City: London, UK
Venue: Rainbow Theatre
Date: November 19, 1974

Setlist:
Procession, Now I'm Here, Ogre Battle, Father To Son, White Queen, Flick Of The Wrist, In The Lap Of The Gods, Killer Queen, The March Of The Black Queen, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Son And Daughter, Keep Yourself Alive, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Stone Cold Crazy, Liar, In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited, Big Spender, Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll, Jailhouse Rock, God Save The Queen


         

This is the first of two nights at the Rainbow Theatre. Both shows were recorded and filmed by the band.

Freddie's voice isn't in the greatest shape tonight - perhaps he was nervous as the show was being filmed. On this tour he has sung the first verse of In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited in falsetto as on the record, but he opts for the lower octave tonight.

Roger Taylor introduces Seven Seas Of Rhye: "This is a good one."

As seen on the video, Roger poured beer onto his floor tom to give an interesting visual effect whenever he hit it.

In the December 7th Record Mirror, Brian May states how the band didn't enjoy this show, mainly because of the film production getting in the way of their performance.



Before leaving for the US tour in early 1975, Brian May wrote in the spring 1975 issue of the Queen fan club magazine, saying how the band had been very busy working on the Rainbow film. He says they're "mixing and editing to a suitable form for the [Old Grey] Whistle Test," but such a broadcast would never materialize.

A half-hour film, a compilation of both nights, simply entitled "Live At The Rainbow," first saw the light of day in 1975 as the opener for Jaws in some UK theatres. It was also seen as an opener in 1976 for Led Zeppelin's film "The Song Remains The Same" in some US theatres, as well as Pink Floyd's "Live At Pompeii" in 1979. Now I'm Here was seen on Italian TV in 1977, a special on the band filmed by BBC7 narrated by Roger.

In 1989, Stone Cold Crazy from this video was released as the B side of The Miracle - on the 7" single in the UK and Australia, the UK 12" single, the UK cassette single, and the CD single in the UK and Austria.

A 52-minute version of the video was later officially released on VHS in 1992 as part of the "Box of Trix" (a mail-order item released by a company called Star Direct), with many obvious edits and vocal overdubs. Sometimes the audio and video are taken from the two different nights, leading to some moments where the audio and video are out of synch. For some inexplicable reason the audio is mono.

This is the video's track listing, with the italicized tracks having been edited into a fake "medley" surrounded by the Son And Daughter and its reprise (which normally came after the guitar solo):

Procession, Now I'm Here, Ogre Battle, White Queen, In The Lap Of The Gods, Killer Queen, The March Of The Black Queen, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Son And Daughter, guitar solo, Father To Son [cut], Keep Yourself Alive [cut], Liar [cut], Son And Daughter (reprise), Stone Cold Crazy, In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited, Jailhouse Rock [cut], God Save The Queen

Despite God Save The Queen being heard on the video, this is not confirmation that it was actually heard at the show itself.

Now I'm Here in startlingly good quality (and without the vocal overdubs) was released on the Greatest Video Hits 1 DVD in 2002.

In November 2009, the band posted some concert videos from the 70s on their website in conjunction with their "Absolute Greatest" compilation, including White Queen from the Rainbow. In 2011, great quality videos of White Queen, Stone Cold Crazy, and Liar (the same versions as on the 1992 VHS release) were made available on iTunes in conjunction with the re-releases of the first five Queen albums. Stone Cold Crazy was also released on the extras of the Japanese DVD and UK blu-ray of the "Days Of Our Lives" documentary in 2011, but with a new stereo mix.

Additional footage to what was officially released apparently exists in the hands of collectors.

The entire first night at the Rainbow was shown at the "Stormtroopers in Stilettoes" Queen exhibition in London in early 2011. Even though the audio was mono and had a few slight inconsistencies, the fact that this footage went public is monumental.

Brian May has stated that the shows were properly filmed, but this may be due to the fact that the Live At The Rainbow film was stored on 16mm or 35mm film to be shown at cinemas in the 70s. The shows were actually shot on 2" tape. This picture reveals a typical TV camera from the time. The only concerts Queen properly filmed were the two nights in Montreal '81 and Budapest '86.

The pictures seen above could be from either night at the Rainbow. Pics 28 through 30 were submitted by Luis Flores, and pics 31 and 32 were submitted by Fabio Minero.

At this website, there are pictures from many dates, including many backstage pictures taken before this show. Many thanks to Lukáš Bosík for the link.


Recording length: 22 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A
Source: Soundboard
Lineage: Soundboard > Trident reel tape > pre-FM cassette > cassette > CDR (1) > FLAC level 8
Track listing:
Son And Daughter, Stone Cold Crazy, Liar


Three tracks exist from the first night in stereo sound from the Trident reel-to-reel. They first saw the light of day in the 90s, but in 2010 a superb quality version emerged. The tracks were intended to be broadcast on the radio in the 90s, and this copy comes from the tape that was given to the radio station. Earlier copies that circulated had more tape generations, and thus less clarity in the sound and more tape hiss.

For over 15 years these tracks were labeled as the second night, but bearing in mind the Liar power outtage story from the second night, it seemed logical that the tracks would be from the first night, since the song is uninterrupted here. As of 2011, this has been confirmed.


Recording length: 22 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A-
Source: Soundboard
Lineage: "The Ultimate Collection Volume 3" (Royalty Music) silver

     
Track listing:
Son And Daughter, Stone Cold Crazy, Liar


The three board tracks were first bootlegged in 1995 and incorrectly labeled as Adelaide '76.


Recording length: 22 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A-
Source: Soundboard
Lineage: "He Made It On His Own" (Gypsy Eye) silver

     
Track listing:
Son And Daughter, Stone Cold Crazy, Liar


The tracks were bootlegged once more in 2000, and again with the wrong date attached. Also on the disc is the Live Aid '85 and three of the four tracks from Queen's fifth BBC session.

Gypsy Eye added their hiss reduction as usual, resulting in a crackling noise.



                                 

A plethora of vinyl bootlegs of the "Live At The Rainbow" VHS were released in the early 90s. This was to be expected after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, being as this was new material in such great quality.

Musically these titles are all identical. Side B is Rainbow material, and side A is likely similarly common material.

A set of bootlegs called "Freddie's Boys At The Peep" (volumes 1 through 4, ten copies of each) contain the same material.


Recording length: 52 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A
Source: Video
Lineage: "Cinema Cut" silver

     
Track listing:
Procession, Now I'm Here, Ogre Battle, White Queen, In The Lap Of The Gods, Killer Queen, The March Of The Black Queen, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Son And Daughter, Father To Son [cut], Keep Yourself Alive [cut], Liar [cut], Son And Daughter (reprise), Stone Cold Crazy, In The Lap Of The Gods.. Revisited, Jailhouse Rock [cut], God Save The Queen


This bootleg CD was released in 1997.


Recording length: 52 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A
Source: Video
Lineage: "In The Lap Of The Gods" (Splat Cat Music) silver

   
Track listing:
Procession, Now I'm Here, Ogre Battle, White Queen, In The Lap Of The Gods, Killer Queen, The March Of The Black Queen, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Son And Daughter, Father To Son, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, Son And Daughter (reprise), Stone Cold Crazy, In The Lap Of The Gods.. Revisited, Jailhouse Rock, God Save The Queen


This bootleg was released in the 90s.


Recording length: 52 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A
Source: Video
Lineage: "A Night At The Rainbow" (LMP) silver

 
Track listing:
Procession, Now I'm Here, Ogre Battle, White Queen, In The Lap Of The Gods, Killer Queen, The March Of The Black Queen, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Son And Daughter, Father To Son [cut], Keep Yourself Alive [cut], Liar [cut], Son And Daughter (reprise), Stone Cold Crazy, In The Lap Of The Gods.. Revisited, Jailhouse Rock [cut], God Save The Queen


This 2001 bootleg contains some filler at the end, some of which is London '74 and '77 with incorrect dates printed on the cover.


Recording length: 52 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A
Source: Video
Lineage: "In The Lap Of The Gods" (QUE) silver

 
Track listing:
Procession, Now I'm Here, Ogre Battle, White Queen, In The Lap Of The Gods, Killer Queen, The March Of The Black Queen, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Son And Daughter, Father To Son, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, Son And Daughter (reprise), Stone Cold Crazy, In The Lap Of The Gods.. Revisited, Jailhouse Rock, God Save The Queen


This is another 2001 rip of the video. Although there is another bootleg of the Rainbow material with this same name from the 90s, it was pressed by a different company.


Recording length: 52 minutes (1 CD, incomplete)
Quality: A
Source: Video
Lineage: "As It Began" (Ultimate Sound) silver

       
Track listing:
Procession, Now I'm Here, Ogre Battle, White Queen, In The Lap Of The Gods, Killer Queen, The March Of The Black Queen, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Son And Daughter, Father To Son, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, Son And Daughter (reprise), Stone Cold Crazy, In The Lap Of The Gods.. Revisited, Jailhouse Rock, God Save The Queen


This 2002 bootleg contains the Rainbow VHS rip, with the 1971 De Lane Lea demo tracks tagged onto the end.


Recording length: 52 minutes (1 DVD, incomplete)
Quality: A
Source: Video
Lineage: "Hail To Majesty" (Wardour) silver

Track listing:
Procession, Now I'm Here, Ogre Battle, White Queen, In The Lap Of The Gods, Killer Queen, The March Of The Black Queen, Bring Back That Leroy Brown, Son And Daughter, Father To Son, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, Son And Daughter (reprise), Stone Cold Crazy, In The Lap Of The Gods.. Revisited, Jailhouse Rock, God Save The Queen


The video was bootlegged in 2008 by Wardour.

Disc 1 of the two-disc package contains audio from Portland and London from earlier in the year.




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