QueenZone discussion #930245
Fan Rant: Earls Court 1977
| Jan78 15.12.2006 00:17 |
Why do we love the Earls Court bootleg (June 6th, 1977)? Yes, you may say we've had enough concert releases from the moustache-era. And yes, there is something to it, since that's a different era of Queen in terms of sound, style and stage appearance. But what are the details? This concert, available as a bootleg in particular sound quality, shows Queen on the verge into that new era. It is a quasi-connection between the old and the new Queen. There is something for everyone. News Of The World had not been released yet, with its tighter and not so complicated sound. This is still Queen as they were in the first half of the 70's. And the setlist is just an expression of that. You can hear lots of songs that have been dropped from the setlist soon after, like Ogre Battle or White Queen. You can also hear live versions of songs they still played later on, like Now I'm Here or Keep Yourself Alive, Tie Your Mother Down or Get Down Make Love. You have your performance of Doing Alright as well as Freddie's voice in a reasonable shape. The band is in a good mood. But why is this such a special performance for many? Well, let's face it, the usually boring guitar solo is fresh and different from all those self-repeating versions that you can find on records from Live Killers to Brian at Brixton. And it is an outstanding concert, setlist and quality, just because the band is good and funny. Remember Freddie saying something about the acoustic performances and that they are nice, but Brian has to write more songs like these because he can't? Or when he's asking the crowd to be a little more enthusiastic and not so "sophisticated and cool"? That load of tarts... I don't want to complain about the changes in Queen's music. I like Queen in the 70's as much as in the 80's. Just watching the interviews on Greatest Video Hits 2 tells you what the band was about. Freddie says, they are aware of new trends and they write accordingly. Brian says he probably would never again these days sit in a studio for weeks, working on details and snippets of just one song, although he enjoyed it back then. Freddie wants One Vision to be simpler and not so full of things, because that would be like "the fucking Andrews Sisters". Brian also said that Freddie was very very insecure about his own piano abilities. Again, you can still have a lot of it here on this recording, before Freddie gave up on it. So this is probably one of the last concerts where you can catch the "old" Queen before their development or transition into simpler areas of music. No criticism here. But it is nice to have this document as the closure of an era that started with the early 1973 performances. And I'm sure this is what most fans feel and like about this concert. It is widely available for download and if you can get it, do it and enjoy it, because it is indeed a special concert in a special atmosphere. Live Killers is good, but it already has the influence of News Of The World and Jazz, that are simpler in playing and sound. Earls Court is Queen a short time before that. |
| bohemian 11513 15.12.2006 11:00 |
You summed it up... in a nice way! Well done... |
| Rick 15.12.2006 12:46 |
Hmm, yes you are right in a certain way. But don't you think this concert is way overrated? The setlist is great yes, but the concert itself is just nothing special. A warm atmosphere is there, Freddie talks much with the audience, which is a plus. It's filmed in a strange way, many dark spots throughout, strange camera angles etc. Roger is not really in shape, vocalwise. Brian's guitarsound is too thin. John's bass-sound is nice though. Freddie isn't really in shape too, vocalwise. Entertainment-wise he scores 10 out of 10 for sure. Still I wonder how much of the second night exists, I heard that show is way better. It also includes Sweet Lady, which is a nice rocker live. I agree about the fact this show should be in everyone's Queen collection. It's one of the few soundboard recordings that is available of Queen. |
| The Real Wizard 15.12.2006 13:58 |
<font color=blue>Rick wrote: It's filmed in a strange way, many dark spots throughout, strange camera angles etc.It's because this is just a rough camera mix. I'm sure there are many more camera angles in the Queen vaults. Still I wonder how much of the second night exists, I heard that show is way better. It also includes Sweet Lady, which is a nice rocker live.How can you be sure of that? It's one of the few soundboard recordings that is available of Queen.It's not actually a true soundboard recording... it's a video feed, and it wasn't mixed properly. |
| bohemian 11513 15.12.2006 14:11 |
Anyway Rick... as I don´t have any other concert filmed during the first half of 1977... except Brian Wilson in Punta Arenas 1977... ...I STILL love this one very much! :-))) |
| Rick 15.12.2006 17:06 |
Sir GH<br><h6>ah yeah</h6> wrote:You're right, Bob. Sorry.<font color=blue>Rick wrote: It's filmed in a strange way, many dark spots throughout, strange camera angles etc.It's because this is just a rough camera mix. I'm sure there are many more camera angles in the Queen vaults.Still I wonder how much of the second night exists, I heard that show is way better. It also includes Sweet Lady, which is a nice rocker live.How can you be sure of that?It's one of the few soundboard recordings that is available of Queen.It's not actually a true soundboard recording... it's a video feed, and it wasn't mixed properly. About the setlist, found it on a site which was really reliable in my opinion. I know it was well-known among Queenfans, although I forgot which site it was. Found it some years ago and I never forgotten this info. |
| Mr.Jingles 15.12.2006 21:45 |
My favorite part of Earls Court is when Freddie pulls out a Foghorn Leghorn during 'Death On Two Legs'. You're an overgrown SCCHHOOLL BOHHHHGGYYY!! |
| NJQueenFan 19.12.2006 15:02 |
Although I must admit it is great to have an excellent audio/video recording from the ADATR era, I can't say this is one of Queen's best performances. Freddie sounded off on that night and the harmonies are some of the worst I've heard in a Queen concert (Roger sounded particularly awful on this night). Compare In The Lap Of The Gods...revisited at Earl's Court to Rainbow '74 or Hammy '75. |
| Queen4ever13 03.05.2012 09:46 |
The sole purpose of my obtaining this video was the fact that they sing White Man at this concert which was rare. Absolutely love that song, it's very underrated. Freddie screams emotion, it's such a vivid picture of the plight of the American Indians and for Queen to get that being English is just wonderful. Brian's guitar is amazing and the song was made for drums Roger is slammin away, one of their best heavy rock songs, don't know why it didn't get enough recognition. |
| thomasquinn 32989 03.05.2012 10:25 |
For me, what makes the Earls Court gig special is in the magical combination of the setlist, reflecting Queen near its creative peak, IMHO, and the visual performance, which would continue to improve for years still (where IMHO the set lists began to become less interesting after 1980), but had just made the gigantic jump from early Queen to a Queen that knew in which direction it was heading in terms of performance. |
| moonie 03.05.2012 19:46 |
The video is the feed to the screens recorded on the fly, in much the same way as Led Zeppelins shows from a couple of years before. I'd be surprised if any other footage existed. One can hope eh? |
| Fireplace 04.05.2012 18:30 |
1 - There is no decent alternative on video from that tour 2 - It was probably the last tour with all the bells and whistles (ukelele-banjo, triangle, intricate backing vocals, many different guitar sounds). Queen quickly became a stadium rock act, with a more heavy sound throughout and less subtlety. It is best summed up by listening to Now I'm Here through the years. Every tour would see a little less backing vocals, and a little more speed and plain, chunky rock. This of course coincides with Freddie shying away from the piano more and more. The "piano years" are still my favourite, both in the studio and live. Then they released Pain Is So Close To Pleasure and I lost heart completely, but thankfully they redeemed themselves somewhat on subsequent albums. |
| The Real Wizard 04.05.2012 18:45 |
It's true - 1977 was a year of transition. The most interesting live year, I think. That's a great summation of what was lost after the Races tour. The visual of the show improved, but sometimes at the expense of the music. |
| Benn 06.05.2012 09:27 |
As far as I'm concerned it was simply the band's pinnacle. They'd gotten to their vcreative peak and would never again be so unique and different in what they were doing. After '77, punk decimated the Rock scene and therefore bands were reluctant to be so utterly dramatic as Queen were and had been. They, themselves were less so after this point. Ultimately, Earls Court was a gig that saw the band looking for the acceptance of their home town crowd; they got that but the industry would have a lot to say about it afterwards. |
| thomasquinn 32989 07.05.2012 09:12 |
The Real Wizard wrote: It's true - 1977 was a year of transition. The most interesting live year, I think. That's a great summation of what was lost after the Races tour. The visual of the show improved, but sometimes at the expense of the music.Well, I really do think you're being a little harsh here. The NOTW tour was absolutely stunning, and the Crazy Tour was definitely no worse. I think the trading off of music for show started during the Game Tour. |
| The Real Wizard 07.05.2012 22:59 |
I did say "sometimes" ! But you're right, it wasn't until the bulk of the NOTW and Jazz songs were dropped in 1980 that their show was half singles - despite the fact that they had eight albums of diverse material. But they knew they were playing mostly to a commercial audience who had heard the hit songs on the radio, not people who owned the old albums from 5-6 years ago. As far as I'm concerned, the last tour where Queen were completely focused on the music was ANATO. The backing vocals were already starting to suffer on the ADATR tour, never mind NOTW or Jazz. Their show was still musically strong in 1979, but nowhere near what it once was. Although resurrecting Liar in late '79 did bring back some of the old magic. Freddie's r&b-flavoured versions of Liar in April '82 were pretty spectacular too. |
| Gregsynth 07.05.2012 23:16 |
Well, Freddie did get better as the years went on (vocally and as a frontman)! Since I'm practically in love with the guy, it's always nice to look through the recordings and watch the videos to see just how much he gets better and better over the years! I think the band always sounded awesome live (even when Freddie had his rough nights), no matter the era! |
| splicksplack 08.05.2012 08:41 |
It's important beacause I was there!!! In the front row (thanks to the fan-club). |
| rocknrolllover 09.05.2012 03:28 |
It is interesting to me what GT tells |