I still think that Now I'm here sounds better at early 70s concerts, especially at the Rainbow 74. The speed-up of tempo can give more dinamic and action to the show, but it actually far from the original performance.
I think I'm a minority here, but I HATE the slow versions. To me this is one of the songs which should be played as fast as possible. My favourite performances came from the 1979-1982 era
Impossible to pick one.. So many great arrangements and versions of this song over the years.
Must say I like the 1979 versions a lot. A chance for all 4 of them to shine.
Oh, but I like the versions with Dragon attack in the middle a lot too :-) Gotta love Freddie's very agressive vocals during the Brussels 13/12/1980 concert, just listened to that one since The Real Wizard uploaded an upgrade for that show.
During the US 1980 tour they performed some daring versions too, like Chandler or Rosemont (the soundquality of Rosemont is epic, making it another favourite of mine).
I totally dug the recent tarantura 23/04/1979 version too. People complaining about the state of Freddie's voice sadly miss his creativity and musicality (which certainly shows during that version). BM is simply on fire...
The vocal play during Newcastle 04-12-79 is another epic Now I'm here live moment, as is Freddie's intro in Sun City...
Some 1986 versions are great too (some later tour versions like Knebworth).
pittrek wrote:
To me this is one of the songs which should be played as fast as possible.
I would say it about Keep Yourslef Alive for example. I really like this one in fast live version..like it sounds on Live Killers or Montreal - hard, powerfully and fast!
Anything from 79-82 is top notch.
Freddie's r&b influences became more and more prominent over that time and NIH was his time to shine. The song definitely peaked by 1982. To choose a single version? Nearly impossible.
Glad someone mentioned Tokyo 4-23-79. That one is fresh in our ears with the new Tarantura release, and indeed, although Mercury's voice is chewed he still does a great singalong with the audience.
DLCVinnuendo wrote:
every tour, now i'm here is different, my favorite is the LK version
Totally.
And yes, Now I'm here is certainly a hightlight on Live Killers.
It's one of those songs Freddie sang very well when his voice was in top shape but he could also still deliver when struggling with nodules.
Somehow I have a softspot for the Rainbow versions. These are one of the very first versions played of this new song. After this this song did made a great evolution on the stage.... Still I like to prefer the early versions.
Gregsynth wrote:
Effortless Freddie vocals on this version:
The song sounded a lot better and more energetic by the late 70s live performances (plus you can't beat the awesome improv section and musicianship).
I always wonder WHY on earth they don't recorded the whole fantastic crazy tour instead of the late jazz tour (A.K.A Live Killers) ??
A pro-quality (even a mono cassette from the house mix) audio recordin' of Newcatle 79 would be fabulous, without a dobout...
(Well... at least they have Hamm, but a "Crazy live" instead "Live Killers" would be a stronger release at time)