That is actually one of the reasons I love that performance, right down to the very first line of the song, which Brian has to feed Freddie. Just love the combination of hilarity, and, beauty, of the whole experience.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Thunderbolt wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]bohemianrhap84 wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I also like Save Me from Montreal as well, as the band was spot on that night![/QUOTE]
You mean the performance of "Save Me" where Freddie forgets the words? Look at the official video closely, and notice the "oh SH*T!" look that comes over his face a split second before he rushes through "The slate will soon be cleaned." A hilarious moment, no doubt, but there were better performances of the song out there.
In fact, the only songs where I can say to my satisfaction that the best performance is found on an official video are "Somebody to Love" (from the Bowl, just a beautiful rendition) and "Hammer to Fall" (from Live Aid, and even then I hesitate--they didn't play the whole song!).
Most of the "definitive" live performances of the band's songs can be heard, in my opinion, on the Crazy and Game tours, when Freddie's voice was at its absolute peak.[/QUOTE]
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[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Dusta wrote: [/QUOTENAME]That is actually one of the reasons I love that performance, right down to the very first line of the song, which Brian has to feed Freddie. Just love the combination of hilarity, and, beauty, of the whole experience.[/QUOTE]
I'll give you that. It's just odd me that after the band's been performing the song for the better part of two years, Freddie stumbles over a couple of lines like that. Granted, they didn't have 32" karaoke monitors covering the stage back then--Paul does, and he still couldn't quite get Dragon Attack down from night to night. ;)
It actually surprised me that they used the Save Me clips where Freddie forgot the words instead of the next night's show. Maybe Swimmer wanted to show that even a band like Queen is still capable of slipping up a bit onstage--maybe he didn't know the difference.
I'll give you that. It's just odd me that after the band's been performing the song for the better part of two years, Freddie stumbles over a couple of lines like that. Granted, they didn't have 32" karaoke monitors covering the stage back then--Paul does, and he still couldn't quite get Dragon Attack down from night to night. ;)
It actually surprised me that they used the Save Me clips where Freddie forgot the words instead of the next night's show. Maybe Swimmer wanted to show that even a band like Queen is still capable of slipping up a bit onstage--maybe he didn't know the difference.
Rock´n´roll Medley - Golders Green 1973
Hangman - Birmingham 1973
Modern Times Rock´n´roll - Rainbow March 74
Son and Daugther - Rainbow November 74
Father to Son - Milwakee 75
White Queen - Milwakee 75
Great King Rat - Tokyo 75
The Prophet´s Song - Hyde Park 76
Liar - Hyde Park 76
White Man/Vocal Improv - Cleveland 77
It´s Late - Chicago 78
Brighton Rock - CHicago 78
If You Can´t Beat Them - Chicago 78
Get Down Make Love - Hammersmith 79
Spread Your Wings piano intro - Hammersmith 79
Spread Your Wings - Chicago 78
Staying Power - Live at the Bowl
Back Chat - Leeds 82
Play The Game - Argentina 81 (first night)
I really can´t put any 84-86 stuff on my list, I haven´t heard much, but Manheim 86 is a favourite of mine.
Best setlist: Tokyo 01.05.1975 (for the early stuff) and Philadelphia 23.11.1977 (7 songs from NOTW + last performance of Ogre Battle with a long mid 70´s exibition)
Hangman - Birmingham 1973
Modern Times Rock´n´roll - Rainbow March 74
Son and Daugther - Rainbow November 74
Father to Son - Milwakee 75
White Queen - Milwakee 75
Great King Rat - Tokyo 75
The Prophet´s Song - Hyde Park 76
Liar - Hyde Park 76
White Man/Vocal Improv - Cleveland 77
It´s Late - Chicago 78
Brighton Rock - CHicago 78
If You Can´t Beat Them - Chicago 78
Get Down Make Love - Hammersmith 79
Spread Your Wings piano intro - Hammersmith 79
Spread Your Wings - Chicago 78
Staying Power - Live at the Bowl
Back Chat - Leeds 82
Play The Game - Argentina 81 (first night)
I really can´t put any 84-86 stuff on my list, I haven´t heard much, but Manheim 86 is a favourite of mine.
Best setlist: Tokyo 01.05.1975 (for the early stuff) and Philadelphia 23.11.1977 (7 songs from NOTW + last performance of Ogre Battle with a long mid 70´s exibition)
The only Queen shows I've heard/saw are:
Earls Court 77, Houston 77, Tokio 79 (part) Kampuchea 79, Montreal 81, Bowl 82, Tokio 82 (part), Rio 85, Tokio 85, Live Aid 85, Wembley 86 and Budapest 86, plus "Live Killers" and "Live Magic" albums, and some single songs from other shows.
Here is my list (in random order):
Now I'm Here - Kampuchea 79 (Live Killers is also good)
Bohemian Rhapsody - Newcastle 79
We Are The Champions - Kampuchea 79
We Will Rock You - Montreal 81
Killer Queen - Montreal 81
Love Of My Life - Sao Paulo 81
Somebody To Love - Kampuchea 79, Montreal 81 and Bowl 82 were equally great
Brighton Rock - Live Killers!!!
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Tokio 82
Liar - Earls Court 77
Another One Bites The Dust - Wembley 86
Get Down Make Love - Montreal 81
Sheer Heart Attack - Kampuchea 79
We Will Rock You Fast - Kampuchea 79 or Montreal 81
Dragon Attack - Bowl 82
Under Pressure - Montreal 81
Fat Bottomed Girls - Bowl 82
Save Me - Montreal 81
Let Me Entertain You - Kampuchea 79 and Montreal 81
In The Lap Of The Gods...revisited - Budapest and Knebworth 86
Play The Game - Bowl 82
Radio Ga Ga - Live Aid or Knebworth 86
Is This The World We Created? - Live Aid
Hammer To Fall - Wembley 86
Staying Power - Bowl 82
Don't Stop Me Now - Kampuchea 79
White Queen - Earls Court 77
Doing All Right - Earls Court 77
A Kind Of Magic - Knebworth 86
Earls Court 77, Houston 77, Tokio 79 (part) Kampuchea 79, Montreal 81, Bowl 82, Tokio 82 (part), Rio 85, Tokio 85, Live Aid 85, Wembley 86 and Budapest 86, plus "Live Killers" and "Live Magic" albums, and some single songs from other shows.
Here is my list (in random order):
Now I'm Here - Kampuchea 79 (Live Killers is also good)
Bohemian Rhapsody - Newcastle 79
We Are The Champions - Kampuchea 79
We Will Rock You - Montreal 81
Killer Queen - Montreal 81
Love Of My Life - Sao Paulo 81
Somebody To Love - Kampuchea 79, Montreal 81 and Bowl 82 were equally great
Brighton Rock - Live Killers!!!
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Tokio 82
Liar - Earls Court 77
Another One Bites The Dust - Wembley 86
Get Down Make Love - Montreal 81
Sheer Heart Attack - Kampuchea 79
We Will Rock You Fast - Kampuchea 79 or Montreal 81
Dragon Attack - Bowl 82
Under Pressure - Montreal 81
Fat Bottomed Girls - Bowl 82
Save Me - Montreal 81
Let Me Entertain You - Kampuchea 79 and Montreal 81
In The Lap Of The Gods...revisited - Budapest and Knebworth 86
Play The Game - Bowl 82
Radio Ga Ga - Live Aid or Knebworth 86
Is This The World We Created? - Live Aid
Hammer To Fall - Wembley 86
Staying Power - Bowl 82
Don't Stop Me Now - Kampuchea 79
White Queen - Earls Court 77
Doing All Right - Earls Court 77
A Kind Of Magic - Knebworth 86
I think we've all drawn blanks at important moments, in our lives, on things that were only too familiar to our minds. It is just that not all of them are caught on film. And, despite drawing the blank, Freddie sang the song so beautifully, that night.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Thunderbolt wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Dusta wrote: [/QUOTENAME]That is actually one of the reasons I love that performance, right down to the very first line of the song, which Brian has to feed Freddie. Just love the combination of hilarity, and, beauty, of the whole experience.[/QUOTE]
I'll give you that. It's just odd me that after the band's been performing the song for the better part of two years, Freddie stumbles over a couple of lines like that. Granted, they didn't have 32" karaoke monitors covering the stage back then--Paul does, and he still couldn't quite get Dragon Attack down from night to night. ;)
It actually surprised me that they used the Save Me clips where Freddie forgot the words instead of the next night's show. Maybe Swimmer wanted to show that even a band like Queen is still capable of slipping up a bit onstage--maybe he didn't know the difference.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Thunderbolt wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Dusta wrote: [/QUOTENAME]That is actually one of the reasons I love that performance, right down to the very first line of the song, which Brian has to feed Freddie. Just love the combination of hilarity, and, beauty, of the whole experience.[/QUOTE]
I'll give you that. It's just odd me that after the band's been performing the song for the better part of two years, Freddie stumbles over a couple of lines like that. Granted, they didn't have 32" karaoke monitors covering the stage back then--Paul does, and he still couldn't quite get Dragon Attack down from night to night. ;)
It actually surprised me that they used the Save Me clips where Freddie forgot the words instead of the next night's show. Maybe Swimmer wanted to show that even a band like Queen is still capable of slipping up a bit onstage--maybe he didn't know the difference.[/QUOTE]
Save Me hammersmith 1979 is really good --- until brian messes up the final solo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_bEeQ5eu90
Save Me at Milton Keynes is also excellent.
Save Me at Milton Keynes is also excellent.
Ok. Great posts. I'll just restate what's been written before.
I guess Freddie's rendition of Save Me in Hammersmith Odeon, 1979, is just magnificent. I wrote a little analysis of this one elsewhere, but I forgot which topic it was in. It's absolutely wonderful. Brian is still figuring out how to back up Freddie properly. During Save Me, Freddie has his Eureka moment, when he does realize that he's a genius because he goes all the way from a cleverly dissimulated bartione tone all up to a very tender, soft tenor register smoothly, making the whole verse sound progressively quieter as the tone becomes higher and his timbre, gentler - the verse I talk about is the classic one: "I hang my head, and I advertise, (a soul for sale or rent)". The transition from a darker, baritone-like tone to a quieter, tenor register in the same verse to reflect the different conotations of the words involved - sale or rent - is magical.
Comes Montreal, 1981, and then we have an absolutely stunning performance of this song - Freddie's control of dynamic range and, above all, color is other-wordly. Brian tones down the piano a bit to give Freddie the sense of loneliness implied by song, and it's almost a cappela at moments. He does hesitate about one of the lines, but what's amazing, and that's why I like the version so much, is his genius and quickness of tought in recovering the line and singing it squarely in tempo and in tune!
Just to add: I think this is a very helpful thread and one of the concerts I'm most impressed by is the final one in Wembley, 12-10-1980, though Freddie was absolutetely high on cocaine and can barely say a line which makes sense in the intermezzos - before introducing "Save Me", it's just sad, he forgets what he wants to say, then he curses and, well, finally he gets back to the song and delivers it with absolute flair and brilliance.
I guess Freddie's rendition of Save Me in Hammersmith Odeon, 1979, is just magnificent. I wrote a little analysis of this one elsewhere, but I forgot which topic it was in. It's absolutely wonderful. Brian is still figuring out how to back up Freddie properly. During Save Me, Freddie has his Eureka moment, when he does realize that he's a genius because he goes all the way from a cleverly dissimulated bartione tone all up to a very tender, soft tenor register smoothly, making the whole verse sound progressively quieter as the tone becomes higher and his timbre, gentler - the verse I talk about is the classic one: "I hang my head, and I advertise, (a soul for sale or rent)". The transition from a darker, baritone-like tone to a quieter, tenor register in the same verse to reflect the different conotations of the words involved - sale or rent - is magical.
Comes Montreal, 1981, and then we have an absolutely stunning performance of this song - Freddie's control of dynamic range and, above all, color is other-wordly. Brian tones down the piano a bit to give Freddie the sense of loneliness implied by song, and it's almost a cappela at moments. He does hesitate about one of the lines, but what's amazing, and that's why I like the version so much, is his genius and quickness of tought in recovering the line and singing it squarely in tempo and in tune!
Just to add: I think this is a very helpful thread and one of the concerts I'm most impressed by is the final one in Wembley, 12-10-1980, though Freddie was absolutetely high on cocaine and can barely say a line which makes sense in the intermezzos - before introducing "Save Me", it's just sad, he forgets what he wants to say, then he curses and, well, finally he gets back to the song and delivers it with absolute flair and brilliance.
Ah, Yara, I have missed your posts! I haven't frequented this place much, of late, and, was delighted to see that you are still around!
Being musically illiterate, as I am, it is with great relief that I read your posts, as they so eloquently put into words what I cannot, myself, properly express.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Yara wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Ok. Great posts. I'll just restate what's been written before.
I guess Freddie's rendition of Save Me in Hammersmith Odeon, 1979, is just magnificent. I wrote a little analysis of this one elsewhere, but I forgot which topic it was in. It's absolutely wonderful. Brian is still figuring out how to back up Freddie properly. During Save Me, Freddie has his Eureka moment, when he does realize that he's a genius because he goes all the way from a cleverly dissimulated bartione tone all up to a very tender, soft tenor register smoothly, making the whole verse sound progressively quieter as the tone becomes higher and his timbre, gentler - the verse I talk about is the classic one: "I hang my head, and I advertise, (a soul for sale or rent)". The transition from a darker, baritone-like tone to a quieter, tenor register in the same verse to reflect the different conotations of the words involved - sale or rent - is magical.
Comes Montreal, 1981, and then we have an absolutely stunning performance of this song - Freddie's control of dynamic range and, above all, color is other-wordly. Brian tones down the piano a bit to give Freddie the sense of loneliness implied by song, and it's almost a cappela at moments. He does hesitate about one of the lines, but what's amazing, and that's why I like the version so much, is his genius and quickness of tought in recovering the line and singing it squarely in tempo and in tune!
Just to add: I think this is a very helpful thread and one of the concerts I'm most impressed by is the final one in Wembley, 12-10-1980, though Freddie was absolutetely high on cocaine and can barely say a line which makes sense in the intermezzos - before introducing "Save Me", it's just sad, he forgets what he wants to say, then he curses and, well, finally he gets back to the song and delivers it with absolute flair and brilliance. [/QUOTE]
Being musically illiterate, as I am, it is with great relief that I read your posts, as they so eloquently put into words what I cannot, myself, properly express.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Yara wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Ok. Great posts. I'll just restate what's been written before.
I guess Freddie's rendition of Save Me in Hammersmith Odeon, 1979, is just magnificent. I wrote a little analysis of this one elsewhere, but I forgot which topic it was in. It's absolutely wonderful. Brian is still figuring out how to back up Freddie properly. During Save Me, Freddie has his Eureka moment, when he does realize that he's a genius because he goes all the way from a cleverly dissimulated bartione tone all up to a very tender, soft tenor register smoothly, making the whole verse sound progressively quieter as the tone becomes higher and his timbre, gentler - the verse I talk about is the classic one: "I hang my head, and I advertise, (a soul for sale or rent)". The transition from a darker, baritone-like tone to a quieter, tenor register in the same verse to reflect the different conotations of the words involved - sale or rent - is magical.
Comes Montreal, 1981, and then we have an absolutely stunning performance of this song - Freddie's control of dynamic range and, above all, color is other-wordly. Brian tones down the piano a bit to give Freddie the sense of loneliness implied by song, and it's almost a cappela at moments. He does hesitate about one of the lines, but what's amazing, and that's why I like the version so much, is his genius and quickness of tought in recovering the line and singing it squarely in tempo and in tune!
Just to add: I think this is a very helpful thread and one of the concerts I'm most impressed by is the final one in Wembley, 12-10-1980, though Freddie was absolutetely high on cocaine and can barely say a line which makes sense in the intermezzos - before introducing "Save Me", it's just sad, he forgets what he wants to say, then he curses and, well, finally he gets back to the song and delivers it with absolute flair and brilliance. [/QUOTE]
I've yet to hear a poor live version of If You Can't Beat Them. Cologne 1979 is an excellent version.
I've certainly missed your presence, Yara. Good to see you're still alive and kicking -- as is your optimism and flair for vocabulary usage. I don't think I've ever disagreed with any one of your thoughtful posts.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Holly2003 wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I've yet to hear a poor live version of If You Can't Beat Them. Cologne 1979 is an excellent version.[/QUOTE]
I don't think there aren't any. That song was made to be played live. Brilliant.
Too bad they dropped it so soon.
I don't think there aren't any. That song was made to be played live. Brilliant.
Too bad they dropped it so soon.
As crazy as it seems, I still believe the Montreal '81 show is tops over all the bootlegs both video and audio alone, and after so many earlier concerts that were amazing and played much preferred set lists, I still think Montreal is the top to bottom best. Little extra things make it the best like the little accident that altered Dragon Attack off just enough to make it all the better for me. There is the killer fact that the audience didn't sing Love of My Life, giving us just once an undisturbed play of it. There is the more current at the time boogie opening that shifts into the best Keep Yourself Alive version ever. There is the top cover performance of Jailhouse Rock following up Crazy, creating a sort of "Eat this Elvis" superiority taunt by Freddie. The Vocals are perfect, Brighton Rock is soloed in top form, Sheer Heart Attack is legendary, Save Me is too, Get Down Make Love has the most awesome sounds with it. And best of all is the fact that no other live recording of Queen's captures it all so completely and without flaw.
Having been privledged to have seen Queen during every tour of the UK I can only compare the gigs I've seen as I am not a bootleg fan, in fact Live gigs are for "being There"
The 1978 gig at Stafford Bingley Hall was fantastic but the 2nd Birmingham NEC gig of the Works tour was my favourite of all. the setlist was pretty extensive and Freddie was on fire. In hindsight I think Roger probably regrets the drumkit but hey it was of the time. However I think for reasons I didn't realise at the time Knebworth was pretty special too!
The 1978 gig at Stafford Bingley Hall was fantastic but the 2nd Birmingham NEC gig of the Works tour was my favourite of all. the setlist was pretty extensive and Freddie was on fire. In hindsight I think Roger probably regrets the drumkit but hey it was of the time. However I think for reasons I didn't realise at the time Knebworth was pretty special too!
Im in Love with my Car-Montreal '81
We Will Rock You-Wembley '86
Tie Your Mother Down-Wembley '86
Put Out the Fire-Japan '82
We Will Rock You-Wembley '86
Tie Your Mother Down-Wembley '86
Put Out the Fire-Japan '82
[p]One Vision: Knebworth Park, August 9, 1986[br]
Hammer To Fall: Live Aid, July 13, 1985[br]
In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited: Stockholm, June 7, 1986[br]
Bohemian Rhapsody: Newcastle, December 4, 1979[br]
Somebody To Love: Live At the Bowl, June 5, 1982
[p]A Kind of Magic: Leiden, June 11, 1986