DESCRIPTION:
QUEEN
July 27, 1986
Népstadion
Budapest, Hungary

Concerts in Czechoslovakia and the USSR were reportedly discussed at one point, but this show in Hungary ended up being the only eastern stop on the tour. A few years earlier the band had tried to get permission to perform in the USSR and failed. In a 1985 interview on Australian TV, Freddie Mercury quipped, "They thought we'd corrupt their youth or something."

At the time, Queen's concert in Budapest was the biggest by a western group behind the Iron Curtain, and is still the largest rock show staged at the Nepstadion to this day. Tickets sold out very quickly, although they were available only in selected places, and to selected people.

The concert was filmed by 17 of Hungary's top cameramen, including the state filming corporation, MaFilm. It was also notably much cheaper to film here than in the west. The gear used (including seventeen 35mm cameras and 25 miles of film) was all the available gear in the country, and the entire operation was approved by the Hungarian government.

Roger Taylor is interviewed before the show, and it is soon shown on Channel 4 on UK TV along with clips of the show (a single camera angle different from what was later officially released - it was shot independent from the Hungarian crew's footage, from the back of the stadium with a zoom). He points out that they'll probably lose money playing the show, but stresses that money isn't the reason why they're here. He says how it's "a tremendous feeling of job satisfaction." The interviewer adds how it's quite good to get job satisfaction after fourteen years. Roger, in his usual unapologetically blunt manner, replies, "Well, it's a pretty good job, isn't it?"

Freddie also has a brief word with the Hungarian press. The interviewer asks if this is the beginning of the band's friendship with Hungary, and if it will last as long as Queen will last. Mercury replies, "If I'm still alive, I'll come back." [In retrospect, this is yet another chilling comment from him.] The interviewer thanks him for his time, and Freddie walks off saying, still on camera, "That's great. I wish all interviews were that short!"

A newly remastered video was released to theatres worldwide in September 2012, entitled "Hungarian Rhapsody." Two months later it was released on blu-ray and DVD. This was still the same edit as the 1987 release, as MaFilm allegedly discarded the footage that didn't make it past the cutting room floor. All Queen Productions could do was clean up the film and do a new audio mix. The video and audio quality are absolutely brilliant. The complete concert was simultaneously released on CD, making Another One Bites The Dust and the remaining two cover songs available for the first time.

There are some overdubs on the official releases. Brian's opening guitar solo in One Vision was either redone in the studio or taken from another show, and there are a few fixes in Under Pressure, on both Freddie's and Roger's vocals. It is also worth noting that different overdubs were done on Under Pressure for the Live Magic LP and Live In Budapest VHS releases. Roger's overdubbed vocal leading into the second chorus of Under Pressure is not heard on the 2012 release.

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