I've been listening to the Leiden 12/06/1986 show and it's become my favourite Magic tour show. Freddie Mercury's voice is in absolutely incredible shape. He sings incredibly powerful (we're used to that during the Magic tour) but he also sings with fantastic range. He very daringly goes for high notes and puts lot of emotion in nearly every performance. The audience is a very enthusiastich bunch, totally into the show (FM's play with them is his best ever, even incorporating falsetto...). The band is also clearly feeding off the energy of the audience... They even try Gimme Some lovin' and Big Spender.
This show SHOULD get a mention in 'best of' lists but the only reason it doesn't get mentioned (often) is the not-so-good recording we have. I adore the show but regret the distant-sounding recording.. Also, we do not have a confirmed lineage. This also means there could be a (much) better version out there...
Now, does anyone have any leads to a better copy of this awesome show or an alternate source??
I'd really like to enjoy this show in the quality it deserves:-)
A brilliant crowd you can hear far and away above the speakers of the actual gig.
The people around the tape recorder sounded like they were having fun so the gig must have been really good.
That's how I judge this show.