Classic Rock One-Shots

'39 (~ Brian May)

/!\ SMUT ALERT /!\

6 June 1977

Sally took a look at her ticket for the hundredth time at least; Deena smiled at her friend and silently rested a hand on her shoulder. She could only understand her excitement; after all, she was in the same state the first time she saw Queen live. However, this time, she knew the concert would be bigger than all the ones she attented, except this at the Rainbow Theatre, three years before. It was during the A Day At The Races Tour, and the talent of the band grew better in this album, although it was hard to do something as good as A Night At The Opera. Deena knew that this concert at Earls Court would be one of their best ever.

The gates opened, and the tickets got controlled by the staff members. When Sally and Deena had theirs done, they ran inside the huge concert hall. Luckily, they managed to find a spot at the third row. Though the stage lights were off, Sally could distinguish the big white logo of the band on the black drum kit. Four microphones were on their stands, three on the front, and one on the side of the drums.

After almost an hour of waiting, all the lights went down and a loud cheer floated in the hall. Deena was clapping in her hands and cupping them around the mouth, screaming the band's name. Dark figures moved on the stage, and Sally immediately recognised them: she distinguished Roger Taylor sitting behind his drums, his shorter hair moving when he did; John Deacon standing behind his microphone with his bass in hand, adjusting the strap on his shoulder; Brian May appearing at the other edge of the stage, his mass of curls bouncing in his back.

A loud riff of guitar roared in the amplifiers, and the lights suddenly turned on blinded some people in the audience. Deena was shouting the singer's name, for he still had not appeared. Roger started to play his drums along with Brian, and then John joined them; it was not a song Sally knew, so she guessed it was only a sort of warm-up. After one minute or two, a more than familiar voice sounded in the hall, and there walked Freddie Mercury, crossing the large stage in his white, orange and green harlequin suit, a silver necklace falling on his hairy chest. Sally was thrilled and so was everybody in the crowd.

The band played some of their best songs, and the audience did not dare singing along, though Freddie encouraged everybody to. In the middle of the gig, the lights went down, and the members moved on the stage with some members of their staff. Sally's eyes were hypnotised by Brian, who was grabbing his acoustic guitar and bringing a stool behind his microphone. The guitarist sat on it and a staff member adjusted the microphone to his level. He spoke in it, showing the band in front of the stage while the lights came back. On the far left stood John, focused on his bass; next to him was Roger in his white kimono, his foot on the pedal of his bass drum, holding a tambourine; Freddie was between him and Brian. Once again, they encouraged the crowd to sing along – even Roger screamed in the microphone.

Brian started to play on his guitar, and screams sounded in the whole hall, like a wave washing up on the stage. Sally's eyes sparkled with joy as it was her favourite song: '39. However, much to her surprise, it was Freddie who sang it, instead of Brian. Her eyes were still staring at the guitarist, whose lips were pursed. Meanwhile, Deena was singing loudly, and even seemed to share an eye contact with Freddie.

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The concert finally came to an end. People were all leaving the hall at the same time, sharing their opinion on the outstanding concert they just witnessed. Sally started to follow them, when Deena caught her by the arm. Her brown curls bounced on her shoulders as she suddenly spun round to face her friend. “What's the matter?” she asked.