(Credits: Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Fri 14 November 2025 13:00, UK
No one in Queen was a stranger to putting on a great live show.
As much as they loved to work their asses off to get the best takes they could on a record, it was a much different story when they started to transition that to the live stage. Freddie Mercury had the potential to devour nearly any crowd that he touched, but Brian May knew that there were opportunities for artists to completely outdo themselves whenever they went out onstage.
After all, it’s not like Queen was the only band wowing crowds in the 1970s. Alice Cooper had started showing people what could be done when you brought a little bit of horror into the mix, and there were more than a few bands that could demolish nearly any venue they touched purely on the power of their music like Led Zeppelin, but Queen had the best of both worlds in many respects.
There were certainly people that were trying to copy what May could do on guitar, but Mercury truly was a one-off in the world of rock. No one could have come close to what he did, but since they were coming up in the same era that birthed prog-rock, it was a lot to ask them to make something as daring as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ when Genesis were already becoming the biggest stage act in England.
Peter Gabriel was practically playing a role in the same way a Shakespearean actor would be whenever he performed, and while that definitely took a few hits when he left the band and was replaced with Phil Collins behind the mic, it’s not like the music suffered. What Collins couldn’t do with flower costumes he made up for it being relatable to the audience, and when May heard what they could do live, he was practically knocked out of his seat when listening to them perform their reunion.
You have to remember that nearly every reunion in existence has the potential to be terrible, but May felt that the band truly outdid themselves when he first heard them, saying, “I loved the Genesis concert. I don’t think it would be possible to see a better all-round production, music, sound, set, lights, and sheer fun. (Also) warmth (especially from the insanely über-talented and GREAT guy, Mr. Phil Collins).”
And that’s probably one of the reasons why May plays the more soft-spoken legend so well whenever Queen performs live today. Collins never expected to make anything too extravagant during his stage show, and while no one was expected to come anywhere close to what Mercury did, everyone from Paul Rodgers to Adam Lambert knew that it was more about trying to do service to the work that May and Roger Taylor created than try to put their own unique taste into the mix.
Beyond the stage show, though, Collins has also been a guiding force for how a great rock and roll artist could conduct themselves onstage. He knew that there was no way to match what Gabriel did, but compared to what they did with an album like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, they outdid themselves trying to make the best sets they could when working on the visuals for their reunion tour as well.
It certainly wasn’t going to get anywhere close to the musical giants, but there’s a reason why someone like May recognises the talent on display there. Any other band could get back together and sleepwalk their way through their biggest hits, but Collins wanted to be the kind of artist that always left the audience with a night they wouldn’t soon forget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqpyJhscwzo
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