The Works Tour

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The Works Tour
World tour by Queen
Associated albumThe Works
Start date24 August 1984
End date15 May 1985
Legs5
No. of shows23 in Europe
9 in Africa
2 in South America
9 in Oceania
5 in Asia
48 Total
Queen concert chronology

The Works Tour was a concert tour by the British rock band Queen. During the tour, Queen participated in the Rock in Rio festival in 1985; the concert was released on VHS. The band released a DVD from a concert in Tokyo titled We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan, but the name of the concert was incorrect as the band performed 2 further concerts after Tokyo in Nagoya and Osaka.

Stage design[]

The stage design was based on a scene from Fritz Lang's Metropolis with huge rotating cog-wheels at the rear of the stage and a brightly lit cityscape.[1] Due to a prior ligament damage in his knee, it was somewhat of a challenge for Mercury to navigate the complex set of multiple levels and stairs. Eventually, in Hanover, Mercury fell down the stairs during the performance of "Hammer to Fall".[2] He was only able to play "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You", and "We Are the Champions" afterwards, shortening the concert somewhat. Due to Mercury's injury, May played the first bars of "We Will Rock You" out of anxiety to get Mercury to the hospital.

Breaking apartheid embargo[]

Queen scheduled 12 performances in Bophuthatswana, South Africa, at the Sun City Super Bowl in October 1984.[3] Due to the apartheid policy of South Africa the United Nations requested entertainers to boycott the country and the Britain's Musicians’ Union banned any of its members from performing in Sun City.[3] Queen played anyway, despite the controversy, though several shows were cancelled after Mercury's voice gave out after three days live performances. The show was extended to a third weekend.[3]

Tour band[]

  • Freddie Mercury – lead vocals, piano, rhythm guitar (Crazy Little Thing Called Love)
  • Brian May – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
  • Roger Taylor – drums, backing vocals
  • John Deacon – bass guitar, rhythm guitar (Staying Power), backing vocals

Additional musicians:

  • Spike Edney – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, rhythm guitar (Hammer to Fall)

Setlists[]

Average setlist[]

This setlist is representative of the performance on 30 September 1984 in Vienna, Austria. It does not represent all the setlists for the duration of the tour.

  1. "Machines (or 'Back to Humans')"
  2. "Tear It Up"
  3. "Tie Your Mother Down"
  4. "Under Pressure"
  5. "Somebody To Love"
  6. "Killer Queen"
  7. "Seven Seas Of Rhye"
  8. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  9. "Liar"
  10. "Impromptu"
  11. "It's A Hard Life"
  12. "Dragon Attack"
  13. "Now I'm Here"
  14. "Is This The World We Created...?"
  15. "Love Of My Life"
  16. "Stone Cold Crazy"
  17. "Great King Rat"
  18. "Keyboard Solo"
  19. "Guitar Solo"
  20. "Brighton Rock (Finale)"
  21. "Another One Bites The Dust"
  22. "Hammer To Fall"
  23. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
  24. "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  25. "Radio Ga Ga"
    Encore
  26. "I Want To Break Free"
  27. "Jailhouse Rock"
    Encore
  28. "We Will Rock You"
  29. "We Are The Champions"
  30. "God Save The Queen"

Selected setlists[]

Europe
South Africa
Rock in Rio
Oceania
Japan

Tour dates[]

Date City Country Venue
Europe
24 August 1984 Brussels Belgium Forest National
28 August 1984 Dublin Ireland RDS Simmonscourt
29 August 1984
31 August 1984 Birmingham England NEC Arena
1 September 1984
2 September 1984
4 September 1984 London Wembley Arena
5 September 1984
7 September 1984
8 September 1984
10 September 1984 Dortmund West Germany Westfalenhallen
14 September 1984 Milan Italy Palasport di San Siro
15 September 1984
16 September 1984 Munich West Germany Olympiahalle
18 September 1984 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
20 September 1984 Leiden Netherlands Groenoordhallen
21 September 1984 Brussels Belgium Forest National
22 September 1984 Hanover West Germany Europahalle
24 September 1984 Berlin Deutschlandhalle
26 September 1984 Frankfurt Festhalle Frankfurt
27 September 1984 Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
29 September 1984 Vienna Austria Wiener Stadthalle
30 September 1984
Africa
5 October 1984 Sun City South Africa Sun City Super Bowl
6 October 1984
7 October 1984
12 October 1984
13 October 1984
14 October 1984
18 October 1984
19 October 1984
20 October 1984
South America
12 January 1985 Rio de Janeiro Brazil Cidade do Rock
19 January 1985
Oceania
13 April 1985 Auckland New Zealand Mount Smart Stadium
16 April 1985 Melbourne Australia Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre
17 April 1985
19 April 1985
20 April 1985
25 April 1985 Sydney Sydney Entertainment Centre
26 April 1985
28 April 1985
29 April 1985
Asia
8 May 1985 Tokyo Japan Nippon Budokan
9 May 1985
11 May 1985 Yoyogi National Gymnasium
13 May 1985 Nagoya Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
15 May 1985 Osaka Osaka-jō Hall

Cancelled concerts[]

12 September 1984 Verona Verona Arena Cancelled.
24 January 1985 Santiago Estadio Nacional de Chile Cancelled.
25 January 1985 Santiago Estadio Nacional de Chile Cancelled.

References[]

  1. ^ Bell, Mike (8 September 1984). "Body but no soul". The Times.
  2. ^ Freestone, Peter; David Evans (2001). Freddie Mercury: An intimate memoir by the man who knew him best. Omnibus Press. pp. 65–66. ISBN 0-7119-8674-6.
  3. ^ a b c "Queen’s Tragic Rhapsody". Gilmore, Mikal. Rolling Stone. 7 July 2014.

External links[]

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