The dangerous Queen tour that transformed Argentina: “Liberated this country”
Political turmoil, dictatorships, civil war: that would be enough to send most people running. Queen just laughed in the face of it.
It was certainly true that the British rockers didn’t do things by halves, whether it was tearing up stadiums, creating classic rock operas, or simply donning a drag costume in the name of parodial fashion. Of course, the main ringmaster for the cause was Freddie Mercury, whose daredevil approach most definitely had the band flying close to the sun at times.
Yet you could say they were within touching distance of severe burns, both literally and metaphorically, when they made the unprecedented leap in 1981 to tour South America – a place where no other man had ventured before, in the keenest sense of the word. After all, would you want to perform in a country that could turn into a warzone before your very eyes? Probably not.
But as with many of the stunts Mercury had pulled off with the band in tow over the course of their tenure, it was the sense of delicious danger, surprise, and intrigue that attracted them to Argentina more than anything else. As such, Queen took to the country, as well as the wider South American continent at large, waiting to put on a show for the ages.
The Argentinian military was still in the midst of its National Reorganisation Process, in which thousands of people were detained, and a myriad of human rights abuse was being reported by the day. If it were to happen now, a boycott or some sort of statement would be expected to be made. But instead, the real statement was the rock and roll.
The band arrived at the Vélez Sarsfield World Cup stadium in Buenos Aires with the authorities on tenterhooks, as they envisioned the 35,000-strong mob of revellers turning into rioters as the night ensued, but do you know what happened – not one fight, not one argument, not even one scuffle came to be.
It was a revelation for the Argentinians. The promoter of the show even said, “For music in Argentina, this has been a case of before the war and after the war. Queen have liberated this country, musically speaking.” It was high praise indeed for a band who were simply throwing caution to the wind – but they weren’t shy of a big show or two.
Naturally, Queen probably wouldn’t have gloated on the magnitude of what they had achieved. “That’s just what we do, darling,” Mercury would likely have said. He made it look as if bringing a whole warring country to a standstill through the power of music was just everyday business: to him, it seemingly was.
Above all else, that’s the legacy of Queen. They may have had legions of albums, adoring fans, and big moments on huge stages, but the sense of togetherness they sparked in the wider world was something that simply couldn’t be matched. It was, indeed, a certain kind of magic, but also all part of the game plan.
