Freddie on tour - an aging athlete ?

thomasquinn 32989 wrote:

scottmax wrote:

So because they played their 70’s material, which is only 7 years previous, they became their own tribute band?
That statement absolutely baffles me....

I read it as "they played their '70s material *in such a way* that it sounded like they were a Queen-tribute band". And I tend to agree with that: most of the older material was played in a lazy and casual manner.

As a general rule I think the Magic Tour setlist gets a lot of unfair flack after the event, really only because we are so familiar with it and a bit blasé, following years of multiple releases and broadcasts of it. Broken down however, it is really a great set, and my own view is that the old stuff is performed really well.

There's a good measure of brand new material (which we now deem 'old hat') but not too much to bore the crowd: One Vision, A Kind of Magic, Who Wants to Live Forever, Friends Will Be Friends. About right for the album the tour was supporting.

There's the best of their previous album (The Works): Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free, Hammer To Fall, non single track Tear It Up - and I'd say all sounding better than on The Works Tour.

There's some interesting takes on older material: In The Lap of the Gods Revisited with a fresh new guitar intro, a snippet of Liar before Tear It up, Tie Your Mother Down brought right forward in the setlist, Seven Seas of Rhye, Bo Rhap and WWRY/Champions all performed really well, and the surprise of the latter two being split with Friends Will Be Friends in between. Now I'm Here still in too.

Jazz through to Hot Space are perhaps under represented, with only Another One Bites The Dust and Under Pressure present...AOBTD given a harder edge and an elongated interactive crowd call and response interlude.

Covers: A surprise return to some of the rock n roll covers from their early years...not seen a few strung together like that for many years. Plus also retaining the 'Impromptu' section from The Works Tour.

Perhaps maybe one song each from AKOM and The Works could have given way to Somebody To Love, Killer Queen, Play The Game, Keep Yourself Alive or Save Me, but even then people would have complained that those tracks had pretty much ALWAYS been performed live so bringing in The Works tracks (which had all been hit singles) and the AKOM tracks from the current album are reasonable moves.

Perhaps the main issue is that Freddie is seen to be not as vocally good as before - however even then this is only on a few gigs, and is highlighted by the widely seen Wembley 2nd night) - overall, his performance on the Magic Tour compares very favourably against some previous tours where he lost his voice completely, though clearly not at his 82 peak.

Certainly the Magic Tour sound mix and balance of Spike's keys and other sounds was a massive improvement on The Works tour.

Sorry this seems like a bit of an essay, but thought perhaps stepping back and taking a fresh look at what we now deem to be a 'stale' tour because everything they have done since has been based on the same basic skeleton setlist, was a helpful exercise.

Cheers all.

If I remember correctly Freddie injured his leg in a bar fight early 1984, during the works interviews he said that some of his moves will be slower or something like that. Also in a German concert during hammer to fall he injured his knee.
Along with gaining with, drinking, smoking, clubbing etc , the result was to reduced his stamina, vocal ability.

If I remember correctly Freddie injured his leg in a bar fight early 1984, during the works interviews he said that some of his moves will be slower or something like that. Also in a German concert during hammer to fall he injured his knee.
Along with gaining weight , drinking, smoking, clubbing etc , the result was to reduced his stamina, vocal ability.

I don't think that 38 is old, and in fact these days 38 year olds are a lot younger in mindset and in body than 38 years olds of the 1980s.

But you're talking about touring rock stars. There is no doubt that Freddie was unwell by the time he was 38, but add to that the gruelling touring, which must have involved eating at odd times, sleeping at bad times, and they had also gone through years of excessive drinking and drug taking that, even if they'd stopped a lot of that by then, causes damage that takes a long time to repair. It was known that Freddie drank heavily in the late 70s and early 80s, and I'm pretty certain the only way he stayed so trim was through not eating as much as he needed to.

In some ways Freddie looked better on the Miracle videos than he did in the Magic and the Works tour clips. Yeah, he was more frail, but he looked fresher. I understand there was make up used, and all that, but he had an alertness about him, and also he had a visible hunger for wanting to get the work done. Even on Slightly Mad where he is visibly not well, there is an enthusiasm about him which was less apparent in some of the earlier work. We know that he looked after himself much better in the last 4 years of his life. Even on Barcelona, he is like a tornado again, compared to some of the magic videos where he looks kind of heavy hearted.

I'm quite sure had Freddie lived into the era of combination therapy then the care that he was taking of his body would have resulted in him regaining much of his youthful energy, and looking much better than he did on the works tour. Of course, he didn't live and so it's only hot air speculation.

Anyway my point is, it's not age that is the problem, but the levels of abuse they all subjected their bodies to during the peak of their fame. Even look at the Q plus AL tour - Brian takes care of himself. He doesn't drink excessively (I don't know if he even drinks at all these days), he eats a plant-based diet, he takes regular exercise, and he looks very fit and healthy considering he's about to turn 71. He's probably fitter than a lot of 30 year olds who are still going out on the piss and smoking truck loads. Roger on the other hand is more the bon viveur. He likes to get plastered, he doesn't have a healthy diet, and he still lives a rock star life. He looks old, and he looks ill. Roger is younger than Brian by 2 years. You are what you eat and drink.

It is known now that ageing can be reversed through diet and exercise. Obviously you can't stop some things, but wrinkles will reduce in appearance, hair will maintain its colour for longer, collagen will increase in your bones and muscles, and if you eat a diet which is anti-inflammatory you will stay fitter and healthier for longer. Drink a lot of alcohol, eat a diet full of rich foods, and don't exercise, and you'll find at any age that your energy is low. Especially if you add some hard drugs to the mix and don't sleep properly.

Interesting that as reading this, a friend is badgering me to go and see the Stones this year on yet another tour! A different world now,as huge sponsorship deals and the fact the bands earn most of their income from touring now has changed everything.The first massively sponsorship based gig I saw was Michael Jackson's Bad tour,ironically the year after Queen stopped touring.I don't thick Mick Jagger would be getting flack for not hitting a C5 during a performance,though the musicianship is still on a top level.So yes,Freddie himself saw himself as aging way back then.I have seem probably 500 or more shows since then,but,on a reflective day,stick on the 'Rock Montreal' DVD on at full blast and watch the greatest performer that I,and everyone alive today,will ever see in our lifetime...X

miraclesteinway wrote:

I don't think that 38 is old, and in fact these days 38 year olds are a lot younger in mindset and in body than 38 years olds of the 1980s.

But you're talking about touring rock stars. There is no doubt that Freddie was unwell by the time he was 38, but add to that the gruelling touring, which must have involved eating at odd times, sleeping at bad times, and they had also gone through years of excessive drinking and drug taking that, even if they'd stopped a lot of that by then, causes damage that takes a long time to repair. It was known that Freddie drank heavily in the late 70s and early 80s, and I'm pretty certain the only way he stayed so trim was through not eating as much as he needed to.

In some ways Freddie looked better on the Miracle videos than he did in the Magic and the Works tour clips. Yeah, he was more frail, but he looked fresher. I understand there was make up used, and all that, but he had an alertness about him, and also he had a visible hunger for wanting to get the work done. Even on Slightly Mad where he is visibly not well, there is an enthusiasm about him which was less apparent in some of the earlier work. We know that he looked after himself much better in the last 4 years of his life. Even on Barcelona, he is like a tornado again, compared to some of the magic videos where he looks kind of heavy hearted.

I'm quite sure had Freddie lived into the era of combination therapy then the care that he was taking of his body would have resulted in him regaining much of his youthful energy, and looking much better than he did on the works tour. Of course, he didn't live and so it's only hot air speculation.

Anyway my point is, it's not age that is the problem, but the levels of abuse they all subjected their bodies to during the peak of their fame. Even look at the Q plus AL tour - Brian takes care of himself. He doesn't drink excessively (I don't know if he even drinks at all these days), he eats a plant-based diet, he takes regular exercise, and he looks very fit and healthy considering he's about to turn 71. He's probably fitter than a lot of 30 year olds who are still going out on the piss and smoking truck loads. Roger on the other hand is more the bon viveur. He likes to get plastered, he doesn't have a healthy diet, and he still lives a rock star life. He looks old, and he looks ill. Roger is younger than Brian by 2 years. You are what you eat and drink.

It is known now that ageing can be reversed through diet and exercise. Obviously you can't stop some things, but wrinkles will reduce in appearance, hair will maintain its colour for longer, collagen will increase in your bones and muscles, and if you eat a diet which is anti-inflammatory you will stay fitter and healthier for longer. Drink a lot of alcohol, eat a diet full of rich foods, and don't exercise, and you'll find at any age that your energy is low. Especially if you add some hard drugs to the mix and don't sleep properly.

Excellent post. Nothing to add.

Thanks!

My pleasure :)

miraclesteinway wrote:

Freddie drank heavily in the late 70s and early 80s, and I'm pretty certain the only way he stayed so trim was through not eating as much as he needed to.

If by "drank" you mean "snorted coke", then you're absolutely right.

Otherwise - great post.

I read in one of the books about Queen, that Freddie drank excessively as well. However, snorting coke isn't going to do much for the old vocal chords either.... (or folds as they're called now).

Thanks!

miraclesteinway wrote:

I read in one of the books about Queen, that Freddie drank excessively as well. However, snorting coke isn't going to do much for the old vocal chords either.... (or folds as they're called now).

Thanks!

Excellent post (the long one).

Phoebe once told me, at some convention, that Freddie and his group of friends had these long binges in wich loads of alcohol (vodka) and coke was used. Binge drinking/drug taking is terrible bad for your body.

“Any person is at its peak at 30. From then onwards the body slowly starts to decline.”

Wrong.