City: | Puebla, Mexico |
Venue: | Estadio Olimpico de beisbol Ignacio Zaragoza |
Date: | October 17, 1981 |
Setlist: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Play The Game, Somebody To Love, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Flash, The Hero, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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This is the first of two nights in Puebla. The government and organizers chose this location at the last minute ostensibly in an effort to avoid the larger crowds of Mexico City, but in reality it was because they never got the proper permits. A lack of experience and infrastructure soon had the entire operation backfiring in all directions. Things went from bad to worse when the band realized upon arrival how poorly everything was organized. Everyone entering the venue was searched thoroughly and all batteries were confiscated, as it seems the authorities wanted to prevent people from recording the show. But then upon entering the venue the ulterior motives became evident, as there was a stall set up inside the venue by vendors re-selling the same batteries at exorbitant prices. However, fans pushed their way into the venue and ultimately overwhelmed security, eventually allowing the tapers to pass through without examination. These three Queen shows were among the first rock concerts in Mexico. Plenty of the people on hand weren't really Queen fans, but fans of rock music in general. Many people drank and misbehaved, and ultimately made this particular show a difficult experience for many - including the band. Backstage there was only one toilet for the band and crew combined. Furthermore, it didn't have a lock, so they had to devise a little system with signs for 'engaged' and 'vacant'. Meanwhile most of the crew got sick from eating the local food. Queen would recall this concert to be one of their worst experiences, not least because various objects were thrown at them throughout much of the show. Since it was so overcrowded, at some point during the show people ended up tearing down the gate into the venue. In some parts of the stadium the tiers collapsed and many people were seriously injured, breaking arms and legs. The band vow to defy the odds and play a fantastic show. Their vocal harmonies in Killer Queen are picture perfect tonight, and Mercury sounds magnificent throughout. As Freddie introduces Brian May on the piano, he says, "Let's get a light on him." After announcing the festivities in Spanish, he quirks, "That's all my Spanish you're gonna get tonight." He then delivers a gorgeous version of Brian's ballad, phrasing the back half of the second chorus like the single version. In the middle of Now I'm Here, Freddie reacts to the rowdy audience throwing shoes at the band: "I've never seen so many shoes on stage. It's like bloody Chelsea Cobbler, I tell you [Chelsea Cobbler is a men's shoe store in London]!" During the vocal exchange with the audience, he urges them, "Come on motherfuckers, let's get the beat!" Just as the band are merging back into the song after Dragon Attack, Mercury does his usual "Think I'll stay around" bit, but adds, "I think I'll go home, right now." More shoes soon hit the stage, and he responds again while the band are finishing the song. "Ah, you're dead, you buggers!" His frustrations are clear. At one point a boot hit John Deacon in the head. Brian has some fun between verses of Keep Yourself Alive. Later, he breaks a string during The Hero, but he manages to keep it in tune with the whammy bar (a huge challenge with floating tremolo). Later, a bag of dirt is thrown at him by an audience member towards the end of the Bohemian Rhapsody solo, and he understandly struggles to the end of it. He gets hit by another bag of dirt later in the song, at "just gotta get out." The band drop several songs to finish the show quicker - Fat Bottomed Girls and Sheer Heart Attack, at least. After the second encore of We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions, Freddie says, "Thank you for the shoes! Adios amigos, you motherfuckers! You bunch of tacos, goodbye!" As a result of the atmosphere caused by the uncooperative audience, this may well be Queen's shortest headlining gig ever, next to Hyde Park '76 - clocking in at under 90 minutes. Only one small door was open for fans to exit the venue, and people were still leaving at 3am. Police presence made things even more tense. With large batons they beat people who walked out of line, and they were left on the ground bleeding. Amidst all the chaos the band were locked in an underground room, where John Deacon, who was claustrophobic, was not having a particularly good time. Here the band were forced to sign a legal document ensuring they would return the following night, to prevent riots. Fortunately the second show would prove not to be nearly as problematic. Five minutes of super 8 footage exist from this show. The coordinator of the Mexican Queen fan club is allegedly the filmer, who has only leaked short and heavily watermarked compressed samples in such horrible quality that would make 1990s mpeg files look pristine by comparison. It is rumoured that a pro video filmed for TV once existed, but was destroyed in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. Most of these pictures were submitted by Hugo Vázquez, Nareg Mikaelian, Daniel Minero, Fabio Minero, and Alessio Rizzitelli. The set of pics were snapped during soundcheck, either tonight or the following night. Pic 15 is of Roger Taylor and John Deacon being escorted to the stage by Freddie's assistant, Peter Freestone. In an interview with Music Life magazine in Japan a year later, John Deacon recalls this gig: "I got hit by shoes twice. I thought people wouldn't be able to find their shoes with them all being separated, but the pairs were tied together by the shoestrings!! (Everyone bursts out laughing. John also laughs out loud.)" Brian May is also characteristically diplomatic: "Aside from shoes, there was also tequila and lots of other things that came flying at us. Everyone was drunk. Mexicans are really something when they get excited. Well, it was a good experience." The last photo shows Freddie and Roger with a bolt that was thrown on stage. Freestone took it home as a souvenir. |
Recording length: | 84 minutes (2 CD, incomplete) |
Quality: | B+ |
Source: | Audience |
Lineage: | AUD > ? > Cassette (x) > CDR (x) > WAV (GoldWave speed correction, edits, re-tracking) > FLAC level 8 |
Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast) [cut], Let Me Entertain You [cut], Play The Game, Somebody To Love [cut], Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here [cut], Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive [cut], drum solo, guitar solo [cut], Flash [cut], The Hero, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust [cut], We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
This is the uncut audience source used for the bootlegs. It's likely a couple tape generations from the master since there is material on the bootleg LPs that sounds a bit better - but the quality here is still great, even with the periodic audience obstruction. Most of the cuts are due to the taper trying to save tape between songs. The only significant piece of missing music is the second half of Let Me Entertain You. |
Recording length: | 85 minutes (2 CD, complete) |
Quality: | B |
Source: | Audience |
Lineage: | AUD > Master > 2nd Gen Cassette > WAV > CDR (1) |
Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Play The Game, Somebody To Love, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Flash, The Hero, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
This is a second audience source. A few bits between songs are missing, but musically it is complete. |
Recording length: | 8 minutes (1 CD, incomplete) |
Quality: | B |
Source: | Audience |
Lineage: | AUD > ? > Cassette > WAV > FLAC level 8 |
Track listing: | Rock It [cut], I'm In Love With My Car, Under Pressure |
This longer recording of the Puebla soundcheck was found in 2015. Only a massively hiss reduced Under Pressure had previously circulated. This copy is definitely listenable. It is said that Flash was also played, and that Brian noodled around with the solo from The Millionaire Waltz for a while. |