‘Flash And The Hero,’ episode 7 of Queen’s yearlong ‘The Greatest Live’ video series is now available to watch via the band’s official YouTube channel. You can also watch it in full below.
Continuing the celebration of Queen’s spectacular concert openings, ‘Flash And The Hero’ offers another highly enjoyable example of Freddie, Brian, Roger and John’s ability to whip a crowd into a frenzy, this time from their memorable performance at the legendary Milton Keynes Bowl.
In the interview we saw earlier in the current series, both Roger Taylor and Brian May explained how the combination of building anticipation in an audience, and then hitting them with a spectacular opening number is a vital hallmark of any Queen show. And to find a classic example of that in action, we need look no further than the phenomenal start to their June 5, 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl, when Queen whipped the venue into a frenzy with an all-guns-blazing medley of “Flash” and “The Hero.”
Written by Brian May and driven by an unforgettable vocal hook (‘Flash! Ah-ah!’), “Flash” was the theme song of 1980’s Flash Gordon movie and the first taste of Queen’s hugely successful soundtrack work. Played over the stadium PA in Milton Keynes, Flash set the scene as Brian, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and John Deacon hit the stage amidst spotlights and pyro – before kicking into a second cut from the Flash Gordon soundtrack, “The Hero.”
The Milton Keynes show was one of four huge outdoor concerts on the UK leg of Queen’s 1982 Hot Space Tour: a 30-date European trek that confirmed the band’s enduring popularity. The scale of Queen’s grandiose production, meanwhile, was underlined when plans for a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall were abandoned due to fears the famous domed ceiling would collapse under the weight of the lighting rig.
Released in 2004 on DVD/CD as Queen On Fire – Live At The Bowl, the Milton Keynes show also gave the band a rare chance to take the stage on a perfect summer’s day. “It’s not very often we do shows in the daylight,” noted Freddie during the concert. “I f_king wish we had before – I can see you all now! And there’s some beauties here tonight…”
Watch every episode of Queen’s ‘The Greatest Live’ series on the band’s official YouTube Channel.