Queen is taking a look at some of their favorite performance venues over the years in episode 36 of their weekly YouTube series, Queen The Greatest Live.
“Iconic Venues” has guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor reflecting on the places they’ve played in their over 50-year career. May shares, “Madison Square Garden in New York was top of the list, that was a mythical place for us.”
For Taylor, the Forum in Los Angeles is a particular favorite. He notes, “They’ve got something magical there. And of course, the audiences are great.”
In 1981, Queen graduated to stadiums playing their first huge gig in South America.
“We went down there with jumbo jets full of gear to play these football stadiums, not knowing if we would sell them out,” May says. “Suddenly, instead of 18,000 people in an arena, we’re playing outside to 100,000 or even more, 150,000 in the case of some of those places in Argentina and Brazil”
But those big audiences were never really a problem for Queen. “I think our music, we wanted it to be big and so I think we could project it and make it work in big places,” Taylor says. “I mean, other people have been good at it as well. I think it was particularly suited to us.”
Speaking of playing big venues, Queen just launched their Rhapsody Tour of North America. The show hits Toronto on Sunday, October 8. A complete list of dates can be found at queenonline.com.
Next week on Queen The Greatest Live: “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
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