"Watching Queen over two decades is like seeing boys change to men."
Hmmmm ... Sometimes I have the impression, it's the other way round. They were much more serious in the early years.
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[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Nummer2 wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Hi,
after listening to a few early concert bootlegs (the two Rainbow gigs and a couple of others, 1973/4/5) I found it interesting, how much Freddie's behaviour on stage has changed by the years.
The psychologist in me likes to sum up things a bit:
In 1973/4, from what he says, he seems to be rather insecure about the audience's response or acceptance. He often asks if they like the song/the show in a somehow shy way. What adds to that is his very camp (gay?) behaviour, all those "whooo!"s and "Darling"s and "Dear"s. He seems to hide his nervousness behind those (a bit exaggerated) utterings.
He doesn't feel too confident in their performance, it seems, and he tries his very best to sing as good as on the albums. In later times he doesn't care as much for hitting the notes perfectly but adds much more power to his singing. The only parts where Freddie shows some glimps of things to come is the R'n'R medley, where he doesn't have album versions to compete with and seems to feel more comfortable.
All that changed in about 1975/1976, and in 1977 he had turned into the frontman we know him as and developed a coherent show.
What do you think?[/QUOTE]
Good observations. I agree completely.
after listening to a few early concert bootlegs (the two Rainbow gigs and a couple of others, 1973/4/5) I found it interesting, how much Freddie's behaviour on stage has changed by the years.
The psychologist in me likes to sum up things a bit:
In 1973/4, from what he says, he seems to be rather insecure about the audience's response or acceptance. He often asks if they like the song/the show in a somehow shy way. What adds to that is his very camp (gay?) behaviour, all those "whooo!"s and "Darling"s and "Dear"s. He seems to hide his nervousness behind those (a bit exaggerated) utterings.
He doesn't feel too confident in their performance, it seems, and he tries his very best to sing as good as on the albums. In later times he doesn't care as much for hitting the notes perfectly but adds much more power to his singing. The only parts where Freddie shows some glimps of things to come is the R'n'R medley, where he doesn't have album versions to compete with and seems to feel more comfortable.
All that changed in about 1975/1976, and in 1977 he had turned into the frontman we know him as and developed a coherent show.
What do you think?[/QUOTE]
Good observations. I agree completely.
I'm not sure because I wasn;t around at the time, but maybe Freddie adapted with the trends at the time?
@pcgenius9: Yes, good point. Maybe like this:
Around 1976 the punk movement started and it took a couple of years to develop into a world wide, but still UK centered, fashion wave – varying from genuine punk to short-lived streams like New Wave and New Romantic and influencing other genres like Ska/Reggae and, of course, Rock.
Queen – and esp. Freddie as their front man – had to adapt to the louder, more aggressive and less sophisticated style that was en vogue then. After the Sex Pistols, no kind of stage behaviour or style could offend a concert audience anymore. 1979 they incorporated the punk element into their shows – e.g. watch Freddie damage the stage equipment in "Sheer Heart Attack" or insult the audience. But of course it remained a shy attempt, Queen never wanted to focus too much on one thing. They always absorbed new styles and incorporated them into their performance and music.
What were the trends back then? In 1973 to 75 it was glam rock/art rock, that influenced Queen most. In 1976/77 it was punk, no doubt. "Sheer Heart Attack" (the song) clearly is a product of that influence, but rather a parody than a real punk song. In 1978/79 disco music was at its peak and punk wasn't new anymore (though still very important as an influence on almost every other genre: folk, pop, rock, reggae, ska ...). Queen never was into mainstream disco or soul music, so the influence is marginal, but they soon dropped the punk elements and turned to something new: black music. It started in 1979/80 with The Game (AOBTD, DA) and culminated in Hot Space. The funky element must have been very popular within the band, at least Freddie seemed to be fascinated about it. I always had the impression, that he was extremely disappointed about the public not being as fascinated about Hot Space – not only out of monetary reasons. He really was on fire when performing "Staying Power", "Action This Day" and especially "Back Chat" (I'm convinced, BC was one of his favourite Queen songs).
But the poor public acceptance put an end to that phase and Queen returned to what they were best at: rock, and added some other popular, secure elements. That's when they went pop.
Though I'm disappointed about the fact, that they turned into a mass compatible pop band, I must admit that they did better than most of the other bands at that time and that they stuck to their virtues: creativity, variety and virtuosity.
That was much, now I have to rest. Back to work.
Bye,
Nummer2
Around 1976 the punk movement started and it took a couple of years to develop into a world wide, but still UK centered, fashion wave – varying from genuine punk to short-lived streams like New Wave and New Romantic and influencing other genres like Ska/Reggae and, of course, Rock.
Queen – and esp. Freddie as their front man – had to adapt to the louder, more aggressive and less sophisticated style that was en vogue then. After the Sex Pistols, no kind of stage behaviour or style could offend a concert audience anymore. 1979 they incorporated the punk element into their shows – e.g. watch Freddie damage the stage equipment in "Sheer Heart Attack" or insult the audience. But of course it remained a shy attempt, Queen never wanted to focus too much on one thing. They always absorbed new styles and incorporated them into their performance and music.
What were the trends back then? In 1973 to 75 it was glam rock/art rock, that influenced Queen most. In 1976/77 it was punk, no doubt. "Sheer Heart Attack" (the song) clearly is a product of that influence, but rather a parody than a real punk song. In 1978/79 disco music was at its peak and punk wasn't new anymore (though still very important as an influence on almost every other genre: folk, pop, rock, reggae, ska ...). Queen never was into mainstream disco or soul music, so the influence is marginal, but they soon dropped the punk elements and turned to something new: black music. It started in 1979/80 with The Game (AOBTD, DA) and culminated in Hot Space. The funky element must have been very popular within the band, at least Freddie seemed to be fascinated about it. I always had the impression, that he was extremely disappointed about the public not being as fascinated about Hot Space – not only out of monetary reasons. He really was on fire when performing "Staying Power", "Action This Day" and especially "Back Chat" (I'm convinced, BC was one of his favourite Queen songs).
But the poor public acceptance put an end to that phase and Queen returned to what they were best at: rock, and added some other popular, secure elements. That's when they went pop.
Though I'm disappointed about the fact, that they turned into a mass compatible pop band, I must admit that they did better than most of the other bands at that time and that they stuck to their virtues: creativity, variety and virtuosity.
That was much, now I have to rest. Back to work.
Bye,
Nummer2