| City: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Venue: | Nippon Budokan |
| Date: | February 18, 1981 |
| Setlist: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, The Millionaire Waltz (intro), Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Rock It, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum solo, guitar solo, Vultan's Theme, 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, Teo Torriatte, God Save The Queen |
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On the last night at the Budokan Freddie plays a bit of The Millionaire Waltz on the piano before Play The Game. It hadn't been heard live since 1978, and this is the last time it would be referenced. Old songs were on his mind this evening, as he played a bit of In The Lap Of The Gods during soundcheck, a song that hadn't been played on stage since 1975. He'd play a different part of the Sheer Heart Attack track on stage a few weeks later in Buenos Aires. After Roger sings the line "I'm in love with my car," Freddie replies with "Oh yes he is" instead of his usual "Oh yeah." Mercury's voice isn't in top shape tonight, so he plays it safe in some spots. He has some trouble with his mic near the end of Save Me. Brian's guitar is slightly higher in the mix than the lead vocal. Perhaps this is what Freddie was referring to when he says "The missiles are heavy tonight" after a blistering version of Rock It. Over the years in Japan, Brian would sometimes play a bit of the traditional Japanese folk song "Sakura" during his guitar solo, always to the delight of the audience. Tonight, however, he plays it on his 12-string acoustic as a preamble to Love Of My Life. In the jam leading into Keep Yourself Alive, Freddie references the Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' classic "Shakin' All Over." Brian adds some nifty riffing before they launch into their debut album rocker. Tonight marks the end of the brief stint of Vultan's Theme in Queen's live set. Battle Theme is heard for the last time as well. Teo Torriatte is actually performed as a third encore, one of the few times (and the last time) after 1978 that Queen would play a song after We Are The Champions. After the show Freddie gets in some last-minute Japanese shopping to the point that he barely makes it to the airport on time - and then he boards the wrong plane! |
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| Recording length: | 105 minutes (2 CD, incomplete) |
| Quality: | B |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | AUD > ? > CDR (x) |
| Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, The Millionaire Waltz (intro), Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Rock It, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum solo [cut], guitar solo, Vultan's Theme, 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, Teo Torriatte, God Save The Queen |
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The last night is captured here in average quality. |
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| Recording length: | 110 minutes (2 CD, complete) |
| Quality: | B- |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | AUD > ? > CDR (x) |
| Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, The Millionaire Waltz (intro), Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Rock It, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Vultan's Theme, Battle Theme, Flash, 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, Teo Torriatte, God Save The Queen |
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This second audience source isn't great, although it's the complete show. |
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| Recording length: | 108 minutes (2 CD, incomplete) |
| Quality: | C |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | AUD > Master > WAV |
| Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, The Millionaire Waltz (intro), Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Rock It [cut], Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Vultan's Theme, Battle Theme, Flash, Crazy Little Thing Called Love [cut], Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, Teo Torriatte [cut] |
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This third source is pretty poor quality. |
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| Recording length: | 111 minutes (2 CD, complete) |
| Quality: | A- |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | "Finale" (Tarantura) silvers |
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| Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, The Millionaire Waltz (intro), Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Rock It, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Vultan's Theme, 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, Teo Torriatte, God Save The Queen |
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Tarantura released the first bootleg of this show in November 2012, a fourth audience source. Like a couple of the other 1981 Mr. Peach tapes, this one has been treated with far too much compression, making it distort occasionally. |
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| Recording length: | 55 minutes (1 CD, incomplete) |
| Quality: | A |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | "Budokan 1981 Final Night Definitive Master" (Wardour) silver |
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| Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, The Millionaire Waltz (intro), Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Rock It, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive [cut] |
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A fifth source came out on the Wardour label in 2021. The quality is excellent, but the tape cuts out half way through the show - possibly due to the equipment being damaged amidst a nearby scramble for the tambourine thrown into the audience by Freddie Mercury. |
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| Recording length: | 108 minutes (2 CD, complete) |
| Quality: | A- |
| Source: | Audience |
| Lineage: | "Budokan 1981 Final Night Complete Master" (Wardour) silvers |
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| Track listing: | We Will Rock You (fast), Let Me Entertain You, The Millionaire Waltz (intro), Play The Game, Mustapha, Death On Two Legs, Killer Queen, I'm In Love With My Car, Get Down Make Love, Rock It, Save Me, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here (reprise), Love Of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, drum/guitar solos, Vultan's Theme, 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, Teo Torriatte, God Save The Queen |
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Wardour released a sixth audience source in 2021, sounding a bit more distant than source 5. |
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