To round up our look back at some of Queen's most iconic opening numbers, the series revisits the 1986 Magic Tour to see how those massive stadium shows were kicked off with the lead single from the band’s “A Kind Of Magic” album.
When Queen undertook the tour, the group planned for the show’s opening number to have to be something very big to captivate the enormous crowds. After all, Freddie had promised for their return to Wembley and their home town for the first time since Live Aid ’85: “We are going to play on the biggest stage ever built at Wembley, with the greatest lightshow ever seen.”
As the opener to their Wembley Stadium shows of July 11th and 12th, 1986, the band took “One Vision” to the next level from the studio original, with Brian May adding guitar pyrotechnics and Freddie revving up the 144,000-strong crowd in the iconic military-style yellow jacket created by his designer and friend Diana Moseley.
“One Vision” would be the show opener every night throughout their 26-date 1986 UK and European tour including at what would be the band’s very last show ever, at Knebworth Park, UK, on August 9.
Pick up your copy of Queen’s “The Platinum Collection (Greatest Hits I II & III)” here.
See also:
Queen rock Now I’m Here on The Greatest
Queen discuss setlist strategy of opening numbers on The Greatest
Queen share rare video from 2012 Ukraine concert on The Greatest
Queen revisit Magic Tour rehearsals on The Greatest
Search Queen at hennemusic
