Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl

(concert of 5th June, 1982, released on disc in 2004)

The National Bowl had opened in 1979, and Queen were just the kind of big name band, known for putting on a big show, to put the place on the map. Milton Keynes was one of 69 tour dates for the group in the Hot Space tour. This date was originally scheduled for Arsenal's Highbury Stadium in London, but was moved to Milton Keynes owing to potential noise complaints from residents. Although 'Hot Space' the album was something of a reverse in Queen's fortunes, the band were in peak form on the Hot Space tour. It is quite noticeable that the songs on the Hot Space album sound better, edgier, and much more like the Queen we know and love when performed live in concert. That observation backs my hunch that more guitar and drums in the Queen style and much less synths would have realized a perfect blend of hard rock and funk/soul/disco.

I remember the concert well. It was a big TV event in the summer of 1982, shortly before I returned for my second and final year in the De La Salle/West Park sixth form. There was much excited discussion among all those who took their music seriously. It has to be said that the cooler kids all preferred Bowie and Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music. Queen were entertainers and crowd pleasers. But the general consensus here was that, in the Milton Keynes concert, Queen rocked the house. Quite a few of the cool kids were impressed. For once, my views on Queen were sought and I felt like something of an expert as I commented on the bits Brian May got wrong in his solo (like I knew). It was the days before video, so I taped the show on an audio cassette and played it over and again. There were many standout moments in the show. And a terrible moment when Freddie's voice cracks alarmingly during 'Fat Bottomed Girls.' I was always nervous in case my favourite singers and artists were exposed as being unable to sing and play live in concert. I had seen a very many bands who were great miming in the singles chart, only to sound thin and weedy and nth rate when live. Queen were not one of those bands.

And then, many years later, the Milton Keynes show was repeated on television, and then, later still, Queen On Fire - Live at the Bowl was released on CD and DVD. I didn't have a DVD player, but had recently, at last, acquired a CD player. I was intrigued to see whether the show was as great as I remembered it. It was. If anything, it was even better. The standout performances, like 'Somebody to Love,' stand out all the more, and we also get many tracks that had been omitted from the initial broadcast. Channel 4's The Tube had broadcast a heavily-edited film of the show, with several important tracks cut out. In particular, the broadcast cut a number of songs from the Hot Space album, thereby eliding the contrast between those songs in the studio, with Queen trying hard to be reproduce a new and, for them, very different style, and Queen appropriating those new songs for their more familiar sound. To my ears, the Hot Space songs sound better - more Queen-like - in concert, indicating the potential that the album would have had had it been recorded more in the Queen manner. Queen needed to stamp their own style on the material and not be drawn too far in aping styles alien to the band. And you have to have confidence in your own musical profile. A halfway house compromise always falls in on itself.

The problem with live concert albums from Queen, critics have noted, is that they have seldom been live. There has been so much interference in the mastering and mixing that the 'live' albums have been indistinguishable from studio albums. Some of the problems can be attributed to limitations in the available technology, but the main motivation seems to have been quality assurance. That concern is not the exclusive preserve of Queen. I heard members of Thin Lizzy being asked about the overdubbing on Lizzy's 'Live and Dangerous,' Scott Gorham et al insisting that he could do various parts better, correct mistakes, and make the performances better. That strikes me as perfectly reasonable. The aim is to present a document which showcases a band's music in live performance, not record an exact replica: the musical record is more important than the historical record. Being studio perfectionists, though, the criticism is that Queen interfered a little too much. It is for these reasons that 'Live Killers' was savaged by the critics (and band members), with the overall sound being dull, blunted, and blurry. Not so with Queen on Fire at the Milton Keynes Bowl, with a great freshness in sound (and spectacle, with the DVD).

The critics' claim is that 'Live Killers' failed to capture and authentically convey the vibrant and vital sound of the band live in concert. Queen on Fire boasts superb sound. Beyond recording techniques, however, there is the material. In 1982, the Queen sound is characterised by a 'hot and spacey' feel, in keeping with the new musical directions taken since 1980's 'The Game,' but most controversially with 'Hot Space.' Musically, the songs from the latter are greatly transformed for the better in live performance. They met with a muted reception at the time, and Channel 4's edit cut a number of them from the broadcast. 'Staying Power' made the edit and, for me, is one of the highlights, played with a hot and hard edge with Brian May's guitar to the fore. 'Back Chat' was cut but, similarly, sounds much better live than on record. Why 'Staying Power' was not recorded in this fashion, and why either or both of these singles were not used as the lead-off singles promoting the Hot Space album strikes me as a missed opportunity. 'Action this Day' was also performed - and cut from the edit - in the Milton Keynes show. Other Hot Space tracks were performed in the US and Japanese tours, such as 'Put Out the Fire' and 'Calling All Girls.' In my recollection - and as someone who followed the fortunes of Queen assiduously, I have reasons to think I am right - the choice of 'Body Language' as the lead-off single sunk the fortunes of Hot Space the album. We came from the absolute high of 'Under Pressure,' a critically acclaimed and commercially successful #1 smash hit, to something decidedly dubious. It threw away momentum and put the new album on the backfoot from the first. We need also to bear in mind the muted, even hostile, reactions of fans whenever established bands introduce new sounds. It happened to Genesis with Duke and Abacab, it happened to The Stranglers with their new pop directions - bands always 'sellout' in becoming successful, and can do no other. The problem with Hot Space is that Queen were already hugely successful, and the new turn was at least as much a commercial disaster as artistic. People don't like change and don't like their tastes to be challenged. Hot Space was a different Queen, and people baulked at the challenge. As the years pass, however, we are seeing Hot Space in new, and true, light, with the attempt to blend hard rock, funk, disco and R&B being praiseworthy, regardless of the differing views we may have of the execution. My view is that the tracks on Hot Space were better, hotter, and harder delivered in live performance than they were in the studio. In the studio, Queen maybe tried too hard this time. In concert, they were tight and economical and hit hard. That's how the album should have been.

Queen always delivered onstage, and Queen on Fire at the Milton Keynes Bowl captures the essence of the band perfectly. In 1982, Freddie Mercury was in peak condition, vocally and physically, lean, lithe, and loud. There are many highlights in this concert. The opening, which transitions from the constant throb of 'Flash' into 'The Hero' and the hard rocking version of 'We Will Rock You' may well be the greatest opening to a live concert ever. I've seen and heard none better. Weighing in at nearly eight minutes, 'Somebody to Love' is breathtaking, as operatic as it is gospel. For some bizarre reason this classic - with a claim to be at least as good as 'Bohemian Rhapsody' - was left off the 'Live Killers' album. A lot of the Queen favourites/staples are present and correct, 'Brighton Rock,' showcasing Brian May's lengthy guitar solo, 'Love of my Life,' 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' 'Tie Your Mother Down,' 'We are the Champions.' We should also mention the gloriously un-PC 'Fat Bottomed Girls,' and lament the absence of 'Bicycle Race.' But this is Queen transitioning into the 1980s, and it is the tracks from 'The Game' and 'Hot Space' that are worthy of special note. 'Play the Game,' 'Another One Bites the Dust,' 'Save Me' and 'Under Pressure' are excellent, easily holding their own alongside the classic numbers, marking out a new musical identity for the band. The Now I'm Here / Dragon Attack / Now I'm Here (Reprise) is a centrepiece of the show, blending old and new Queen perfectly. It is also noticeable - to my ears at least - that the Hot Space tracks are tougher and sharper in performance here than they are on the album. 'Backchat' was great on the album, but here is edgier, 'Action this Day,' too. Best of all, though, is the version of 'Staying Power.' The live performance is a real revelation. The band is tight and integrated, with drums and vocals setting a cracking pace. The track is a lost Queen classic, a hot and heavy take on the synths and horns based album track. The result is the funk that the band were clearly trying hard to achieve in the studio. There is just more punch in the drums and guitars in this version, taking it into a different stratosphere to the album version. What was quite clean, even sterile and soulless on disc throbs with life and energy on stage. This is the version that should have opened 'Hot Space' to set the tempo for the rest of the album, and which should also have been the lead-off single for that album. The tempo is just so much better, putting both feet hard down on the dancefloor. It is just so powerful, tight, and intense, a whole lot better than the album version. Done this way in the studio it could have been massive, at least on a par with 'Another One Bites the Dust.' Personally, I think 'Staying Power' is better, realizing what Queen set out to do when following up on the success of the new sounds on 'The Game.'

Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl

Flash

The Hero

We Will Rock You (Fast)

Action This Day

Play the Game

Staying Power

Somebody to Love

Now I'm Here

Dragon Attack

Now I'm Here (Reprise)

Love of My Life

Save Me

Back Chat

Get Down, Make Love

Brighton Rock

Under Pressure

Fat Bottomed Girls

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Bohemian Rhapsody

Tie Your Mother Down

Another One Bites the Dust

Sheer Heart Attack

We Will Rock You

We Are the Champions

God Save the Queen