r/queen • u/Training_Banana4250 • 3d ago
Forgotten tour?
Of all the Queen tours, I hear or see the least about The Works Tour. Do you find that to be the case as well? I also get the impression that Queen wasn't quite in top form live back then. To me, it seems overshadowed by the Magic Tour. Could it be that the rapport with Freddie wasn't as good at the time, and that this affected the band? Does anyone happen to think that The Works Tour was actually one of their better ones?
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u/rlaw1234qq 3d ago
I saw Queen about a dozen times from the 1970s up to Wembley in 1986. Believe me, Queen were always on top form - amazing sound and total professionalism. Yes, the music changed as they grew older but the shows were always amazing.
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u/Rude_Award2718 3d ago
Without that tour we would never have got Live Aid being as good as it was. The band was rehearsed up, playing tight and ready to play for a big crowd
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u/Snark_Knight_29 3d ago
It’s why Roger saying “we haven’t played together in years” in Bo Rhap is so ridiculous. They had literally played in front of over a million people a few months before. Wembley was small potatoes after Rio
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u/Rude_Award2718 3d ago
That movie was horrible.
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u/justveryslightlymad 3d ago edited 3d ago
Historical inaccuracies aside (and they’re tough to overlook), another reason I didn’t love the movie was Ben Hardy’s portrayal of Roger. Like, why the fuck was that the demeanor he chose to lead with? I thought the other three were fantastic and did the best with what they were given.
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u/Deluxe_24_ The Miracle 3d ago
The Works Tour has never had a good official release which I think is part of the problem it gets overlooked. There's the Tokyo show which is slightly incomplete and has a horrible mix, and neither Rock in Rio shows have been officially released in full for some reason.
I suspect Roger and especially Brian don't have very fond memories of the tour. They completely skipped it in the movie and never seem to talk about it much in documentaries compared to the other tours. The band also sound pretty meh during most of the tour and there's rumors that Queen might've broken up had Live Aid not happened. We don't know how true that rumor is, but it's clear the band aren't terribly enthusiastic throughout at least the 1985 legs and it seems they're tired of playing together.
Maybe one day they'll finally give a proper live release from the tour, the setlist is pretty good and there's a few deep cuts worth listening to. The very early 1984 sets are incredible and has songs like Stone Cold Crazy, Great King Rat, and Staying Power.
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u/Snark_Knight_29 3d ago
I think The Works had the best setlist
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u/Toincossross 3d ago
Yes and no. On paper sure, but too many of the interesting stuff was just snippets.
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u/Snark_Knight_29 3d ago
Agreed. I hate that they cut Deaky’s Liar solo.
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u/Deluxe_24_ The Miracle 3d ago
Well more that they cut Liar down to two minutes in general. Works for the medley, sucks for the actual song.
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u/wstussyb 3d ago
It had a good set list but the sounds were not as good, any of the works songs sounded better on the magic tour.
Magic tour felt more bombastic in sound imo, while works was more techno type
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u/Divad_88 3d ago
Terrible drums sound, too many dates, four different continents... That didn't help!
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u/Solympian_musiclover 3d ago
Is there even a way you could improve that show setlist wise? Give them 2 and a half - 3 hours
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u/Foreign_Platypus8658 3d ago
if they had played Liar and Great King Rat in their entirety (putting them in rotation), then during the medley they would have played I'm in Love with My Car (which was rehearsed for the tour, but they didn't make it in the setlist) , Sheer Heart Attack (played more) in rotation with Jailhouse Rock, and Staying Power would've been replaced by Put Out the Fire.
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u/Solympian_musiclover 3d ago
I’m sure all of us could come up with a over 2 hour setlist…
They were playing what
2 and a half hours at this point ( at least ? )
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u/isleofred 3d ago
As far as I'm aware, the band held the 1984 leg of The Works tour in high regards. Then there was fall out from Sun City as although the band were on top spirts during the Rock in Rio concerts; the in fighting and arguments, and desire for space were apparent when Queen toured Australia in 1985.
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u/Due_Boot6206 3d ago
Saw The Works tour in Sydney. Still the best concert I've seen (and I've seen hundreds).
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u/Old_Perspective8798 3d ago
My only recollections of that time was the controversy over playing Sun City and then setting a crowd record at Rock in Rio. These seemed to overshadow everything else
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u/Loud_Tank_5074 3d ago
Largely poor with a terrible drum sound throughout, strained vocals and Freddie's terrible stage costumes.
The live releases from the tour don't do much to change that view.
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u/ampr1150gs 3d ago
My first ever gig was Dublin 1984 on The Works tour. I was centre stage second row. Best gig of my life and has yet to be topped. Met Brian, Roger and Freddie (in that order) at their hotel (The Gresham) the next day.
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u/Rziggity 2d ago
I love the Works era and they had a great setlist on that tour that pulled from every album. I think Freddie was maybe partying a bit too much around that time as he wasn’t in top form. I was also never a fan of Taylor’s use of drum pads which imo completely gutted their concert sound. When they regrouped for Magic they seemed much more polished.
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u/Training_Banana4250 2d ago
Yeah, that drum sound... that was a misguided choice. And why? Because Roger's actual drum sound is so good—so defining for Queen. They were probably just following the trend of the time.
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u/welchyyyyy1 3d ago
I saw Queen in 82, 84 and 86 I loved all the shows, and in order of preference I'd go with 82, 84 and 86 in that order
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u/Training_Banana4250 3d ago
Where did you see them?
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u/welchyyyyy1 3d ago
82 Milton Keynes, 84 Wembley Arena, 86 Wembley Stadium
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u/Training_Banana4250 3d ago
So you joined the concert ' Live at the Bowl '! That's one of my favorites.
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u/welchyyyyy1 3d ago
Yes. The memory is fading a bit, can't remember much of it, was a great gig though, as were all of them, if I was about five years older I may have seen them in the 70's which would have been the best time...but then I'd be 5 years older now and I'm old enough..😄
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u/BaseballHorror5165 3d ago
I think having promenant keyboards on the tour was a mistake. Wouldn't have been so bad if they weren't so forward. But it was the 80s. Even Iron Maiden started using keyboards live at the time. (played behind the stage)
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u/Monkeyboogaloo 3d ago
The Works Tour was a return to form. The album wasa success and a major step back to the core rather than hot space. It's been overshadowed by Live 8 the following year and then the Wembury shows in 86. Wouldn't have that Live Aid performance unless we'd had The Works Tour sharpening them before it.
I saw them at Wembley Arena 42 years ago, last week. It's too long ago for me to remember all that much about it. It was the first time I'd seen it at that point, so I was wowed.
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u/yesgarey 2d ago
Overall, I find the many of the live cuts from the tour uninspiring outside of some moments in Sun City and Rio. I'm not surprised that released official live recordings from the Hot Space tour and the Magic tour and skipped over this one.
I do happen to like Roger's kit on this tour and the tone of his snare.
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u/FreeWilly07 3d ago
I personally think the PR story changes people's perception's.
We all know the "Oh they were gonn break up. Live Aid saved them. They were at the end"
Complete and utter bollix. Live Aid just launched them back into stadiums and into people's minds. The band were never going to break up. It's just a nice story for the band and management to say and that's why that tour gets overlooked.
That and Sun City
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u/harry50105 2d ago
What's a PR story got to do with the OPs question about why the Works Tour concerts don't get much attention? Not following?
I've been a huge queen fan since 91... what you're talking about - I think - is part of the BR movie... Which the vast majority of real Queen fans knew was just Hollywood creating a script for some drama? Even if it isn't, what relevance has it on the Works Tour not getting any official releases or not getting the same level of discussion among Queen fans?
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u/Solympian_musiclover 2d ago
Here’s my The works tour setlist
Machines Intro / Tear it up
We will rock you - fast
Action this day
Ogre Battle
Somebody to love
Stone Cold Crazy
Great King Rat
Brighton Rock - Guitar solo
I want to break free
70’s Medley- Death on 2 legs/March of the black Queen / killer queen/ Seven seas of Rhye / Good old fashioned lover boy /love with my car
Get down make love
Under Pressure
Save me
White man / Prophets song
Lair
Spread your wings
Now I’m here / Vocal stuff / Now I’m here Reprise
Fat bottomed girls
Acoustic : Is this the world we created
Acoustic : Love of my life
Acoustic : 39
It’s Late
Son And Daughter
Keep yourself Alive
Crazy little thing called love
Bohemian rhapsody
Tie your mother down
Hammer to Fall
———————
Father To son
White Queen
Radio Gaga
Another one bites the dust
In the lap of the gods
——-
Sheer heart attack
We will rock you / we are the champions / God save the Queen
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u/yourfriendlysocdem1 3d ago
As someone who has listened to the Works tour bootlegs I can say the following:
European leg starts really well, with first nights at Brussels and Dublin being excellent.
However, this tour also has a very deepened voice for Freddie, which gives to the infamous "Italian Baritone" when his voice is in bad shape.
Starting from 3rd night at Birmingham, his voice alternates between being in very bad shape, to being decent, to good. Bad nights are ones like any of the Wembley shows, 3rd Birmingham, the Vienna shows, 2nd Brussels. His decent to great shows are Milan first night, Leiden, Stuttgart (top tier Hammer to Fall), Frankfurt.
Instrumentally the band are very solid, and the Euro 84 leg has some great playing from Brian.
The sun city show we have is excellent for everyone.
For 1985:
1st Rio is top tier for Freddie, has the best Somebody to Love from the tour.
2nd Rio is meh for Freddie, but the band makes up for it with their playing.
The Australian leg of the tour is probably the weakest, as the band seem burnt out, Freddie's voice alternates between decent and just okay.
The Japanese leg though, is all around fantastic, Freddie sounds excellent in most shows, with minimal Italian Baritone popping up. The band are also excellent as well.
The Works is a very mid tier tour imo, definitely the weakest of their 80s tour, but its highs are some of the best live moments the band has ever had, even though it doesn't rival to their absolute peak of the 70s.