Crazy Tour
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2019) |
| Local tour by Queen | |
 Promotional poster for the tour's London concerts | |
| Location | Europe |
|---|---|
| Associated album | Live Killers |
| Start date | 22 November 1979 |
| End date | 26 December 1979 |
| Legs | 1 |
| No. of shows | 20 |
| Queen concert chronology | |
Crazy Tour was the seventh concert tour by the British rock band Queen during November and December 1979.
Background
[edit]After the release of the single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", the band decided to change the concert format they do in the previous tours, as a result, they revisited smaller venues[1] and adopted a new intro tape, consisting of a droning synthesizer leading into the thunder and lightning heard at the end of Dead On Time, from the previous tour.[2] Initially scheduled to end on 22 December after the concert at the Alexandra Palace, the last concert of this tour at the Hammersmith Odeon, was also the first concert of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea.[3] A bootleg recording of this concert exists as the 2-CD set Crazy Tour of London.[4]
Due to the band choosing to visit many smaller venues during this tour,[5] their lighting rig was scaled down.[6] Additionally, many other changes were made to the band's presentation.[7] Namely, Freddie Mercury decided not to wear suspenders and instead chose to wear a red tie, and either black pants with red kneepads or red pants with blue kneepads. Roger Taylor also adopted a new bass drum head, which was an edited image of his face. It would remain this way through the European Hot Space Tour of 1982. It is also worth noting that this is the final tour before Freddie grew his trademark moustache in 1980.
This is the first tour where Mercury played guitar on the track "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", in which he play a 12-string Ovation Pacemaker.[8] Brian May would also play piano on this tour for the track "Save Me", after having made his debut on the instrument several months ago on the Japanese leg of the Jazz Tour, with the track "Teo Torriatte". "Liar" was placed on rotation during this tour after a nearly two year absence.[9]
Tour dates
[edit]| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 November 1979 | Dublin | Ireland | RDS Simmonscourt |
| 24 November 1979 | Birmingham | England | Birmingham International Arena |
| 26 November 1979 | Manchester | Manchester Apollo | |
| 27 November 1979 | |||
| 30 November 1979 | Glasgow | Scotland | The Apollo |
| 1 December 1979 | |||
| 3 December 1979 | Newcastle | England | Newcastle City Hall |
| 4 December 1979 | |||
| 6 December 1979 | Liverpool | Liverpool Empire Theatre | |
| 7 December 1979 | |||
| 9 December 1979 | Bristol | Bristol Hippodrome | |
| 10 December 1979 | Brighton | Brighton Centre | |
| 11 December 1979 | |||
| 13 December 1979 | London | Lyceum Theatre | |
| 14 December 1979 | Rainbow Theatre | ||
| 17 December 1979 | Purley Tiffany's | ||
| 19 December 1979 | Tottenham Mayfair | ||
| 20 December 1979 | Lewisham Odeon | ||
| 22 December 1979 | Alexandra Palace | ||
| 26 December 1979 | Hammersmith Odeon |
Personnel
[edit]- Freddie Mercury: Lead vocals, piano, guitar ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love"), tambourine.
- Brian May: Guitar, backing vocals, piano.
- Roger Taylor: Drums, timpani, lead vocals ("I'm in Love With My Car"), backing vocals.
- John Deacon: Bass guitar, additional vocals
References
[edit]- ^ Chapman 2017.
- ^ "QUEEN LIVE". Queenlive.ca. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ Freestone & Evans 2001, p. 18.
- ^ "Crazy Tour of London". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
- ^ Grein, Paul (8 May 1982). "Queen Global Tour Most Ambitious Yet". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 18. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 47. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ Furniss 2011.
- ^ Blake 2022.
- ^ Clerc 2020.
- ^ Purvis 2018.
Sources
[edit]- Freestone, Peter; Evans, David (2001). Freddie Mercury: An Intimate Memoir by the Man Who Knew Him Best. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-8674-6.
- Furniss, Matters (2011). Queen: Uncensored On the Record. Warwickshire, England: Coda Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-908538-84-0.
- Chapman, Phil (2017). The Dead Straight Guide to Queen. Croyden: Music Sales. ISBN 9781787590502.
- Purvis, Georg (2018). Queen: Complete Works (Updated ed.). London, England: Titan Books. ISBN 9781789090499.
- Clerc, Benoît (2020). Queen: All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal. ISBN 9780762471232.
- Blake, Mark (2022). Magnifico! The A to Z of Queen. New York: Permuted Press. ISBN 9781637585917.
