Roger Taylor recently joined Queen’s YouTube channel and discussed how they managed to surpass another rock legend, Pink Floyd, with one simple trick on their stage shows.
When it comes to Queen and Pink Floyd’s cult sounds, it might be fair to say that they each have their own qualities, which their fans adore. So, even though both surely rock and roll, perhaps, we might say they have different tones. Floyd has always had a psychedelic undertone lying beneath their tunes, especially in the early days, and they never hold back when things get political.
On the other hand, Queen had much more of a classic rock sound, which easily grabbed millions’ attention and showed off the act’s musical genius. However, their brilliant showmanship set them apart from the rest of the scene. One can’t deny that Freddie Mercury and his bandmates excelled in putting on a hell of a show regarding theatrical stage performances.
So, Taylor pointed out this fact while discussing how Queen surpassed Pink Floyd, as although both bands had excellent stage lights to impress crowds when Queen took the stage, they were much more involved with the audience, and Mercury always had the crow in the helm of his hand.
Pink Floyd usually stood still as the drummer discussed and didn’t have much of a stage show. So, even though they used stage lights and had a visual sphere during their performances, they weren’t as involved with the anticipating audience in front of the stage. The drummer and his Queen bandmates, however, knew exactly what to do to bond with the crowd.
Taylor on his band’s stage light usage and showmanship:
“Visuals were spectacular; for instance, Pink Floyd’s visuals were spectacular, and they don’t even move. So important is the visual side, and we were always very involved… we had a big thing, Freddie, Brian, and myself. There were so many acts going around, hundreds of lights and all different colors. They just made white. So, we decided we’ll just have red, green, and white. [It was] very effective.
If you wanted a red light, you want all the lights to be red. If you want white light, you can make all of them white. It’s really incredible. when you start mixing them, you get grey, just things like that; we had very strong ideas for lighting. We used to have all sorts of rings. We used the first moving light show. It was a big lighting, circular rings with lights, and it used to rise; definitely never done that before.”
The question of who makes the better music or has, the better shows might differ when it comes to personal taste. However, the Queen icon wanted to note that he and his bandmates knew how to dance with the light and use it for dramatic effect while putting on a show full of showmanship.
Pink Floyd, however, preferred to have a much calmer attitude, using lights to set a unique sphere through the stage but not moving much, or at least not as much as Mercury. This might be because Floyd generally has a much more grounding tone, whereas most of Queen’s iconic pieces might make you move anytime.
