Wembley Stadium Concerts
The stadium where Queen performed on 12 July 1986 as part of The Magic Tour.
Queen Live at Wembley Stadium is a live concert by British rock band Queen at Wembley Stadium, London, England on Saturday 12 July 1986. The recording is a performance from The Magic Tour which took place during the summer of 1986. It was originally transmitted in 1986 in the UK and released commercially in various audio and video forms in 1990 and the recent DVD.
Lore & Background
The recorded concert was first broadcast as Queen: Real Magic on a special episode for the British music show The Tube on 25 October 1986 on Channel 4. This was transmitted in mono (as was normal before NICAM stereo became standard on UK TV in the early 1990s). However, it was simultaneously broadcast over the radio in stereo so that viewers had the option to mute their televisions, play the audio on a nearby radio and enjoy 'the world’s first ever stereo simulcast' in a similar way that previous live (as opposed to, in this case, pre-recorded) classical performances had sometimes been offered.
Reader's Guide
To experience Queen at Wembley, the key releases are the 2003 DVD (Queen: Live at Wembley Stadium) which presents the concert in its entirety, and the 25th Anniversary Edition released on 5 September 2011. This edition came as a standard 2-DVD set and a deluxe 2-DVD and 2-CD set which also included the entire Friday, 11 July 1986 concert on DVD for the first time. Eagle Rock Entertainment released a 25th anniversary edition in the US and Canada on 12 March 2013. The DVD has gone five times platinum in the United States, four times platinum in the United Kingdom, and achieved multi platinum status around the world.
Historic Broadcast and Transmission
On Saturday, July 12, 1986, the British rock group Queen performed at Wembley Stadium in London as part of their Magic Tour. This specific event became a landmark moment in music television history when it was transmitted later that year. The recording debuted on Channel 4’s music program, The Tube, under the title Queen: Real Magic on October 25, 1986. While the television broadcast utilized mono audio, which was standard for UK TV before NICAM stereo adoption, a unique innovation occurred simultaneously. Viewers were encouraged to mute their sets and tune into a radio broadcast instead, creating what was marketed as the world’s first ever stereo simulcast of a pre-recorded performance. This approach mirrored techniques previously used only for live classical music events, offering fans an enhanced auditory experience despite technological limitations of the era regarding television broadcasting standards in Britain during the mid-eighties.
Commercial Release Timeline
The commercial availability of this concert evolved significantly over two decades following the initial performance. It first reached home audiences as an edited VHS tape in December 1990, though this version omitted nine songs from the full show. An audio CD followed in 1992, but it was not until 2003 that a DVD release presented the concert in its entirety alongside a CD rerelease. This comprehensive video package achieved massive commercial success, reaching five times platinum status in the United States and four times platinum in the United Kingdom. To celebrate the quarter-century mark, a special 25th Anniversary Edition launched on September 5, 2011. This expanded release included both standard and deluxe sets, notably featuring the entire concert from Friday, July 11, 1986, for the first time on DVD. Eagle Rock Entertainment later handled distribution in North America during March 2013, cementing the recording's enduring market presence globally.
Original Concert Details
The original stadium event commenced at 4:00 pm with admission tickets priced at £14.50 per entry. Queen headlined a bill that featured three other prominent acts, appearing in the following order before them: INXS, The Alarm, and Status Quo. The band’s own performance included a diverse setlist spanning their career highlights. Notable tracks performed during this Saturday show included One Vision, Tie Your Mother Down, and Under Pressure. The evening concluded with anthems such as We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, and God Save the Queen. Other significant numbers like Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, and Love of My Life were also featured prominently within the main disc tracklist. This specific lineup showcased the group's versatility, blending original rock compositions with cover versions such as Tutti Frutti and Big Spender during their summer 1986 tour stop at this iconic London venue.
Supplementary Content and Audio
Beyond the main performance, later home media releases offered extensive supplementary content for dedicated fans. The DVD editions included interviews with Brian May and Roger Taylor from 2003, alongside conversations with director Gavin Taylor and tour manager Gerry Stickells. A backstage documentary titled A Beautiful Day provided a thirty-minute look at the entire day of events. Additional features covered the demolition of the Wembley Towers through timelapse footage set to instrumental music. The 25th Anniversary release introduced Queen cams, allowing viewers to watch four specific tracks from multi-angle perspectives focusing on individual band members. Audio options were equally robust, offering PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Surround Sound configurations. Furthermore, a Friday Concert Medley highlighted the previous night’s show, while a picture gallery utilized an unreleased original version of A Kind of Magic as background music.
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