Chicago 1980 disappoints me every time I listen to it. In terms of audio quality, yes, it's incredibly good. In terms of audience participation, it's a letdown. Freddie waits *forever* to sing the final line of Bohemian Rhapsody--he was practically begging the crowd to take it, something he almost never did at American shows, and almost no one does before he gives up and sings it himself. Really a disappointing moment, but the rest of the show is top-notch.
Announce section, why?
Anyway, Drammen is the choice. Superb and balanced sound. There was a topic some time ago in the serious section i think. Loads of bootlegs was rated there, so check that one out. Loads of nice sounding bootlegs out there.
I love the sound of the 1979 Kampuchea concert. Audience and music are perfectly balanced.
London 8.12.1980 is great, too.
Milan 1984 and Sydney 1985 are quite good as well, if I remember correctly.
Argentina is the best audience recording!! The Argentinians sing ALL the songs, not just Bohemian Rhapsody or We Will Rock You ...you can clearly hear that they sing songs like Dragon Attack, Need your loving tonight, Save Me, Fat Bottomed Girls, etc ...and they JUMP and JUMP ...they are very passionates with QUEEN ...hope they can come back ...
I think Immigrant Magic, Berlin 1986 is the best out there. But that's just my two cents.
And there's a great 74 Boot from the States which also sounds fabulous and has a great set! I think it was Milwaukee...
My five favs:
» Chicago Stadium, USA - December 8th 1978
» Horizon, Rosemont, Chicago, USA - September 19th 1980
» Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan - April 19th & 20th 1979
» Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver BC, Canada - December 14th 1978
» Broendby Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark - May 12th 1977 ---> Shame it's incomplete.
Osaka 5-15-85 is worth mentioning - particularly "The Last Concert In Japan" on the Masterport label. This new source came out a few years ago, and it's dynamite quality.
Just some of my picks:
Hammersmith Odeon 1975, 1979
Chicago 1978, 1980
Osaka 29/03/1976 (Afternoon show)
Dallas 1978
Montreal 1978
Copenhagen 1978
Osaka 24/10/1982
Vancouver 1978
Thunderbolt wrote: Chicago 1980 disappoints me every time I listen to it. In terms of audio quality, yes, it's incredibly good. In terms of audience participation, it's a letdown. Freddie waits *forever* to sing the final line of Bohemian Rhapsody--he was practically begging the crowd to take it, something he almost never did at American shows, and almost no one does before he gives up and sings it himself. Really a disappointing moment, but the rest of the show is top-notch.
A year and a half later.. !
I don't see it as a disappointment, because as you know, North American audiences simply want to be entertained. People didn't want to sing... they wanted to see the legendary Freddie Mercury sing the last line of that iconic song he wrote.
Personally, nothing disappoints me more than when I go to shows and they let the audience sing. I once saw Our Lady Peace do it during a couple of their big hits, and if the Smashing Pumpkins weren't the next band, I would have left.
Very overrated show. Quality wise and performance wise.
It used to be special to have it when not many people had it, but other than that there was nothing special about that roio imho.
bristol colston hall 1973 first gig i got on cassette(that's a little rectangle piece of plastic with tape on spools) also manchester free trade hall 1975