On March 20, 1981, I was 21 years old and since 1974 I have been a Queen fan. That day, he was thinking of nothing but Queen. I was wearing the shirt of the 1st Official Fan Club of this phenomenal band in Latin America, created and chaired by me. In his pocket, he had the ticket to the show. As soon as the track gates opened, I ran across the lawn to get as close to the stage as possible and get a full view. I remember seeing Peter Hince testing the sound of the instruments.  The Who song - Baba O'Riley was playing through the speakers at the end of it the show started…  Dry ice took over the stage and I saw that Roger Taylor was on drums, the lights came on! Brian and John entered playing We Will Rock You (fast), Freddie Mercury appeared next and soon dominated the entire stage with his strong presence.

I went to Queen's four shows in Brazil, two in São Paulo, in 1981, and two in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985. These shows were a dream come true. My impression was that everything happened very quickly. After God Save the Queen the stadium lights were turned on, they woke me up from some fairy tale and brought me back to real life. But it was worth it, not because I can now proudly say, “I saw Freddie Mercury live”, but because I shared a few hours with my favorite band.

Now, in this book commemorating the 40th anniversary of Queen's first show in Brazil, I could tell the band's trajectory throughout our country.

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William Nilsen

Author