Queen at Knebworth, August 9th 1986

by Medousutera

Queen really went out with a bang on the Magic Tour. One got the feeling that they could only continue to get more powerful from here on out, but things don't always go according to plan in this world (or should we say, things end up going TOO MUCH to plan), and so if this was the end, I'm glad they were able to go out with this type of show at Knebworth. Over and over again there were rumors of this being their last show, and now that I think about it, that might've been intentional.

I had seen the two outdoor shows at Wembley Stadium the month prior, but of course those shows came with more of a structure to work within, so this show had to be on a different scale. This show might not have been as big as the one in say Rio, but it was still in a huge park in the suburbs of London. The Knebworth show happened relatively recently so the memories are still pretty clear in my mind today, but to be honest, more than anything I recall the exhaustion of leaving my house and returning 19 hours later. I had only just started living in London at the time, and didn't have much grasp of English or the layout of the area. I left at around 8 AM and took the rail to what I thought was the destination, but turned out to just be a station near the destination. Everyone else seemed to be boarding a bus from there, but I... BUT I... decided to walk. And walk. And walk. And then get lost. And then walk some more. By the time I reached the entrance of Knebworth Park, about two hours had passed. Even thought it was only around noon, the gates had already opened, and it was nothing but a storm of non-Japanese people as far as the eye could see...

The stage seemed to be about 100 km away, but resolved to be even just one step closer to Roger, I moved to the front little-by-little until I was hanging right off of the fence! Three hours passed with me clinging to that fence, and then another four or five hours passed as the support acts played... by the time the great Queen took the stage around 8:30 PM, I had rallied tremendously to the point where I wondered where I could possibly have stored all of that latent energy in my couch-potato body! They played for around two hours and I savored every second.

Since the setlist was the same as Wembley, they began with One Vision and continued on through the third song In the Lap of the Gods (revisited), and I kept thinking how fast it was going so my mood was a little bit low. But as the show progressed, I became more at ease. The moon and stars peeking through the trees illuminated the four of them onstage and the 120,000 of us as one. It was as though we were all sharing and amplifying our energy through their music, becoming something more than ourselves.

I am so grateful from the bottom of my heart that I got to se Freddie onstage that day, to the point that now I even love the T-shirt that I happened to be wearing that day even though I had previously disliked it. Freddie was feisty, doing pushups, bellowing... this was the body of a man who was living his best life. He was at the top of his game.

The sight of Brian and John's legs left sufficient impact of the length of the shorts they were wearing, and as that was not a pleasant image then or ever, I will not dwell further on that. I will comment, however, on the depraved length of Brian's guitar solo, which is always leaves more than enough time for a potty break, even in Japan. There'd be time to eat a light meal and pay the bill on top of that! I must point out that even in England, his solos are not for anyone but the hardest of hardcore guitar kids. I could clearly hear voices around me yelling "SHUT UP!! KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE GUITAR ALREADY!!" and singing "It's long~~♪♫" to the tune of It's Late with fatigue and condemnation.

John had a blank look in his eyes from beginning to end, maybe because his Kind of Magic balloon character didn't inflate properly. He kept the rhythm with his hairy legs. As for Roger, it's sad that even though I was like five meters away from the stage, it was so tall that I could barely see him at all. I could see the cymbals bounce around when he was back in the heart of his drumkit, and I finally got a glimpse of him for three songs during doo-wop time when he came out with the tambourine, and then again at the end during God Save the Queen when he came to the front to bow. It sucks that I only got to see him come out to horse around with Freddie at the end. At the end of the Wembley show, a half-naked Roger came out and Freddie put the crown on his head which I was hoping for this time as well, but he seemed content to stand back leisurely and shout some stuff instead.

It may seem like I've written a lot of critical things here, but all-in-all, it was a fitting final performance—the members were all in great spirit and form, they played a great balance of hits, old favorites, and newer songs, and the show was full of fan service, so it really was flawless. As the show progressed, the energy just continued to rise and brought forth feelings of gratitude and high spirits that no other band could possibly bring. The ending one-two-three punch of We Will Rock You, Friends Will Be Friends, and We Are the Champions brought out a solidarity in the crowd like never before, with fans holding hands and singing in a real feeling of brotherhood.

After the concert ended, I walked about an hour and a half back to the station, waiting another two hours for the right train, and finally got back to my place around 4 AM. It was a wonderful 19 hours of physical pain and mental pleasure all at once.

At the time, I never could have dreamed that this would really be the last concert, but now I think it was so big and great, it had to be something to go out on, a show worthy of being known as the last one. I say this with all confidence.

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