Poll: When did you see Brian May (Queen, solo, ....) live on stage for the first time?

That'll have been 4th December 1993 at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall for the Back to the Light Tour. Enjoyed it. I recall a few Queen fans looking a bit perturbed by excerpts of Bohemian Rhapsody being played. Cozy Powell on the drums.

 

1993 at the Vic Theatre in Chicago. I'll mention that my brother saw Queen (with Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore substituting for injured Brian Robertson) in early 1977 at Chicago Stadium.

 

‘82 at Milton Keynes. I was 7 but it still remains the best concert I’ve ever been to.

 

It’s partly why the called it The Crazy Tour.. deliberately playing small venues... they were so bloody good live.

 

I’d say we were rather lucky to have caught them at this time

 

1974, support band for Mott theHoople. At 16, Freddie kinda freaked me out. I was a big Mott fan, but this was different. Can’t believe the band used to deny any hint of gayness. No one was fooled!

 

When I got into Queen in 1974 Brian's guitar playing (on Seven Seas of Rhye) actually fascinated me more than Freddie's singing. (Have been a fan of his ever since...)
Got to see the band here in Dortmund in April 78 (my first ever rock concert, admission was 18 Deutschmarks, and it was not sold out!!) and I still remember I was a bit disappointed as they were not able to recreate their elaborate studio production on stage - I had yet to learn that Queen live were a different beast. Oh well, when they returned only nine months later (happy times!) I was sure prepared for what I got! They came back to Dortmund again in 1982 and 1984, with 1982 probably being the best Queen show I ever experienced.

 

I saw Queen in Detroit on September 20, 1980. I was 16 and it was a great concert.

Setlist
Jailhouse Rock
We Will Rock You
Let Me Entertain You
Play the Game
Mustapha
Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…)
Killer Queen
I'm in Love With My Car
Get Down, Make Love
You're My Best Friend
Save Me
Now I'm Here
Dragon Attack
Now I'm Here
Fat Bottomed Girls
Love of My Life
Keep Yourself Alive
Drum Solo
Guitar Solo
Brighton Rock
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Bohemian Rhapsody
Tie Your Mother Down
Encore:
Another One Bites the Dust
Sheer Heart Attack
We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions
God Save the Queen

 

First saw Queen in 1975 on the Night at the Opera tour, and I saw them on every tour for awhile.

 

Brian May came out at the end of an Extreme show late '92, and played I Want To Break Free an Tie your mother down (just found it on YouTube).



I saw him play live with Roger Taylor under the banner of Queen+ in 2012 too.

Unfortunately, I never got to see Queen. I was too young in '86 when they did their last performance at Knebworth.

 

First time was early during The Game tour Summer of 1980 at the LA Forum. If I recall, they were doing a 3 or 4 night stand there. It was a really good but not great show. I was bummed they didn't play Fat Bottomed Girls, Another One Bites The Dust and Dragon Attack that show (they later added all 3 songs in the set as the tour progressed) and I thought May's solo bit was pretty boring (although not as drawn out when I saw them on the Hot Space tour in '82).

 

We saw him on the quite excellent Queen + Paul Rodgers tour. I'd go again.

 

I haven't seen him yet , but I will in a few days, since Queen+Adam Lambert are coming not far from where I live.

 

i am assuming first tour of the USA small venue great great gig!

 

3 times in total:

1984 (July?) on the Works Tour at the Birmingham NEC - my first concert, and my favourite band at that time.
Completely deaf for the coach journey back to Nottingham. Loved it.

Then again at Knebworth in 1986 (Queen's last)

Then in 1992 at Wembley at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

...I consider myself very lucky.

 

July 19, 2018 : Brian May's 71st birthday ....

 

St. Patrick's Day, Boston Garden ( the REAL Garden! ) in 1993.
What a day.

I was 23, and at that time The Brian May Band was touring as the opening act for Guns n' Roses.
I had just become properly introduced to Queen's music the year or two prior, and by 1993 I was a full blown mega fan.
The day of the show, Brian did a appearance at the sorely missed multi level Tower Records on Newbury Street in the city.
It was pouring rain, and I showed up looking like a drowned rat after a crazy experience trying to get their on time with a Queen II album under my arm.

Brian was clearly tired and suffering from a bad cold, but he stood there for the hour greeting fans and being blinded by flashbulbs.
He made sure everyone in the building who had shown up to see him had their chance to before he eventually left to go and get ready for the evenings gig.
It was here at Tower that we first met, and the show that night was my first official concert.
We snapped a photo together, I presented him with some of my artwork ( which soon afterwards he became a rather keen fan of ) and signed my Queen II LP.
I left pretty stoked...and pumped for the show that night.

Guns n' Roses was the headlining act...with The Brian May Band as the opener.

I was not a fan of Guns n' Roses at all...but they get the claim for being my first concert.
I only went to the show to see Brian and his band in the opening slot and had then planned to leave before things got a little crazy.
I had THE absolute worst seat in the house.
Literally, it was directly behind the staging area and I couldn't see a dang thing onstage.
Who in their right mind sells seats in a section like that..?
It's as if this section was sold by mistake..as if they had assumed the stage was going to be set up at the other end of the venue.If that were the case, I would have had a fantastic seat.
But no.....I was dead center, dead behind the stage.
Very disappointing, and the crowd of Guns' fans were not at all very appreciative of Brian and his band which was disheartening but honestly expected given the circumstances.

It was exciting to see him perform live...well, I kinda saw him...
My seat was so lousy I spent most of the show watching the large screen monitors.
He didn't disappoint, but I felt bad for the lack of support from the audience.
Years later when I became friendly with him, he looked back at that time as not being a good one.
It was extremely challanging for him to keep the bands moral, and his own moral, in the positive performing in such settings.
After experiencing it first hand myself, and seeing the audience reactions, it's no wonder.

A year or so later, Brian and his band came back to the States to do a proper solo tour, to which I saw two showings.
Both gigs were excellent...with Gary Hoey opening and playing some impressive chops on his guitar.
The setting, atmosphere, and audience reactions were far superior to the oppressive Guns' slot.
Two fantastic shows...

The next time I saw Brian live was a few years later, when I saw him performing a few inches from my face during the after party show held for the grand opening of the Queen Musical 'We Will Rock You' at the Paris in Las Vegas.
Roger Taylor was there as well, and a list of other well known musicians and celebrities also
performed and appeared at the afterparty during the evenings festivities.
Even Meat Loaf was there and took the stage with Brian and Roger!
Amazing night.....!!

 

Opening for Mott the Hoople.

 

I saw Queen in '75 and '77. I was in my teens, both shows were incredible, but gotta say, I just loved the first time in '75 at the Santa Monica Civic sooo much. Probably cause they were so new (relatively), plus the small venue and I remember the set list being mostly Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack material. I mean SHA might be my favorite Queen album or certainly in my top three. They were so special and it showed like crazy then. The '77 show was amazing too, but it was at the LA Forum, so not as intimate (everyone had caught on to 'em by then) and they were doing all the We Will Rock You type stuff and they were now "Rock Stars." And of course Brian Again fantastic, but just not quite as cool as that first time for me. There's only one first time.

 

What kind of artwork do you create?

 

Having been too young to see Queen, I first saw Brian on December 8th, 1993 in the Point in Dublin. Ticket cost: IR £18.50! A lacklustre show, sadly. From the outset, he just didn't seem very interested. I think it was the last night of the tour and he probably just wanted to go home, rather than perform to a (sadly) half-full venue on a blustery winter night. Also, it seemed bizarre for him not to play his biggest solo hit, Driven By You. Great to see Cozy Powell on drums, though (his presence on that tour has been mentioned already). I do remember he did Headlong, which was great, as a Queen song that Freddie never got to sing live, and finished with an encore of Teo Torriatte. I read some time later - probably in Q magazine - that he wasn't in good form after the previous show either. As we know now, poor Brian wasn't in a good place at the time.
Thankfully, years later, I saw an impressive Queen + Paul Rodgers show in the same venue and he went one better last year with a really excellent Queen and Adam Lambert show.
I met Brian on one of his visits here. I held out my LP and Brian made a sort of eyebrow-raising gesture at seeing a record: "Old school," I say, jokingly. "Yeah", Brian grins back. "My signature's not as good as it used to be", he says, scribbling away. The signature looks damn fine to me. Such a gent.

 

Live Aid and then the following year at Knebworth.

 

Knebworth Park '86. First gig. I was 14. Amazing day. My dad took me. Probably never seen so many people before. Had to sleep in the car afterwards because we couldn't get out. A Mini 850. Quo supported too. Still got the ticket but not the ability to post it.

 

Which show was best from a Queen fan perspective?

 

Live Aid, by a mile. Short set but I'd never seen them before and the weather, mood and crowd participation was ridiculous. Knebworth was memorable too, but seeing someone getting stabbed to death soured it somewhat