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This
piece was
going to be called ‘Wembley Weblog’. Wednesday’s experience,
however, meant that such a neutral and even innocuous title was no
longer appropriate. The understatement from Jacky of the fan club that
‘the venue left a lot to be desired’ 1was borne out by
the impact of ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, which couldn’t match
up to that of Brixton where the sound had vibrated inside me – it was
now coming across as slower and soggier. Things did improve somehow
though, and there is so much to be said for the quality of the show in
general. Then
again, it’s my fault, of course, for going to a rock concert and
expecting to be able to rock. If the truth be known, my current residual
back ache is probably due as much to the restriction of being sandwiched
between rows of plastic seating, as if in a straitjacket, for more than
two hours as to an irresistible urge to ‘pogo’ during the second
half of ‘Hammer to Fall’. In addition to this, I probably incurred
the wrath of my neighbour by encroaching on her space when I inevitably
overstepped the miniscule area that could realistically be allotted to
my feet. The transition from the slow start of ‘Hammer’ to the fast
finish was now well-polished, as expected, after the disjointed
impression created at Brixton. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s
ironic that participating members of the audience couldn’t wait for
the slow pace in the first half when they pre-empted Paul at the words
‘let the anaesthetic cover it all’. Their sufferings, like mine,
must have made them wish that it would – and quickly. Enclosed
– and almost suffocated – within a glorified and grossly elongated
bin liner, the soulless, stifling and sweaty Wembley Pavilion,
I’m now wondering what my lingering memories of this event will be.
Will they include Brian almost screaming into the mike, apologising for
the ‘shit-heap’ of a ‘building’? When our friend the astronomer
asked ‘can you hear out there?’, he was probably seeing only a
potentially infinite black hole in front of him - this one being of a
terrestrial variety, and therefore not able to swallow galaxies but with
a possible capacity to suck away sound. Or will it come to the forefront
of my memory that he has surely overcome the qualms he’s been
expressing in recent times about his singing, as evidenced by the hugely
successful ‘busk’2
of ‘Under Pressure’ along with Roger? Sorry about the light show. No, not that it happened, but that I couldn’t appreciate it from where I was standing. I did see lots of beams shooting this way and that, and the multicoloured rays during ‘A Kind of Magic’. Not normally prone to claustrophobia, I decided early on that the best way I could experience this concert was with my eyes closed, which they were for the majority of the time. I was even reaching this conclusion when Roger came to the end of the ‘catwalk’ to sing ‘Say It's Not True’. This had been inserted into the setlist since Brixton, Roger being accompanied on either side by Jamie and Danny (now much more evident figures, as shown during the earlier instrumental in ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ when they formed a forceful ‘cluster’ along with Brian in front of the drum kit). Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the end of Roger’s recent offering to Nelson Mandela’s Aids campaign was ruined by the very loud talking – about nothing in particular – of a woman behind me. I sincerely wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but was painfully aware that this might sully the atmosphere, already difficult for everyone, also bearing in mind that I was condemned to spend the rest of the concert pinned in front of her with no means of escape. Thankfully, I didn’t hear her talking again, but she’d done more than enough to sour my evening. After
that, it was Brian’s turn to come to the end of the ‘catwalk’ –
he played ’39 – the whole version this time, changing the words at
the end – ‘for my life, still ahead, bless you all’ or something
like that. Great!!! ‘Love of My Life’ was fantastic too, of course. I also hope that I’ll rather remember hearing Roger performing a superb drum solo, surrounded by that glorious trio of guitars, and getting ‘revved up’ on that precious teen memory ‘I’m in Love with my Car’, the Brixton performance of which I’d also heard, of course, when Roger ‘drummed almost to the point of requiring a stop-off at the oxygen tent’3. But then I may also recall the fact that the tent in which I was incarcerated was actually responsible for depriving me of air, the venue bringing ‘a new dimension to the word ‘camping’’ as Roger himself put it.
Couldn't get any pics at Wembley, but here's one of Brixton - 'Guitar Techniques', June 2005 (thanks to Peter!) Sensuous, sensual and sensational – during his guitar solos, Brian was enticing from the Red Special the most spectacular layers of sound; oozing out like the yummiest sandwich filling, they skipped over rows of seats and slalomed through human bodies to reach me. I had my eyes open by the time Roger joined in with his drum accompaniment – in time, then, to see the end of the video, by now showing the night sky. At one point I was thinking that we could be exposed to the real version if we could all rally round and pull out a few pegs to uncover the ugly structure. Later on, in fact, the instrumental in ‘I Want It All’ moved at such a cracking pace that if we’d adopted a united front and scurried away to this racy tempo, I’m sure we’d have managed it before the stewards had even had the chance to say ‘Ken Livingstone’. ‘I Want It All’, in fact, was further proof of improvement compared to Brixton; it was appropriately followed by our opportunity to really have it ‘all’ – with Freddie too. Paul symbolically stepped down, making way for the awesome sound quality of the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ recording, with Roger and Brian’s live accompaniment, and the perfect progression to final live flurry at the end, with the voices of Paul and Freddie alternating wonderfully. Apart from the loquacious spell from the lady I mentioned earlier, there had been another offender – a male twat somewhere to my left was calling out anti-Paul statements earlier in the show. I wonder why he’d come - I’d actually paid to hear the music and not him – I don’t suppose he realised that. To hear Paul again, that is - starting with ‘Reaching Out’, (which he was actually doing, as well as singing), and performing the Free/Bad Company songs he truly owns, this time with the addition of ‘Wishing Well’. He also instructed us to ‘remember that one’ after ‘Can’t Get Enough of Your Love’. I hope I do, but by then I also had to attend to the distraction of the chronic cramp which had developed in my left foot and could no longer be ignored. I had, after all, been forced to ‘boogie’ with one hand clinging to the back of the chair in front of me to prevent a loss of balance and a consequent collision with my neighbour. Along with ‘Under Pressure’, I also hadn’t heard ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ at Brixton – another one to add to those Queen songs that Paul’s been tailoring to himself. In particular, I feel, he’s taken ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘The Show Must Go On’ (much improved since Brixton) ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’ into his own realms. The latter has even acquired a soulful, bluesy guitar intro! Other memorable triumphs of this concert: ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’, when Roger changed the words to produce a musical introduction to the instrumental – ‘I look, and I find - Brian May...’ This also led me to ponder for a moment on the longevity of the friendship between these two, which pre-dates ‘Queen’ itself. Also `Radio Ga Ga’, with Roger starting off, a duet with Paul in the middle and finishing with just Paul, as Roger mercifully took over the drums from the playback machine. At the end of the show, as the ‘National Anthem’ played out, I strained on tip-toe to catch a last glimpse of the five of them – including ‘Spikey’* who had been notable both for his contribution and his invisibility throughout. Delighted, I have to say though, to make my escape from the hell-hole, where I had spent far too long, having arrived well before the start to discover that there was little of interest on offer. A mere trickle of the public had filed in at first, only converting to a full flow shortly before the show got underway. Despite the music, I left the pavilion with little of the elation I had felt after Brixton. I’m also disappointed that, although I was in an essentially fan club area, I had witnessed a lack of discernment and sensitivity on the part of one or two people towards the enjoyment of others. At the same time, I would like to apologise to my neighbour from ‘just outside Newcastle’ for knocking into her – I just got carried away. I can’t help thinking that I would have been more at home with the Italian ‘lunatics’ at one of their concerts – putting their heart and soul into everything – than among this largely static crowd, mainly composed of fellow Brits. Having said that, if everyone had done what I’d been doing, no doubt the local Accident & Emergency Unit would have been overwhelmed by an influx of cases of severe bruising! Without actually being there, I have followed the tour around Europe, largely by flicking through foreign fan forums and translating German language press reviews, and had naturally been keen to witness first-hand the developments since Brixton which I’d read about. So what I should remember, I suppose, is the fact that I managed to do so. On the other hand, I’m sure I’ll also recall that, amidst the clichés that it’s ‘All Right Now’, I’m just wishing at this moment that I could say the same for my back. And it's all down to that makeshift edifice, which is frankly an apology demonstrating no remorse, an ignominy displaying no shame, and an agony showing no pain. Rescued from the wreckage of this construction zone was an amazing gig, and, in spite of everything, I'm happy that I was there. 14 May 2005 ©2005 Now-Im-Here.com *This makes it six, of course - just testing! References: 1 http://www.queenworld.com/artman/publish/article_150.shtml 2 Brian May, (Brian's Soapbox, 5 May 05): http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbmay05a.html#04 3 Thomas Zeidler's 'My Review of the Tour': User name: Guest http://queentour2005.blogspirit.com/archive/2005/04/21/my_review_of_the_tour.html
A Footnote To All That… I'm far, far away Noddy Holder &
Dave Lea (Slade), 'Far Far Away', 1975 The date that I last updated this page tells it all – just before Brixton – since then, I’ve scarcely had a chance to concentrate on anything other than tour stuff. I’m still reeling from the sequence of events that’s unfolded over the past few months – considering my words on the Innuendo page last October, it’s really mind-blowing that I’ve seen Queen play live twice since then. Despite the Wembley experience, I think that many have agreed that there would have been a lot more trouble due to the venue but for this man. There’s also something else to be said about that gig – I discovered from one of Jacky’s news updates that young Zac Vincent, whom I read about last year on Brian’s site, and lives not so far from me, was sitting just in front of me at Wembley! I don’t recall having seen a picture before, otherwise I would have recognised him. There was a young lady with a Queen T-shirt sitting next to him as well… Some pictures (from Pesaro) of the light show I couldn't see too well at Wembley - thanks to OBrasilo - posted on the 'Made In Heaven' Queen forum - (scroll to bottom of page for link). So, now my back’s recovered, what are my final thoughts about it all? The lyrics at the top from Slade just seem to be appropriate after a conversation I had with an acquaintance just before the Wembley gig. Having noted that Queen didn’t just mean music to me – they were caught up in my life history (with a set of parallels and patterns which aren’t easily explained), he also said that I had my feet very much on the ground over the whole thing. This is true. I have to say that I didn’t recognise the continuous note at the start of the Brixton concert as Track 13, and from my recollection, and listening to Track 13 again since, I still don’t. No matter. From the end of that concert to Wembley and beyond, I’ve found my own way of being involved in this tour through my translations and site updates. At the same time, I've discovered new friends around the world, participate in two fan forums and feel especially happy and privileged to be communicating and sharing interests and encouragement with teenage fans. I read someone’s opinion that the tour might ‘damage the myth’ of Queen. I really do think that in this case, people are getting upset over nothing, but it’s their choice if they wish to stay away. I agree with Roger that people should ‘loosen up’ a bit. He also said that they always remember Freddie and can imagine what he would be thinking. I was delighted to read that Freddie’s mum was in the audience at Sheffield, and that Brian dedicated ‘Love of My Life’ to her on that occasion. Of those who saw Queen play live back in the old days, there have been varying opinions and comparisons, some liking it more, some less – either way, it’s different – that had to be accepted from the outset. Life will now be returning to normality – insofar as anything can be normal after all this. People have their own way of showing their love for Queen – for example, by attending loads of concerts, by collecting, by photography or drawing – like some others, mine’s by writing (and translating!) If I ever got the chance to meet them, I’d thank them for being such a mainstay during the most difficult time in my life – daft as that sounds after all these years, I’ve really only recently realised just how important it was. And also for returning, helping me to sort out quite a few things in my mind and, I’d say, to be able to remember my mother, along with Freddie and Vicki, in a most exceptional way. 21 May 2005
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