In his recent Instagram post, Queen guitarist Brian May opened up about the challenges he faces while watching himself perform after seeing footage of himself on stage via a fan’s post.
According to the post dated October 21, May is seen playing the solo of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ during a performance in Austin, Texas. Upon seeing the video, May reposted it to share with his followers and expressed discomfort with viewing clips of his own shows. Admitting to finding it hard to watch himself, he said:
“Good Morning Chicago! Good to be back in your epic city. It always gives me a charge. This clip posted by @stereo_ephemera caught my eye. I don’t often post videos of me playing in our show – because I usually find it hard to look at them and see the imperfections. This is actually no different, except that it’s a good video capture with a cracking sound quality.
This was the night we had trouble with our Black Tracks. These are devices that enable the spotlights to follow us automatically as we range around the stage, freeing up the lighting team’s hands to do other things. It’s a great system and seldom gives trouble – but every system (including us as performers) has the occasional gremlin.”
After drawing attention to a technical hiccup with the Black Tracks system that evening, May revealed that this glitch added an unforeseen challenge to his performance:
“So, the result was that in this clip, you can see it takes a long time for the front follow-spot to find me. It makes for an interesting, dramatically dark face, but it also means that, especially in all that smoky stuff, I can’t see my fingers, making things just a little more difficult than usual!”
The Other Struggles May Faced During The Show
May said performing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s solo comes with its pressures and noted that his performance of the song differed nightly based on various factors:
“It’s a high-pressure moment anyway because I perform it as a set piece, and just like ‘God Save the Queen’ on top of Buckingham Palace, pretty much everybody knows what it should sound like! Although the ‘tune’ is more or less prescribed, it works out vastly differently every night, depending on how well I can hear myself, what my mood is like, and how the wind blows!”
On this particular night, a quick wardrobe change led May to opt for a simple shirt instead of his ‘human mirror ball’ suit. Revealing why this adjustment was made, the guitarist continued:
“It’s also a mad scramble underneath the stage on wheels to get into that trap to rise up in smoke at that precise moment. It’s fun, for sure – a kind of magic trick that entails a lightning-quick change of clothes too. On this particular night, time was too tight to don the ‘human mirror ball’ suit I’ve been sporting. So here I am, in a simple shirt, to make the change happen in time.
I look at this and feel very critical – of both me and what I’m doing… but at this time of life, I’ve come to an acceptance of what it is. I just know I give it my best shot every night. See you there tonight, Chicagoans. Now you’ll know what’s going through my mind. Maybe!”
Brian May On His Self Doubts
Reflecting on his early years, May admitted to feeling shy, uncertain, and insecure as a teenager. He also voiced concerns about the often artificial portrayals on social media in 2020. Despite hesitations, he chose to discuss his personal struggles on Instagram. Revealing the thoughts behind this decision, May said:
“I hesitated about talking about [my personal problems] on Instagram because I wasn’t looking for sympathy or anything like that, but, at the same time, Instagram has a tendency to be what they call ‘my perfect life’ — you just show the gold bits.
I felt an obligation [to talk] about how I felt because I had a feeling that a lot of other people probably were looking at the streets and thinking, ‘Everybody’s getting this except me,’ because that’s the way I felt.”
During the Queen and Adam Lambert UK tour last year, May confronted his self-doubts head-on. Despite over 50 years of experience with the band, the guitarist confessed to feeling critical and lacking confidence during a performance. It was again after encountering a fan-captured video. May’s post read:
“Here’s a fragment from my Dvořák solo adventure in the show a few nights ago. This is the kind of thing I always wanted to do – so it fulfills a dream for me. But on this particular night, I felt very critical of my playing – very lacking in confidence. So I wouldn’t have looked for a video clip of it.”
However, May added he found reassurance in his guitar talent after he was complemented by a friend’s praise.
Queen + Adam Lambert’s Upcoming Shows
As of today, Queen + Adam Lambert are gearing up for their show in Chicago at the United Center, part of their ‘Rhapsody Tour’s North American leg. They also have upcoming performances in Dallas, Denver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles throughout November, with the tour extending to Japan in 2024. You can grab your tickets here.
