By the summer of 1986, it seemed there was no end to Queen’s omnipotence. Rallied by their show-stealing set at the previous year’s Live Aid, the band now saw promoter Harvey Goldsmith swamped with bookings for their twin shows at Wembley Stadium.
A further two 35,000-capacity dates in Newcastle and Manchester were added as a release valve, to no avail. “They literally sold out in two hours flat,” noted Goldsmith at the time. “So we’ve added one huge show at the end of the Magic Tour at Knebworth Park. We have a capacity there of 120,000 – and on the first day of tickets going onsale, we sold 30,000 tickets. They seem to have an endless market.”
