they had to change their set in the 1980s to include more anthemic songs for massive outdoor audiences. So most groundbreaking? I'd have to say the S. American shows. Great fans, huge audiences, and a real buzz.

Indeed - in the end, their most groundbreaking tour was South America 1981. Queen were the first major rock band to play there.

It was kind of like the Beatles in America in 1984. TV programs would be interrupted with updates on Queen sightings in the city. 9 of the top 10 albums in the Argentinian album chart were Queen albums. Such a thing hasn't happened anywhere in the world since.

This picture really says it all, taken moments before Queen took to the stage for their first gig on the continent. One can only imagine the excitement in the crowd -
http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/live%20pics/81-02-28_Buenos%20Aires_01.jpg

(edit: of course I meant 1964!)

Tour 81/82

[b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Indeed - in the end, their most groundbreaking tour was South America 1981. Queen were the first major rock band to play there.
It was kind of like the Beatles in America in [b]1984[/b]. TV programs would be interrupted with updates on Queen sightings in the city. 9 of the top 10 albums in the Argentinian album chart were Queen albums. Such a thing hasn't happened anywhere in the world since.
This picture really says it all, taken moments before Queen took to the stage for their first gig on the continent. One can only imagine the excitement in the crowd -
http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/live%20pics/81-02-28_Buenos%20Aires_01.jpg
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Like the beatles in "America" in 1964 but it isn´t the point, as argentinian i must say you´re right it was all a "groundquake" here, even with a terrible dictatorship...
I think when the audicence start to sing Love Of My Life in english it was a "shock"... you can ever hear the --maybe annoying-- moved and excited words of the radio/tv commentator (who is with the mic in the image that you have posted)