Queen: The Complete Works (100 page)

The set list was largely the same as it had been during the UK tour, with ‘Hangman’, ‘Great King Rat’ and ‘See What A Fool I’ve Been’ performed only occasionally and ‘Seven Seas Of Rhye’ becoming the penultimate number of the main set. The tour progressed without incident until Harrisburg, where Aerosmith and Queen were both booked as support. When arguments broke out between the members of the two bands as to who should go on first, Brian and Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry finally got fed up with the quarrelling, becoming extremely ‘relaxed’ over a bottle of Jack Daniels.

“We were so drunk we could hardly walk by the time the argument finished,” Brian recalled to Jacky Smith in
As It Began
. “When we finally went on [an agreement was made that a local Harrisburg act would go on first, followed by Queen, then Aerosmith], I remember, through a haze, whacking the first chord and realizing that, among the echo, I couldn’t hear a thing. I played the whole show from memory, and decided to compensate by giving it lots of action. Everyone thought it was wonderful! So I decided two things for the future: one, I would always ‘give it action’; and two, I would never drink more than a pint before a show. I have since stuck by both of those resolutions.”

When the touring entourage arrived in New York on 6 May, Queen felt they had finally made it. Unfortunately, their triumph would be cut short: in New Orleans on 26 April, Brian had complained of
pain, and worse was to come when the band moved on to Boston after six nights at New York’s Uris Theater. “The first morning I woke up in the Parker House in Boston, I felt like my whole body was made of lead,” Brian explained. “I tried to eat a grapefruit, which someone had said would make me feel better, then I dragged myself to the bathroom mirror, and saw that I was a deep shade of yellow.” Freddie agreed, saying, “When he turned yellow, we thought he had food poisoning.”

Brian had contracted hepatitis, which was aggravated by the injections given to the band prior to their Australian show earlier in the year, and inoculations were administered to everyone who had come into contact with Brian. Queen backed out of the 18 remaining dates, being hastily replaced by Kansas, which disappointed a large portion of the audience in Detroit: with no announcement being made and Kansas opening the show, the audience started booing and hissing during their set, prompting one of the members to seethe into the mic, “Queen’s not here, so shut the fuck up!”

With his confidence in tatters, Brian was ordered to take six weeks of bed rest while his bandmates took advantage of the forced hiatus and, out of desperation, started work on their make-it-or-break-it album.

SHEER HEART ATTACK UK & EUROPEAN TOUR

30 OCTOBER TO 13 DECEMBER 1974

Musicians:
John Deacon
(bass guitar, triangle on ‘Killer Queen’)
, Brian May
(guitar, vocals, banjo on ‘Bring Back That Leroy Brown’)
, Freddie Mercury
(vocals, piano, tambourine)
, Roger Taylor
(drums, vocals)

Repertoire:
‘Procession’, ‘Now I’m Here’, ‘Ogre Battle’, ‘Father To Son’, ‘White Queen (As It Began)’, ‘Flick Of The Wrist’, ‘In The Lap Of The Gods’ / ‘Killer Queen’ / ‘The March Of The Black Queen’ / ‘Bring Back That Leroy Brown’, ‘Son And Daughter’, ‘Keep Yourself Alive’, ‘Seven Seas Of Rhye’, ‘Stone Cold Crazy’, ‘Liar’, ‘In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited’, ‘Big Spender’, ‘Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘God Save The Queen’

Itinerary:

October 30: Palace, Manchester

October 31: Victoria Hall, Hanley

November 1: Empire Theatre, Liverpool

November 2: University, Leeds

November 3: Theatre, Coventry

November 5: City Hall, Sheffield

November 6: St George’s Hall, Bradford

November 7: City Hall, Newcastle

November 8: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow

November 9: University, Lancaster

November 10: Guildhall, Preston

November 12: Colston Hall, Bristol

November 13: Bournemouth, Winter Gardens

November 14: Gaumont, Southampton

November 15: Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

November 16: Town Hall, Birmingham

November 18: New Theatre, Oxford

November 19/20: Rainbow Theatre, London

November 23: Koncerthus, Gothenburg, Sweden

November 25: Helsingin Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki, Finland

November 27: Olympen, Lund, Sweden

December 2: Brienner Theatre, Munich, Germany

December 4: Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany

December 5: Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany

December 6: Sartory Saal, Cologne, Germany

December 7: venue unknown, Singen, Germany

December 8: Congre Gebouw, Hague, Holland

December 10: 140 Theatre, Brussels, Belgium

December 13: Palacio de los Deportes, Barcelona, Spain

Adversity typically yields inspired results: Queen’s third single, ‘Killer Queen’, was high in the charts by the time of their second UK tour of 1974, and its companion album,
Sheer Heart Attack
, was finalized for a November release. With Brian restored to health, Queen put the events of the year behind them and were ready to start afresh: their
Sheer Heart Attack
tour would not only take in the usual territories of England and North America, but it also marked the first time the band would undertake tours of Europe and Japan. The tour started in October 1974 and extended until May 1975; except for the occasional break, this time stretch was largely uninterrupted and would become Queen’s longest tour to date.

The UK and European tour commenced on 30 October in Manchester and saw a completely restructured set list: incorporating a considerable amount of material from the
Sheer Heart Attack
album, this tour also saw the genesis of the medley. Though it would be fine-tuned over the years to include contemporary tracks that worked well together, the first medley consisted of ‘In The Lap Of The Gods’, ‘Killer
Queen’, ‘The March Of The Black Queen’ (appearing for the first time on this tour) and ‘Bring Back That Leroy Brown’. Strangely, another tradition – the Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley – was dropped during this tour: the first encore would commence with ‘Big Spender’, leading into ‘Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll’, while the show would end proper with ‘Jailhouse Rock’, a re-recording of ‘God Save The Queen’ being played on the PA as the band left the stage.

The band took to the stage with renewed vigour, and it’s no surprise that these shows have been regarded as their most exciting and consistent. The fans certainly thought so at the time: riots were starting to become common, breaking out on three different occasions in the early part of the tour. “Chaos hit Queen on the second night of their first headlining tour at Liverpool Empire, when fans rushed the stage,”
Melody Maker
reported. “And at Leeds University, as bouncers were hauling away fans, lead singer Freddie Mercury stopped the show and managed to calm the audience.” One bouncer noticed a sixteen-year-old girl on the verge of being crushed, and grabbed her in time and gave her a new seat on top of John’s amp.

NME
’s Tony Stewart hinted at the Liverpudlian frenzy: “Encountering 3,000 Liverpool looners going completely bonkers over a band is an occurence which does rather unbalance and astound this writer. Frankly, I hadn’t expected it. Whether they deserve this acclaim is, of course, a different matter entirely; however, after seeing the Liverpool gig, I think they do. Musically, the band pull off an act that is both enjoyable and entertaining, shifting through apparent disparaties in style that encompass white heat energy rock, vaudeville knees-up, melodic sophistication and high camp ... Not unexpectedly, stage presence played quite an important part in the act (though it was never used to disguise musical inadequacies. I must confess the sight of Mercury hurling his all across the stage proved to be a visual bonus to complement the exciting dynamics of their numbers ... The gig could have been better I’m sure, but it was still a hotsie.”

Also in Leeds, Roger’s on-stage monitor failed and, despite several attempts to signal his roadie, the problem was not resolved. Backstage, the drummer threw a temper tantrum and kicked an immobile object, causing considerable pain in his ankle and leading all to believe he had broken it. He was taken to Leeds Infirmary for X-rays, and it turned out – much to everyone’s relief – he had only bruised it. The third riot, in Glasgow, was the most memorable: Freddie attempted to calm the crowd, but ventured a bit too close to the fracas and was dragged into the audience by his scarf. Security came to the rescue, and he promptly discarded the offending item for the remainder of the show, dismissing the incident as a “rather undignified affair.” Despite the riots, Brian was especially complimentary of the tour, recalling to
Record Mirror
that December, “The tour was amazing, we can’t believe it. People said we wouldn’t sell out at this time of year because there were so many other tours around, but we were turning more away towards the end. The audience at the Apollo in Glasgow was amazing. In fact most of the gigs in the north were staggering, places like Bradford and Sheffield. They knew all the songs, even the words on the new album before it was out.”

The tour progressed steadily through the UK before concluding on 19 and 20 November at the Rainbow, a return to the coveted venue just eight months after their first appearance there. This time, with an expanded set list, it was decided that both nights would be recorded and filmed for possible use as the band’s first live album and film, though the end result was vetoed. (In 1992, the concert was heavily edited and overdubbed for inclusion on the
Box Of Tricks
collection, though it is currently out of print.) Following the show, an end of tour party was held at the Swiss Cottage Holiday Inn in London, during which the band were presented with a brass plaque to commemorate a sell-out tour. Brian was a little more critical of their hometown shows: “We didn’t enjoy the first Rainbow gig, though we’d had a hard day and we started changing things on stage, and there were the lights for the video to set up,” he told
Record Mirror
, also indicating that the show had been filmed. “It was like Bertram Mills’ Circus – there were so many things going on, we didn’t feel too easy. London is very inhibited, you feel as though you’re in a theatre, and since people seem to be tightening up on bouncers, you don’t feel as though you can run around. We’d like to see a more subtle attitude from bouncers. It’s not our wish that they should be heavy. The presence of bouncers probably provokes more violence anyway.” Not that Roger helped keep things peaceful: frustrated with the impeding film crew, at the conclusion of ‘Jailhouse Rock’ on the second night, he trashed his drum kit.

After a brief rest, the band flew to Sweden to begin their first European tour. Brian was hesitant to admit defeat after Mott The Hoople and Faces had performed poorly-received gigs there: “I’ve got a slight feeling that Europe is not as bad as people think. In Germany,
tickets are selling well and we’re pretty confident.” Lynyrd Skynyrd supported them on this tour, which didn’t sit well with some of the band. “They were awful,” Roger cuttingly recalled thirty years later. “They were southern rednecks and they couldn’t believe it when they saw the four of us caked in make-up and dressed like women. They were outraged, confused and a little frightened, because four nancy boys were giving them a run for their money. In fact, there were actually people from their record company who would stand in the audience holding up banners that said things like ‘Shit’ and ‘Queen Suck’. Things could be unbelievably petty back then – they paid people to heckle us! God, Lynyrd Skynyrd. They were arseholes, frankly. When they played that song, ‘Free Bird’, it seemed to go on for hours. As I remember, they had three lead guitarists. Hmm, well we only seemed to need one. Absolute arseholes.”

The tour took an unexpected turn when, following the third show in Lund, a selection of dates had to be cancelled due to the band’s equipment truck breaking down; it is not known what cities or countries the band was due to perform in. The truck was repaired in time for the Munich show, though another problem arose when the driver negotiated too small a bridge and became stuck. Frustrated, the band called Edwin Shirley Trucking as a replacement, and were so appreciative of the crew’s efforts that they employed them on every tour thereafter.

Overall, Europe didn’t take kindly to Queen;
Record Mirror
reported that the audience, mostly American GIs, in Frankfurt were more responsive to Lynyrd Skynyrd than to the main act. “It was, said the tall and studious Brian May, like playing to a vacuum cleaner. ‘We were just pouring it out and [the audience] were sucking it in, with nothing coming back. I tell you, for the first time in many months I felt like I’d done a hard day’s work when I came off stage.’ May, along with the rest of the band, is sitting in the diner of Frankfurt’s Why Not club reflecting on Queen’s second date in Germany. The mood is not bad, but there’s an undercurrent of steely determination following the difficulties of that night’s gig ... None of the boys seem overly worried and the general feeling in their road party – and among the visiting journalists – is one of disdain for the Frankfurt crowd. A crowd of dopers into boogie rock is hardly likely to appreciate futuristic guitar pyrotechnics and 1975 flash a la Mercury. ‘Still,’ muses May, now installed at the night spot, ‘they could have returned something. The more an audience feed back, the better we play – naturally – but there I just felt like I was wasting my time.’”

Dutch magazine
Oor
was slightly more positive: “On 8 December I decided to visit the ‘Big Music Day’ in The Hague. And I must say, I do not regret my decision ... But, it was possible to deliver an even more professional show, especially in terms of stage presentation. Queen gave away a rousing show. A truly royal spectacle, which amused me a lot. Carefully put together, the show was convincing almost in its entirety. It is a band full of ideas, both musically and visually. Singer Freddie Mercury moved across the stage as if he was The Queen herself. And surprisingly, on stage the band succeeded in putting across their often complex music very well ... A highly entertaining and varying evening of modern rock ‘n’ roll, on which I enjoyed myself a lot. Queen’s huge popularity in the UK is completely logical.”