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1980

A tour of the USA doesn't start 'til half way through the year and entails forty-six shows over a three month period. It is the biggest tour Queen will ever undertake, and promotes the new album The Game. Due to the success of the album, especially in America, every one of the forty-six shows will be performed before a capacity audience. The itinerary includes four consecutive nights at the L.A. Forum and three at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Freddie's image makes a drastic change for this tour, as well as wearing a costume in leather, he is now sporting a moustache and even shorter hair!After months of planning with the lighting company to design something different for this tour a state of the art 'interactive' rig is unveiled. The new lighting rig is called 'Fly Swatters' and is made up of seven moving arms covered in multi coloured banks of lights, and each driven by a guy in a seat. At most of the shows the support band are The Blasters.At the end of the year another tour of Europe is planned for November and December, with fellow brits Straight Eight as the support band. On the second night at Wembley, Queen play Imagine as a tribute to John Lennon, who has been shot dead in New York the previous day. Like everyone touched by Lennon’s spirit, the band are devastated at the news and want to pay tribute to one of their greatest heroes in their show.

Text taken from the forthcoming revised and updated edition of Queen Live: A Concert Documentary