Queen have found a lost tape of one of their earliest gigs

Virgin Radio

5 Feb 2021, 14:51

Queen fans, rejoice! The band have rediscovered a recording of one of their earliest gigs. 

They're considering releasing this very special tape they've found. 

Guitarist Brian May told Classic Rock that he found the recording of a show they played at London’s Imperial College.

“We're always looking at finding stuff that is historically important,” says May. "And this one tape that cropped up very recently which I am excited about, which is one of the first gigs we played in a lecture theatre at Imperial College. I didn't even know I had the cassette.”

He hasn't specified what date the gig was, but the band played several shows there during their very early days.

Their first ever London gig also took place there on July 18, 1970, with original bassist Mike Grose.

May carries on: “We were very unformed on the tape, hearing Freddie at that point in his development is fascinating. He had all the will and charisma and passion, but he didn't have the opportunity to harness that voice yet. Which makes me hesitate a little bit because I'm not sure Freddie would be that happy hearing himself at this stage. But strangely, if he were alive and sitting here at this moment, he'd probably be the same as me: ‘Oh darling, we were .’

“We're debating what to do with it. A few years ago we'd have felt very protective and thought, ‘Nobody should hear this, because we’re very rough.’ But now, in the position that we are in our lives, we feel forgiving. We're not ashamed of where we were at that time. It was us against the world.”

Fans would love to hear it, but would also respect the band's wishes.