[Strategerist]

Wish I could have seen Queen in concert.

I understand Brian May built his own guitars, too.

Quite a lot of doofuses in rock, but a few scattered really interesting smart guys. Stewart Copeland of the Police is another one.

[sushiman]

” Quite a lot of doofuses in rock “

And in every field inc. politics ! A degree doth not maketh one a scholar .

[sushiman]

Wikipedia :

May has played a range of guitars, most often the “Red Special,” which he designed with his father, Harold May, and built with wood from a 19th century fireplace. His comments on this instrument, from Queen In Their Own Words (ed. Mick St. Michael, Omnibus Press, 1992, p. 62) are:

“ I like a big neck – thick, flat and wide. I lacquered the fingerboard with Rustin’s Plastic Coating. The tremolo is interesting in that the arm’s made from an old bicycle saddle bag carrier, the knob at the end’s off a knitting needle and the springs are valve springs from an old motorbike. ”

In addition to using his homemade guitar he prefers to use coins (especially sixpence coins), instead of a more traditional plastic plectrum, on the basis that their rigidity gives him more control in playing. He is known to carry coins in his pockets specifically for this purpose.

[quantim]

Wish I could have seen Queen in concert.

Saw them some 11-12 times in the early days over the years, lost count.

They picked up some airtime with the tune "Killer Queen" so we bought tickets at the now burned down Masonic Temple in Detroit for $8.

Robin Trower played warm-up for maybe 1000 people, the place was rather empty, we sat in the second or third row.

So towards of the end of this concert this bizarre unheard song called 'Bohemian Rhapsody' finished the show as Freddie rose out of the middle of the stage with this bright white light behind him, left us stunned when finishing the song, it was 1974.

First I heard/saw it, was live.

It remains the most remarkable moment to me as it was before they were superstars.

It took some twenty years for that piece of music to hit #1 in the USA (Wayne's World) and remains as their only #1 hit in America, but not so the world.

[Viking2002]

Brian May built his first guitar with his father - they used a hunk of fireplace mantle and motorcycle springs:

No kidding. He still plays it to this day. I was a big Queen fan back in the day. My late Dad was, at one point in his life, a professional opera tenor who had sung at The Met, and Queen was the one band I listened to that he actually felt had true talent. They were known primarily as a 70's hard rock group, but their style ran from an almost pre-thrash metal sound (Sheer Heart Attack), to rockabilly (Crazy Little Thing Called Love), to funk (Another One Bites The Dust), to folk (39). That's one reason why they were so popular - almost every album had something on it for everyone. If you want to see an awesome 20 minute performance, YouTube their '85 Live Aid performance - it's been consistently voted one of the greatest live gigs in rock history.

[mamelukesabre]

The guitarist of boston, tom scholz, was quite smart, maybe even genius. So was the lead man from a band called “in a big country”, stuart adamson. Sadly adamson committed suicide not too long ago after having been dissapeared for years. No one knew where he was, not even his closest relatives and friends or band members. I think they found him dead in a hotel in hawaii.

I’ve seen both bands live in strange places with strangely small crowds. I saw boston 20 years ago in an empty auditorium with folding chairs set up like they do for a highschool play in a gymnasium. There was fewer than 100 people there, no opening band, and it was light out when the band started.

I saw In a big country in a bowling ally 15 years ago on a thursday during a blizzard. There were about 20 people there. I was in plaid flannel and steel toe boots and covered in dirt from just getting off work. Adamson had beer with us after the show. I’ll remember it till the day I die.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqwaTXdPPQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km0mL-zvJGY

[Duck Fan]

“Quite a lot of doofuses in rock, but a few scattered really interesting smart guys. Stewart Copeland of the Police is another one.”

As is Gordon Sumner.

[denydenydeny]

They were great in concert.

I saw them on the Night at the Opera tour at the Tower Theater in PA, and they opened to a dark stage while the operatic parts of “Bohemian Rhapsody” played on the sound system. The lights came on when the rocking parts began and they started playing live and Freddie jumped out. Great stuff, and thanks for jogging my memory.