| City: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Venue: | Nippon Budokan |
| Date: | February 12, 1981 |
| Setlist: | Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Fat Bottomed Girls, Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Battle Theme, Flash, The Hero, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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This is the first of five shows at the Budokan, which are essentially warm-up gigs for the upcoming stadium shows in South America. In an interview on Japanese TV, Brian May says the reason they only played the Budokan was because of their lighting rig. Extra scaffolding needed to be installed into the hall to accomodate it, which he says wasn't possible at the other venues they had played in the past. At the end of the interview he adds, "We're particularly glad that we seem to be accepted as a musical group as well as what you call an idol group now." 
Fat Bottomed Girls is excellent tonight (particularly Mercury in the third verse). The audience dutifully sing their part in Love Of My Life, to which he responds, "It's easy if you try, folks!" In a TV interview the day before their first concert in Argentina, Brian expands on this latest experience in Japan: "It's the best tour we've done there, and we've done four tours, and it was clearly hysterical. Our audience is changing a bit from a kind of teeny-bop audience into a more rock audience in Japan. Japan was one of the few places where we had a young audience, but now it's more in line with how it is in the States and Europe." The soundcheck pictures, taken by Koh Hasebe, could be from any of the five nights in Japan. In the April 1981 issue of Music Life, Brian says he used a regular, medium-sized pick on this Japanese tour instead of his usual six-pence. |
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| Recording length: | 104 minutes (2 CD, complete) |
| Quality: | B+ |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | AUD > ? > Cassette (x) > CDR (x) > WAV (GoldWave fixes) > FLAC level 8 |
| Track listing: | Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Fat Bottomed Girls, Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Battle Theme, Flash, The Hero, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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This is a nice enough recording, although a bit distant. |
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| Recording length: | 2 CDR, complete |
| Quality: | ? |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | "Battle Theme" (Trial) |
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| Track listing: | Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Fat Bottomed Girls, Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Battle Theme, Flash, The Hero, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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This is probably similar to the recording listed above. It's a 4-disc set also including a recording from the following night. |
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| Recording length: | 104 minutes (2 CD, complete) |
| Quality: | A- |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | "Rock Budokan 1981" (Shakuntala) |
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| Track listing: | Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Fat Bottomed Girls, Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Battle Theme, Flash, The Hero, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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A second audience source was debuted by the Shakuntala label in 2016. Hiss reduction was done, leaving behind some digital artifacts. Somebody To Love and Teo Torriatte from a 1979 soundcheck are tagged onto the end (with these two tracks the length comes to 111 minutes). |
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| Recording length: | 105 minutes (2 CD, complete) |
| Quality: | A- |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | "The First Of Five Shows" (Tarantura) |
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| Track listing: | Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Fat Bottomed Girls, Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Battle Theme, Flash, The Hero, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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Shortly after the release of the Shakuntala bootleg, Tarantura came back with a third source from this show. As always the quality is excellent, with a hefty amount of compression added in the mastering process. |
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| Recording length: | 47 minutes (1 CD, incomplete) |
| Quality: | B- |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | AUD > Master Cassette > WAV |
| Track listing: | Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise) |
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A fourth source exists in average quality, seemingly just one side of a 90-minute cassette. |
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