City: Montreal, QC, Canada
Venue: Montreal Forum
Date: December 1, 1978

Setlist:
We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Somebody To Love, If You Can't Beat Them, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, Bicycle Race, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, You're My Best Friend, Now I'm Here, Spread Your Wings, Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock, Fat Bottomed Girls, Keep Yourself Alive, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen



 

                       

The audience is very enthusiastic tonight. There are a lot of fantastic moments in this show, particularly many instances of nice vocal harmonies, like in Somebody To Love and It's Late.

Brian greets the audience in French after Somebody To Love, being as Quebec is the French-speaking province of Canada: "Bonsoir tout le monde. Comment ca va? C'est un long time, n'est pas... enough, I think."

This is the first known instance during a Queen show where Freddie does the show-stopping vocal exchange with the audience during Now I'm Here. Although it is only brief tonight, over the next few years it would be greatly expanded on.

Before Dreamer's Ball, Roger lets out a huge scream. It amuses Freddie a great deal to the point of asking for another, to which his drummer dutifully delivers.

When the second stage is lowered for the acoustic set, the bass drum skin on Roger Taylor's smaller drum kit is now the Jazz album logo. His main drum kit still uses the News Of The World robot, though. Both kits would sport the Jazz logo by the European tour next year.

The Brighton Rock jam starts off well, but Brian soon breaks a guitar string and Roger wisely decides to do a drum solo while a guitar change is made.

Freddie comes up with an introduction of Fat Bottomed Girls for the ages: "We're gonna do a brand new song for you right now. We've kind of included this in our latest repertoire. This next song is dedicated to all you ladies with great big tits and asses. And all you fellas with great big tits and asses!" He laughs at his brief stroke of brilliance, and the band soon get on with it.

This is the first instance of Freddie singing a few lines from Fun It off the Jazz LP during the intro of Keep Yourself Alive, something which he'd often do throughout the Jazz tour.

As for the vocal performance, Freddie's voice is cracking now and then, but he's still dripping with passion throughout. This tour would soon wear on his voice.

The great pictures seen above, taken by Mary Urban, were submitted by Mauro Terenzi. Since they were taken from only a few rows back, Freddie's ballet shoes are clearly visible in some of them.


Recording length: 122 minutes (2 CD, complete)
Quality: A
Source: Audience
Lineage: "Live In Montreal" (Continental Sounds) silvers

     
Track listing:
We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Somebody To Love, If You Can't Beat Them, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, Bicycle Race, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, You're My Best Friend, Now I'm Here, Spread Your Wings, Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock, Fat Bottomed Girls, Keep Yourself Alive, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen


This is a great version of the classic Montreal audience tape, but it plays a bit too slow. The quality is excellent, even if John Deacon's bass a tad buried in the mix. There are a few people near the taper who seem to be applauding between songs on their tour programmes, making for a distinct sound.

The sound fluctuates back and forth between stereo and mono throughout (mostly the former), but it does not hinder the listening experience in the least. This is one of the best audience recordings of Queen in existence.


Recording length: 118 minutes (2 CD, complete)
Quality: B+
Source: Audience
Lineage: "Live Achievements" (Gypsy Eye) silvers

     
Track listing:
We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Somebody To Love, If You Can't Beat Them, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, Bicycle Race, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, You're My Best Friend, Now I'm Here, Spread Your Wings, Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock, Fat Bottomed Girls, Keep Yourself Alive, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen


Once again, we have the crackling sound that Gypsy Eye rarely fails to employ. This is a prime example of how a bootleg label can brutally destroy the quality of a beautiful recording before putting it on the market. Avoid this one like the plague.


Recording length: 118 minutes (2 CD, complete)
Quality: A
Source: Audience
Lineage: AUD > ? > CDR (x)
Track listing:
We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Somebody To Love, If You Can't Beat Them, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, Bicycle Race, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, You're My Best Friend, Now I'm Here, Spread Your Wings, Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock, Fat Bottomed Girls, Keep Yourself Alive, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen


This sounds maybe 1% better than the Continental Records version, and it plays at the correct speed. Although it's an unconfirmed gen, it must be very close to the master.


Recording length: 119 minutes (2 CD, complete)
Quality: A
Source: Audience
Lineage: "Best Of Montreal" (Wardour) silvers

   
Track listing:
We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Somebody To Love, If You Can't Beat Them, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, Bicycle Race, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, You're My Best Friend, Now I'm Here, Spread Your Wings, Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock, Fat Bottomed Girls, Keep Yourself Alive, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen


Wardour likely used the excellent tape listed above. The tape still plays a tad too slow.

Here's a link to the always-reliable GS review: http://www.collectorsmusicreviews.com




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