Works tour revelation

Fireplace wrote:

My favourite part was actually the synth improvisation, because it went so well with the light and the Metropolis stage-theme. .

I think this is the most important thing ever said about this tour, that many people - included me - completly forgot.
We are missing the visuals of the tour when we hear the boots or even when we watch concerts. But in the end, if those synth oriented songs and electronic drums were inspired by the stage theme - Metropolis, and lights - then it makes sense. Freddie in particular was a very visual person and always knew how to make everything work together.

One thing i´m sure, i´ve always read great reviews about the 1984 shows, even when the bootlegs sounded like shit, and even when Freddie´s voice was suffering that night. For some reason, people always left those shows very happy with what they´ve seen.

And, we may like it or not, but a concert is made for those who buy the tickets, even if that means that afterwards those who watch it on TV think it´s shit.
And i agree with those who think that this 1984 tour had the best light show ever on a Queen tour. I loved the theme, and it made sense.

What i have to say about those songs that the OP says were reharsed is that i don´t miss some of them so much for one reason. Freddie´s voice in 1984 was very tired and heavy. Those early Queen songs never sounded good in the 80´s ( Killer Queen). It would be great for historic reasons, but at the time i think it was a good decision to not perform those songs, specially if they were going with those electronic drums, and synth oriented arrangements.
Having said this, i think that Sweet Lady would sound great with Freddie´s 84 voice. And "Life is Real" would sound fab with only a piano, but maybe they would have to drop LOML to include it, and that was a no-no.
But right now, their pop songs were the ones puting food on the table, so i understand the change in sound. I´m glad they still played SCC in that tour, and could incorporate some bits of those songs in some concerts here and there. Great Topic!

I think a VHS tape of this reharsals might exist, like the Wembley 86 one. Didn´t Jim Beach use to record Freddie in the studio with a video camera,or is my mind playing tricks on me?
Maybe one day something appears.

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edit:
P.S - I meant to say Jim Hutton in the least paragraph, not Jim Beach

Man it would've been nice to hear Need Your Loving Tonight make a full return. Put Out The Fire should have stayed and been played between Now I'm Here and Dragon Attack like in 82. Las Palabras de Amor would've been very interesting as well.

Excellent topic and very interesting . A great find indeed!! Would have loved to have heard "Las Palabras" live, I'm sure I've read somewhere that it was rehearsed during a sound check at one of the UK "Hot Space" gigs, but sadly wasn't included in any show.
Now I know we've had these "fantasy set list" topics which are great, but I do wonder what gems from the '70s and early '80s may have returned to the set, had the story been different post 1986.
Has the OP heard of ANYTHING rehearsed, but not performed, for the Magic tour??

Love these little tidbits.

If it had been part of the set list, many would have had their wish of Freddie on LVs for 'Long Away'. Am envisioning it during the singalong, included on 'Live Killers', and a good 45 release.

Cannot comment on The Works tour, since they didn't play here. Appreciate the eyewitness accounts, especially regarding the lighting rigs. Part of the show that blew away everyone else, but that cameramen forever screwed up capturing correctly.

There's some particularly good footage of the lighting rig on this video - certainly shows more that the official filmimg! check from 1hr 6m during the Hammer To Fall solo:


http://youtu.be/ae1ITZ_FKdg

For curiosity , who is to blame for the poor quality of the Rio show is TV Globo , had chance to buy better cameras to record the shows, but no, purchased with this horrible quality.

I agree that the Rio footage - both in quality of the actual visuals and the direction and edit, is very poor.

Don't know if it's just me, but on the official Rio VHS, I spent years trying to figure out where the stage is when they have the numerous cutaways to a fixed camera crowd shot!

cmsdrums wrote:


Don't know if it's just me, but on the official Rio VHS, I spent years trying to figure out where the stage is when they have the numerous cutaways to a fixed camera crowd shot!

About two miles away to the left. . . I think!

cmsdrums wrote:

Oscar J wrote:

cmsdrums wrote:

... (along with Roger's chrome Ludwig kit which did not suit their sound at all). 

This sounds interesting - could you explain a bit more what you mean?

happy to....

Roger is famous for his 'big, open' drum sound, which in conjunction with his playing style has always been enhanced by his choice of drums - mostly until the last few years these were Ludwig Classic Maple drums. The kit he used on The Works tour (and Hot Space from meomory too)was still a Maple kit, but finished with a full ply of chrome all over. This produces a very distinct, and very different, sound, and one that (to me) doesn't sound great for Roger, or Queen.

He also chose to leave the factory Ludwig drum heads on too - most drummers use better quality, branded heads to suit their sound, and it is odd that he didn't do this for that tour. Those Ludwig heads, coupled with the layer of chrome, seem to muffle the drums and not give much clear definition, attack or ambience - all trademarks of his sound.

Having said all that, the kit may have sounded incredible ithe room, but it certainly was not captured very well on any of the recordings I have heard.

IMO, the chrome makes no difference to the sound of the kit, it's a thin sheet glued at each end (I know because I've re-covered drums with it.) basically it's the same density as the black wrap or silver sparkle wrap used on his other drums, it has little to no effect on the resonance of the drum.

The heads on the other hand may well account for his tone back then, however he used Ludwig heads throughout most of Queens time with Freddie, you can see them on the Silver Sparkle kit and the Black kits, maybe there were different thicknesses for the Chrome kit?

I suspect what we are hearing is largely sound processing from the desk and editing work. someone obviously felt the sound seemed good like that and that was that. It is punchy, but it's not Rogers classic sound.

Just listen to the drums on Do They Know It's Christmas, same guy as normal, same kit, same style.... doesn't sound remotely like Roger, his classic snare sound is lost and his normal 'feel' seems nowhere evident. Sometimes the engineer has as much to do with the tone as the musician.
It;s a shame about MK, I hope they improve it one day

Mr.QueenFan wrote:

I think a VHS tape of this reharsals might exist, like the Wembley 86 one. Didn´t Jim Beach use to record Freddie in the studio with a video camera,or is my mind playing tricks on me?
Maybe one day something appears.

I meant to say Jim Hutton not Jim Beach :-)

Interesting, but 1984 tour was totally forgettable. A couple would have been interesting to hear, PLG and Las Par, but the rest... meh.

Band went through the motions, only a few concerts from that period worth listening too... Dublin, Tokyo, Brussels. Lucky we had '86

Why people keep callïng Las Palabras as Las Parabras. That doesn't have any sense!

In the official album is called Las Palabras, as in the concerts. The title is in Spanish, and in Spanish, Parabras isn't even a word. What's the problem with that?

I listen to the Milan 84 shows often, I think those are pretty good! And that 85 show where they did the 'My Fairy King/Black Queen' piano improv thing...........

The King Of Rhye wrote:

I listen to the Milan 84 shows often, I think those are pretty good! And that 85 show where they did the 'My Fairy King/Black Queen' piano improv thing...........

The Milan shows are good and Oaska 1985 is pretty underrated.

Gotta check out Stuttgart 1984 - that's an amazing show with great quality!

^ Yes,Stuttgart is providing one of the best "Hammer to fall" versions....maybe not THE( Live Aid comes to my mind) best but...it`s a cracker for sure.