#queenconcert

[riaaanna]

On the Trail of Queen Live in Manchester (1973 - 1986)

Just in case I haven't mentioned it enough (lmfao) I spent about fifteen months in Manchester which was amazing! I've been home for only two months and it pains me to say that I already miss it. Despite its constantly horrendous weather I do hold this place dear in my heart and so did Queen throughout their touring days!

So while I was there I spent some time to visit all six venues in Manchester where Queen once played live. Now if you think I only got this idea on the last few weeks while I was still in Manchester, you're right lmao. Short daylight during winter time, venue constructions, etc... well at least I could say I was there where Queen was!

All date links below are to queenlive.ca. Images of live shows are from there as well (unless otherwise mentioned), please click date links for the sources. Thank you Bob!

1. Opera House (26 Nov 1973)

Queen first played in Manchester at The Opera House when they supported Mott the Hoople on tour! Its first name was The New Theatre when it opened in 1912. It started off as a cinema, momentarily a bingo hall, then back to a theatre in 1984. (Ticket stubs credits to Martin of queenconcerts).

Just my luck of course, the one time I'm around the area and had the idea to drop by Queen's gig venues in the city, the place seemed to be under massive construction and didn't look pretty at all. (Except that it was where the premiere of a musical using Kylie Minogue's songs so they've got posters of it there which was nice cause I love Kylie!). The idea came up on a whim, when my friend Kumi dropped by to visit me in Manchester and I suddenly had the thought of visiting past venues. We happened to be closest to Opera House at that time, and it happened to be where Queen played here the first time! It was nice so I took it upon myself to continue the rest of the exploration around Manchester.

I reckon they must have mostly finished the construction by now but I'm not there anymore, so here's a nicer picture of what it looked like a year ago! (📸 Trevor West)

Anyway, the place wasn't really on my usual route, I would have had to go out of my way to get there if it weren't for meeting up with my friend, so this was all I could get. I wish I had been there sooner to see what it really looked like! Still, gave me chills to be there where Queen was playing... FIFTY years ago then.

The best part? We have surviving audio of the show! (Lots more shows on the channel by Leon, if you like it go subscribe!)

2. University of Manchester (20 Mar 1974)

Fair warning this is gonna be a long one... their next gig in Manchester was at the University of Manchester! (Look at that gorgeous old building on a rare sunny day!)

Or, at least, I assumed it was there, because the original listing and every other source I look up only says "University". While I couldn't find any specific record in the University of Manchester's archive (I know, what a failure), I didn't think it was any more likely to be in Manchester Metropolitan University, or even the Royal Northern College of Music (which was only established in 1973 combining the Royal Manchester College of Music and the Northern School of Music). I asked Bob of queenlive.ca if he knew exactly where, but he didn't, and he UNO-reversed me to tell him if I ever finally find out where, which of course I haven't lmfao.

So gigs in the University nowadays are almost always around Manchester Academy at the Student Union. I tried doing a bit of detective work... The Academy's website has a Roll of Honour page listing the famous artists who ever played there and I found more questions instead of answers. On the 1974 page, there is no Queen, but there are others. They listed Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel playing there on 21 March, a day after Queen's gig. I looked it up, and it seems everywhere else their gig was listed as "Manchester University" too. I thought okay that looks consistent, that's how they used to refer the place! But then on the same page, they listed ELO playing there on 18 Feb. I looked that up too, and turns out ELO's gig on that date was not in Manchester University, but it was in Free Trade Hall in Manchester. So was it a mistake on that page, and does it mean the page is unreliable? I would email them but their contact just goes to the Student Union. So I don't even know anymore, but in conclusion, I'm about 70-80% sure that Manchester University refers to this place, and you can decide if that's enough to go along with.

So firstly, the photos above are not mine I'm sorry! I now regret that I take going past these buildings every day for granted and never took my own photos of them from outside. But those are nice pics of mostly students queueing for a gig in the evening, which still blows my mind that it was such a regular thing there. Big positive culture shock. There are four different venues in Manchester Academy. There's Manchester Academy 1, 2, and 3, which are all in the building in the left photo (📸 Joseph Bradshaw). Then there's Manchester Club Academy, which is a smaller venue and is actually inside the Student Union building itself on the right photo (📸 Trevi Yeung).

What I did take some photos of are the inside! Last year I watched Sam Ryder in Manchester Academy 1 and Go_A (from Ukraine!) in Manchester Club Academy. I don't know which of these was the one Queen played in. Of course it's possible that it was an entirely different venue that's been demolished or reconstructed, but this was as close as I could get to where Queen (probably) once played live.

3. Palace Theatre (30 Oct 1974)

Palace Theatre! Another building I pass every single day on Oxford Road, just across Manchester Oxford Road Station. I also never actually went in there unfortunately, I never really found anything playing that I was okay spending a lot of money for, the whole year, and eventually that was the case until I left Manchester. The building first opened as "The Grand Old Lady of Oxford Street" in 1891 and is one of the main theatres in Manchester.

This is the second time that year where Queen played in Manchester! Palace Theatre is also home to an iconic show in Queen's history because according to queenlive.ca:

This is the beginning of Queen's first full-scale European tour. Tonight are the first performances of new songs from Sheer Heart Attack: Now I'm Here, Flick Of The Wrist, In The Lap Of The Gods, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, and In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited (Stone Cold Crazy had already been performed as far back as 1970).

And you can listen here for those first performances above!

4. Free Trade Hall (26 Nov 1975) (x2!)

Unlike the other venues in Oxford Road I don't often pass this building. In fact, I think it's actually closer to the Opera House but I didn't realize it at that time. And it's not like I've never been around that area, but at first glance this wouldn't have registered as a concert hall in my head!

There's a nice article about Free Trade Hall here telling its history and how it became a concert hall. It was apparently a historical site, built to commemorate "the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846" (idk man, but it has to do with pushing towards free trade, as the name suggests). It was also the site of the Peterloo Massacre in 1816, which was marked by the red plaque on the building. I'm not British so I was learning all this for the first time when I looked it up.

But anyway, at some point it became a concert hall and Queen played here in 1975. On the same day they played two shows, at 6 PM and 9 PM. Imagine that happening nowadays! But here's the actual best bit about the show they played here (the first one), according to queenlive.ca:

This show is the first known instance of Brighton Rock being played live, and it contains a superb Brian May guitar solo.

There were actually several shows before this one where Brian probably actually first started playing Brighton Rock Live, we just don't have a recording of it, hence the first known instance. But even so, that settles it, easy as that, of the six venues in Manchester this is my favourite and I claim this mine. And how lucky was I to have lived just around there!

And here's the aforementioned show, Brighton Rock truly did not disappoint!!!

5. Manchester Apollo (26-27 Nov 1979)

Remember what I said about last-minute ideas and short daylights... this was it. I think this is the furthest I went to visit and take pictures out of the six venues in Manchester. It wasn't that late but it was dark (I'll never get used to that) and there was nothing on, so that was what I got, on the left. Photo on the right (📸 Ed Dro) is when it was nice and sunny with a decent queue for a show!

Apparently it first opened as a cinema and variety theatre before it started to host concerts in 1960s, one of them being The Beatles, and it just became a proper concert venue since then.

Queen played two nights for the Crazy tour (ticket stubs credits to Martin of queenconcerts). And on the second night, according to queenlive.ca: "Liar is performed tonight, its first performance since May 1978." Very proud that Manchester was once graced by the almighty Crazy Tour, and the presence of Liar alone for me is enough indication of what must have been a fantastic show.

6. Maine Road (16 Jul 1986)

Last but absolutely not least! This place is what used to be Maine Road stadium and home to the Manchester City Football Club in 1923 - 2003. This is also a thing btw, just because I lived in Manchester my friends and relatives expected me to suddenly become a football fan. I only know that Manchester United and Manchester City exist, but that is literally it.

When I first looked up this place, I realized this was in Moss Side, and it was so near to where I lived (after I moved out of the student flat)! I couldn't believe how close it was that I could actually just stroll there to such an monumental place. But I already paid for a yearly buss pass so I took the bus for two stops lmfao.

The first picture is what it used to look like in 1991 (from Manchester Evening News). As you can see, it was a huge stadium cramped and surrounded in lots of housings. In 2003 the Manchester City left, and the stadium was demolished. The area is now a housing site, with a circular "centre spot" marking the centre of where the stadium used to be.

I tried to record the engraving on the stone, which reads: "The Centre Spot, heart of Manchester sport, music, and culture. 1923 - 2003. Maine Road - from Moss Side to the world."

On the other side of the circle, if you zoom in to the picture behind where I stood, there's another part of the engraving which is apparently the Manchester City chant which reads: "Listen and you will hear us singing..."

As you can see, this was apparently a legendary stadium in the sports world, or something like that, which makes it stand out from the rest of the venues Queen played in in Manchester. About seven years after the last time they played, they came back with Magic Tour bigger than ever. This was certainly a special one, and it's not just me saying it! According to queenlive.ca:

A few weeks later the Manchester Evening News reported in a piece entitled "Friends of the Fans" that Queen awarded a plaque to Manchester City football club and its fans to recognize the concert. It read: "In honour of one of the best concerts we have held, the reception we received and audience participation was unsurpassed."

Lots of audience bootleg sources for this one but here's a video source of the show:

And those are the six venues! Now before we close, here's a fun bonus. I've just read this fun fact as I was writing up this post and putting in sources from queenlive.ca:

It's a slight coincidence that Queen played in Manchester on November 26th in three different years - 1973, 1975, and 1979.

I thought huh that's nice. Then I went back to my photos folder to select which ones to upload. Then I looked at the date on the file names, and I thought wait a minute. 20231126?? Lmfao??

Don't mind my silly selfies but guys. I cannot make this shit up. The one day I cramped in most of these visits, only excluding Opera House (the first day I got a lightbulb moment for this "tour") and University of Manchester (kind of doesn't count lol), I did it all on 26 November 2023, without even realizing that it was the same date Queen played in Manchester in three different years. I was pretty much celebrating their anniversaries without knowing. What a nice item to add in my list of Queen coincidences. (#1 on that list is still Roger Taylor in Eurovision.)

This is the end! I don't believe any of you will be reading this sentence by now. 😂 But if you are, whether you read all that or just skimming through, thank you for sticking around! This was a silly little personal tour but I really enjoyed visiting them and sharing the experience. More posts of my time abroad to come. Hopefully soon! (as I always say.)

[freddiesaysalright]

i read an article on QueenConcerts' website saying roger slept with a 15 y/o in the 70s...please tell me it's not true

I honestly have no idea, this is the first I’m hearing of that

I hope it isn’t true, but it (sadly) wouldn’t be totally surprising if it was,considering the behavior of most of the men in his position at the time

Fingers crossed it’s just a rumor 🤞

[drspacepoodle]

The idea that ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ was written for a supposed miscarried sibling of Brian’s has never been confirmed, Brian never said his mother ever had a miscarriage or was ever pregnant before or after he was born. Some fan theories and interpretations about the song are found here: queenconcerts(.)com/queenzone/879082.html. This website gives analysis into the song: popdose(.)com/death-by-power-ballad-queen-sail-away-sweet-sister/, and this is someone’s personal and at times a bit far-fetched interpretation: explodedqueen(.)wordpress(.)com/2016/06/27/sail-away-sweet-sister-to-the-sister-i-never-had/. The song is also talked about on the Recovering Queen podcast: recoveringqueen(.)buzzsprout(.)com/1493566/6577555-ep-3-sail-away-sweet-sister. As always with music, take time to listen to the song many times and come up with your own theories and ideas, and do your own research into the music, rather than taking other people’s thoughts and opinions at face value, especially if English isn’t your first language.

Thank you!

I do actually have my own theory and found some interesting stuff I just wanted to know if there’s a specific meaning that is known. Thanks again !

[everythingaboutfreddie]

Ireland, Slane Castle '86🎤👑 #freddie #freddiecollection #farrokhbulsara #freddiemercuryqueen #freddiemercury #magictour #80 #editedpictures #graphicdesign #pictureoftheday #queenmusic #queenconcert #colorized https://www.instagram.com/p/B9je63KhgLM/?igshid=17lzcasjw9nhy

[a-rob-fpv-tumb1-r]

Queen Concert Australian 2020 Tour

[elizabethc1983]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elizabeth Corkins (@elizabethcorkins)

Queen Live. Xcel Energy Center. August 10th 2019 Saturday. . . . . . . . . . . #queen #queenlive #xcel #XcelEnergyCenter #mn #mnlivemusic #concert #queenconcert #show #queenshow #adamlambert #lambert #drums #guitar #bass #minneapolis #stpaul #downtown #twincities #brianmay #astrology #awesomelightshow #laser #laserlightshow https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Aikupg_DW/?igshid=1qo2bat8an8sd

[beforeigogh]

Trying to find people who are going to this concert so I can meet other fans!

[singingfolife]

@dianaross did it again! She closed out the #queenconcert the way only one of our Divas could. Choosing songs from her catalog some may have forgotten, I was reminded why she is #TheBoss. Seeing her at 70+ is just as meaningful as seeing her at other high points in her 60-yr career. #aqueenforaqueen #diva #missross (at Buckingham Palace, London England) https://www.instagram.com/p/CejIMDjrVLN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jannis-world-connection]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jannette Vega Rivera (@jannicrowe)

Posted @withregram • @freddieandhiscurls 📽 Freddie and Roger in Budapest, Hungary before performing at the Népstadion as part of the Magic Tour, 1986. 🌸 This footage of Freddie laughing at Roger getting a massage is so cute🥺 He looks so adorable when he turns around and breaks into a cheeky and teeth baring grin on looking at the spectacle before him💙 Taken from the YT channel of Chinwonder2 (I've edited out the voice of the narrator in the beginning and replaced it with the sound of the wind. The rest is the same as on the YT channel) #freddiemercury #brianmay #rogertaylor #johndeacon #rock #rockband #rocknroll #classicrock #80sband #80srock #70srock #70sband #queen #queenconcert #borhap #bohemianrhapsody #jimhutton #farrokhbulsara #freddiemercuryedit #edits #shotvideo #funnyvideo #video #videography #videograms #instagramvideo #videoshoot #videooftheday #videoinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CPN-thmBYlq/?utm_medium=tumblr

[riaaanna]

Here's a cool one... this user on Youtube commented on my upload and in response uploaded his video (!!) copy of the interview! Absolute potato quality but I'm glad to see it at all, I'm fairly sure this is unseen (checked on QueenConcerts too - the page says he hasn't seen audio or video on this). So wow!

This is just part 1/3 and that's 49 mins already! The rest are upcoming soon, and who knows maybe we'll do an upscale and merge sometime in the future? I'm hopefully keeping in touch, we'll see!

An audio snippet of Brian's webchat interview with Virgin Net - I don't think I've ever listened to audio from this webchat before (unless I've severely forgotten)! 🥰

You can read the full webchat transcript here. The audio is the last bit of the interview, so it was fun to listen to what was said and played and what was (not) written on the webchat.

[a-rob-fpv-tumb1r]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTP6k4_26RcJRJSQo4cpNbA

[writeyourownlifestory]

Queen + Adam Lambert. MSG. 8/7/19. Part 3. Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Under Pressure. I Want To Break Free. Tie Your Mother Down. Fat Bottomed Girls. Radio Gaga. #queen #radiogaga #msg #queenconcert https://www.instagram.com/p/B08kCWth2JkkI1PKSsO8l-XUA1Bgr5fHOrycTo0/?igshid=1qx94gyfb8tpr

[a-rob-fpv-tumb1-r]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTP6k4_26RcJRJSQo4cpNbA

[elizabethc1983]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elizabeth Corkins (@elizabethcorkins)

Queen Live. Xcel Energy Center. August 10th 2019 Saturday. . . . . . . . . . . #queen #queenlive #xcel #XcelEnergyCenter #mn #mnlivemusic #concert #queenconcert #show #queenshow #adamlambert #lambert #drums #guitar #bass #minneapolis #stpaul #downtown #twincities #brianmay #astrology #awesomelightshow (at Xcel Energy Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Ad-wbgAcG/?igshid=1kb3bz8an07n0

[bromorangersgo]

Last night was a dream come true for us... we got to see Queen live in concert! Freddie may be missed, but Brian May and Roger Taylor are as great as ever and Adam Lambert has an incredible voice. This was a really awesome and special night for me and I got kinda emotional knowing this is the first and possibly last time I'll see my favorite band live in concert. From the opening riffs of Innuendo to the grand finale of We Are The Champions, this was an incredible show and I couldn't be happier! #queen #concert #queenconcert #brianmay #rogertaylor #foundmesomebodytolove #loveofmylife #rhapsodytour #legends #freddiemercury #adamlambert #xfinitycenter (at Xfinity Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0yoLuyFR9A/?igshid=4bag4tkytycm

[yogurtbattle]

The time Deaky’s trousers split

LMAO

Apparently Freddie made fun of him XD