Crazy Tour

1979 concert tour by Queen

Crazy Tour
Local tour by Queen
Promotional poster for the tour's London concerts
LocationBritish Isles
Associated albumLive Killers
Start date22 November 1979
End date26 December 1979
Legs1
No. of shows20
Queen concert chronology
  • Jazz Tour
    (1978–1979)
  • Crazy Tour
    (1979)
  • The Game Tour
    (1980–1981)

Crazy Tour was the seventh concert tour by the British rock band Queen during November and December 1979.

Background

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]

Setlists

UK and Ireland

Glasgow, Scotland

  1. "Intro"
  2. "We Will Rock You (Fast)"
  3. "Let Me Entertain You"
  4. "Somebody To Love"
  5. "Mustapha"
  6. "Death on Two Legs"
  7. "Killer Queen"
  8. "I'm in Love With My Car"
  9. "Get Down, Make Love"
  10. "You're My Best Friend"
  11. "Save Me"
  12. "Now I'm Here"
  13. "Don't Stop Me Now"
  14. "Spread Your Wings"
  15. "Love of My Life"
  16. "'39"
  17. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  18. "Drum Solo"
  19. "Guitar Solo"
  20. "Liar"
  21. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
  22. "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  23. "Tie Your Mother Down"
    Encore
  24. "Sheer Heart Attack"
    Encore
  25. "We Will Rock You"
  26. "We Are The Champions"
  27. "God Save the Queen"

Newcastle, England (First Night)

  1. "Intro"
  2. "Let Me Entertain You"
  3. "Tie Your Mother Down"
  4. "Somebody To Love"
  5. "If You Can't Beat Them"
  6. "Mustapha"
  7. "Death on Two Legs"
  8. "Killer Queen"
  9. "I'm in Love With My Car"
  10. "Get Down, Make Love"
  11. "You're My Best Friend"
  12. "Save Me"
  13. "Now I'm Here"
  14. "Don't Stop Me Now"
  15. "Spread Your Wings"
  16. "Love of My Life"
  17. "'39"
  18. "Fat Bottomed Girls"
  19. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  20. "Drum Solo"
  21. "Guitar Solo"
  22. "Brighton Rock (Finale)"
  23. "Bohemian Rhapsody"
    Encore
  24. "Sheer Heart Attack"
    Encore
  25. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
    Encore
  26. "We Will Rock You"
  27. "We Are The Champions"
  28. "God Save the Queen"

Newcastle, England (Second Night)

  1. "Intro"
  2. "Jailhouse Rock"
  3. "We Will Rock You (Fast)"
  4. "Let Me Entertain You"
  5. "Somebody To Love"
  6. "Mustapha"
  7. "Death on Two Legs"
  8. "Killer Queen"
  9. "I'm in Love With My Car"
  10. "Get Down, Make Love"
  11. "You're My Best Friend"
  12. "Save Me"
  13. "Now I'm Here"
  14. "Don't Stop Me Now"
  15. "Spread Your Wings"
  16. "Love of My Life"
  17. "'39"
  18. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  19. "Drum Solo"
  20. "Guitar Solo"
  21. "Liar"
  22. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
  23. "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  24. "Tie Your Mother Down"
    Encore
  25. "Sheer Heart Attack"
    Encore
  26. "We Will Rock You"
  27. "We Are The Champions"
  28. "God Save the Queen"

Liverpool, England

  1. "Intro"
  2. "We Will Rock You (Fast)"
  3. "Let Me Entertain You"
  4. "Somebody To Love"
  5. "Mustapha"
  6. "Death on Two Legs"
  7. "Killer Queen"
  8. "I'm in Love With My Car"
  9. "Get Down, Make Love"
  10. "You're My Best Friend"
  11. "Save Me"
  12. "Now I'm Here"
  13. "Don't Stop Me Now"
  14. "Spread Your Wings"
  15. "Love of My Life"
  16. "'39"
  17. "Fat Bottomed Girls"
  18. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  19. "Drum Solo"
  20. "Guitar Solo"
  21. "Brighton Rock (Finale)"
  22. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
  23. "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  24. "Tie Your Mother Down"
    Encore
  25. "Sheer Heart Attack"
    Encore
  26. "We Will Rock You"
  27. "We Are The Champions"
  28. "God Save the Queen"

London, England

  1. "Intro"
  2. "Jailhouse Rock"
  3. "We Will Rock You (Fast)"
  4. "Let Me Entertain You"
  5. "Somebody To Love"
  6. "If You Can't Beat Them"
  7. "Mustapha"
  8. "Death on Two Legs"
  9. "Killer Queen"
  10. "I'm in Love With My Car"
  11. "Get Down, Make Love"
  12. "You're My Best Friend"
  13. "Save Me"
  14. "Now I'm Here"
  15. "Don't Stop Me Now"
  16. "Spread Your Wings"
  17. "Love of My Life"
  18. "'39"
  19. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  20. "Drum Solo"
  21. "Guitar Solo"
  22. "Brighton Rock (Finale)"
  23. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
  24. "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  25. "Tie Your Mother Down"
    Encore
  26. "Sheer Heart Attack"
    Encore
  27. "We Will Rock You"
  28. "We Are The Champions"
  29. "God Save the Queen"

Tour dates

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

  • 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

  1. ^ Chapman 2017.
  2. ^ "QUEEN LIVE". Queenlive.ca. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  3. ^ Freestone & Evans 2001, p. 18.
  4. ^ "Crazy Tour of London". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Furniss 2011.
  7. ^ Blake 2022.
  8. ^ Clerc 2020.
  9. ^ Purvis 2018.

Sources

  • 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.

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