18 January 1977, Queen performed @ Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan @ “News of The World” Tour

From this night onward, Queen were supported by Thin Lizzy. Lizzy’s manager, Chris O’Donnell, later recalled the experience:

“There were definitely times when Thin Lizzy played Queen off the stage. I felt that, as good as Queen were, they were now so stylised that the slightest thing going wrong threw the whole perfect balance right off, whereas Lizzy were so hungry and raw that they had an unpredictable energy on stage and it showed. The two bands were a great package, though.” He also recalled Freddie throwing a fit when any city on the tour couldn’t provide a limousine to travel to and from the gig in, often refusing to get in the car. But even Chris could tell that Freddie’s tantrums stemmed from other, deeper issues within him.

One of their guitarists, Scott Gorham, recalls: “A lot of bands get paranoid about not letting the support act upstage them, and to keep you down they won’t give you a soundcheck, etc. But we didn’t get any of that from Queen. They said right away, ‘Here’s the PA. Now you’ll need soundchecks and lights, and what else?’ Together we had the attitude that we would set out as a British attack to conquer America. Of course we were two very different bands. Lizzy was a sort of punk band with street cred, whereas Queen were very polished and sophisticated, so you see there was no competitiveness on that score.”

A recording from the Detroit show has been rumoured to exist, but nothing has ever come of it.