City: | Toronto, ON, Canada |
Venue: | Maple Leaf Gardens |
Date: | December 3, 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 |
|
|
|
|
This is the first of two nights at the Gardens in Toronto. The band are in a very relaxed mood, as they were a couple days before in Montreal. Freddie is in a bit better voice, too. After a subtle applause following Let Me Entertain You, Freddie says, "You should've seen the audience in Montreal. They'll teach you a thing or two." Boos ensue, as there is a great rivalry between Ontario and Quebec (particularly in hockey between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens), which he may not be aware of. He continues, "Forget the security. This is your night!" Brian, after If You Can't Beat Them: "Thanks a lot, good people of Toronto. We haven't seen you for some time. How are you feeling? You always have some winter for us, thank you. OK, we're going to take you back some time, a few years ago, to something called A Night At The Opera." The mere mention of Queen's breakthrough record results in a great cheer from the audience. "This is a rude little song called Death On Two Legs." Brian, before Dreamer's Ball: "We'd like to say thank you for coming out in such large numbers and filling this place. We appreciate it, thank you." Freddie then urges the audience on. "We'd like you to start up a beat. Come on, any beat. Preferably this one. Yeah, come on, take all your clothes off!" His delivery of the song is a very gutsy one. Brian, before Love Of My Life: "Thank you. A little experiment there. We're gonna bring a jazz band next time. We used to say we we're gonna bring an orchestra; we'll bring a jazz band." Freddie adds, "And a couple of strippers," to much applause. "You're into that kind of thing. Yeah, you're a smutty audience, I can tell. This is one big sleaze pit, I can tell! One track mind. That's the way I like it." He then introduces the next song: "OK, we're gonna reduce this next number right to the depths. This is a song that... it comes from A Night At The Opera, or something like that. And this is a duet called Love Of My Life." Brian: "We enjoy doing those things for a change. Glad you enjoy it too. OK, we're gonna change the mood a little again. We would like to welcome back the rest of the group. The rhythm section featuring Mr. Roger Meadows Taylor on drums." Freddie: "Take a bow, you old tart!" Freddie, after '39: "We really have a lot of fun doing those acoustic numbers. It's nice to get away from the real heavy rock and roll for a change. It's nice to know that an audience can take it, too. I think it's time we did something from the News Of The World album right now. This is a song called It's Late." This Brighton Rock jam is stronger than the last one played in Montreal. There's a highlight about 12 minutes in when the band seamlessly change the tempo and the key at the same time with great results. Either this is extrasensory perception at work (not entirely impossible when a band has been playing together for many years), or perhaps they rehearsed this one during soundcheck after the somewhat lackluster jam two nights before. Freddie, before Fat Bottomed Girls: "This is dedicated to all you people with great big ginormous fat asses." Brian is out of tune during his We Will Rock You solo (a broken guitar string, most likely). His entrance into We Are The Champions isn't his most graceful, either. Here are reviews of the show from the next day's Toronto Star and Globe And Mail, and a few pro photos from the gig. The first set of pictures was taken by Tracy Runas, and the second by Brian Maguire (#13 reveals the acoustic set stage descending as the band are finishing Spread Your Wings). Photos 20-30 are by Pete Dove (#25 is another good shot of the B-stage), and photo 31 is © Alan Kennedy. The rest could be from either night, the first three of which were taken by Craig McCracken. The last two were taken during the second encore, where Freddie is seen sporting a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey (but not the one he was given backstage in 1977, as that one was a 'home' jersey, while this one is 'away'). |
Recording length: | 121 minutes (2 CD, incomplete) |
Quality: | B+ |
Source: | Audience |
Lineage: | AUD > ? > Cassette > WAV (GoldWave speed correction) > FLAC level 8 |
Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Somebody To Love [cut], 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 [cut], Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock, Fat Bottomed Girls, Keep Yourself Alive [cut], Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
This copy is still a generation or two away from the master, but the EQ is more balanced and it is the most complete version of the tape available. The best previous versions had no less than 15 cuts between songs. All of those cuts are absent here, and there is more tape at the beginning of the show than before. There are still cuts in Spread Your Wings and Keep Yourself Alive (for tape flips, both at their respective 45-minute marks), and the cut in Somebody To Love was probably a security duck. The tape wheel turning can be heard in the left channel for the few minutes surrounding the first tape flip. |