| City: | Osaka, Japan |
| Venue: | Festival Hall |
| Date: | April 20, 1979 |
| Setlist: | We Will Rock You (slow/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, Teo Torriatte, Don't Stop Me Now, Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock, Keep Yourself Alive, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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Since they didn't tour Japan after releasing News Of The World, Queen decide to revive the We Will Rock You slow/fast combination for the second night in Osaka. As in 1977/78, Freddie and Brian perform their respective parts of We Will Rock You from opposite sides of the stage. The overture from the A Day At The Races album then plays, after which Brian launches the band into the fast version. There's a great moment after Somebody To Love. Freddie remains sitting at the piano and says, "Ok, we have a slightly different show tonight from last night, so it should be a lot of fun. This next song is from A Night At The Opera. This is called Death On Two Legs." He then realizes he has messed up the setlist, and says, probably slightly embarrassed, "I told you it would be a different show!" He fiddles on the piano briefly, gets up, and continues, "I think we're gonna change it. This is called If You Can't Beat 'Em, join 'em!" Looking at one of his bandmates, he adds, "Fuck off!" as Brian starts the song. Freddie, after Now I'm Here: "We're gonna do a song for the first time ever. I don't know if you understand this. I think you'll get the gist. And we'd like everybody to join in." In Japanese, he then invites them to sing along, and they simply love any moment where he speaks their language. "Ok then, this song is called Teo Torriatte." Brian May then plays piano on stage for the first time. The song is heard at the expense of Spread Your Wings tonight. They play an abridged version of the A Day At The Races favourite in 1979 and 1981, generally intended as a singalong with the audience since the chorus is in Japanese. Queen would only play the song in Japan, and the complete song would be performed only twice in 1982 (its only performances outside Japan would be by Brian May on the tail end of his solo tour in 1993). Hearing these versions of Love Of My Life without the audience singing along leaves one appreciating the sheer beauty of Freddie Mercury's voice. After the Live Killers album release, most audiences would sing along to the song and it would become an event unto itself. After '39 Mercury does a quick exchange of "hey hey" back and forth with the audience, and brings Roger Taylor's drum tech Chris Taylor on stage to do one himself. Mercury introduces him to the audience as "Crystal", as he gave many of the people around him female nicknames. |
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| Recording length: | 125 minutes (2 CD, incomplete) |
| Quality: | A- |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | "Zoom 1979" (LLX) silvers |
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| Track listing: | We Will Rock You (slow/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 [cut], Teo Torriatte, Don't Stop Me Now, Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock [cut], Keep Yourself Alive, Bohemian Rhapsody [cut], Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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This 1994 bootleg uses an excellent-sounding tape, and like the first night, it runs much too slow. Like last night's recording the audience are often just as loud as the band, but this one sounds slightly better likely because it was taped a bit closer to the stage. |
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| Recording length: | 120 minutes (2 CD, incomplete) |
| Quality: | A- |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | "Ultimate Dreamer" (Wardour) silvers |
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| Track listing: | We Will Rock You (slow/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 [cut], Teo Torriatte, Don't Stop Me Now, Dreamer's Ball, Love Of My Life, '39, It's Late, Brighton Rock [cut], Keep Yourself Alive, Bohemian Rhapsody [cut], Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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This is probably sourced from the Zoom bootleg, as the only difference is that it now runs at the correct speed. Like Zoom, it's a 4 CD set of both nights in Osaka. Here's a link to the always-reliable GS review: http://www.collectorsmusicreviews.com In 2019 Wardour released another bootleg of this tape called "Definitive Osaka 1979." The content is identical, apart from a slight EQ job. |
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