Queen's Historic Budapest Show: Last Magic Tour

On April 2nd, on July 27th, 1986, Queen dropped what their label called the first stadium rock show behind the Iron Curtain, packing Budapest's massive nebstadion with fans hungry for the magic.

This gig hit right in the middle of their magic tour, just before France and Spain dates, and the whole trip got filmed for a concert movie and dock.

The next year.

Brian May said they loved the challenge, even ready to lose cash for that pure job satisfaction vibe.

Both British and Hungarian officials saw it as a cool bridge between East and West, with the communist leaders easing up on rules, no smoking or drinking, but clapping was fair game.

Still, the local Queen fan club head griped that his 5,000 members snagged only 100 tickets out of 80,000.

The show itself was fire 80,000 inside, another 45,000 outside listening, some trekking from Warsaw and Odessa.

Freddie and Brian broke the ice with a traditional Hungarian folk tune, lyrics scribbled on his hand, turning stun silence into deafening cheers.

From the crowd eyeing armed guards, Queen rolled out as total champs, but when a reporter asked Freddie about coming back, he hit with, if I'm still alive.

Turns out, that magic tour was his last, with AIDS already in the picture, unknown to everyone else.

Historic night that echoed way beyond the stadium.

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