On a recent episode of Queen’s ‘The Greatest Live’ YouTube series, Brian May talked about what sets them apart from other bands and what makes the band special. The guitarist said:
“It’s hard to know what we have that other people don’t have. I think that’s a difficult question to answer. I think we have a very personal relationship with the audience. We don’t get lost in being Gods in the costumes and the lights. We’re still pretty human and we like the interaction. I think that’s something which is perhaps a little different from us.”
Roger Taylor went on to explain one show that stood out to the band that made them want to include the audience into their live performances. He explained:
“I think Brian always cites that place in Stafford, Bingley Hall, yeah, was great. The audience were incredibly vocal. They just loved singing. And we said, ‘this is brilliant.’ The whole place felt like it was one person singing the song at the tops of their voices. And this is a wonderful feeling and we should involve the audience.”
The rocker shared the one thing they weren’t doing, which was ignoring the audience. He added:
“The one thing we weren’t was shoe gazing… I mean, I remember some bands, the guitar player might even face the back. It’s just f*cking rude, you know? And, ‘oh, you know, I’m much too cool to…’ great, it’s a great phrase ‘shoe gazing.’ That’s what they were? They were so cool. All playing Fender Jaguars for some reason. Terrible guitar. I don’t know why anybody would play that guitar. Thin, reedy sounding for thin reedy bands, I suppose.”
Even though Brian and the rest of the band chose to involve the audience, the guitarist shared on an episode of Queen’s YouTube series ‘The Greatest Live,’ moments where he felt ‘exposed and vulnerable.’ May especially mentioned the part when he takes the stage with just his acoustic guitar, without all the dramatic effects and theatrics.
You can watch Queen’s ‘The Greatest Live’ YouTube series episode below.
