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Review
by Bootleg
Encyclopedia
Queen's 1980 tour for The Game was the longest and most
successful they ever did of North America. It began in Vancouver on
June 30th and ended on September 30th in New York and saw both the LP and
the single "Another One Bites The Dust" hit number one. It's
A Killer documents the September 10th show at the Milwaukee
Exposition Convention Center and Arena (MECCA) in Milwaukee, the first
show after a weeklong break. Some say the early September dates were
cancelled but there is no evidence supporting that claim. Early
dates on the itinerary included "Need Your Loving Tonight" and
"Somebody To Love" but both were dropped and this show presents
the typical set list for most of the concerts with no rarities. The sound
quality is excellent and detailed although slightly distant from the
stage. It is still one of the best sounding recordings from the era
capturing the atmosphere of the performance perfectly. There is a
small cut in the middle of "Dragon Attack" losing about five
seconds but is otherwise complete.
The
tape opens with a minute long FM radio spot advertising the concert as
"the major entertainment event of the year...Wednesday night at eight
pm... at the Milwaukee Arena. Queen concert. It's a
killer!" (hence the title). "Jailhouse Rock" opens
the show followed by "We Will Rock You" and "Let Me
Entertain You", just like during the previous tour.
"Play The Game" is a restful semi-ballad before the medley
beginning with "Mustapha". This Jazz song was
introduced into the set for the Crazy tour in 1979 and would last until
their appearance in South America in March 1981. Many people have
asked about a translation for this song but it is really
impossible. Freddie uses words in at least four different
languages (English, Arabic, Parsi and Hindi) and is largely gibberish.
But between the vocal melody and May's eastern scales it is one of the
most unique songs released by a major rock act. Before "Save
Me" Freddie continues the nightly ritual of speaking about his
appearance by asking, "Do you think I look like Burt Reynolds
with this? A lot of people hate it but I don't give a
fuck...I don't give two shits!"
Freddie's
charisma is mostly due, not to the exaggerated arm gestures and fist
pumping, but upon his vulnerable self-consciousness that lets everybody in
on the joke. Pay attention to his facial reactions to his own
movements on some of the videos available. Before "Love Of My
Life" Brian May says, "I don't know if I should tell you this
but we have an album out called The Game. We just
heard tonight it's gone to number one in Billboard with a bullet
so thank you." "Keep Yourself Alive" is expanded into
the Roger Taylor / Brian May drums and guitar extravaganza begun the
previous year and sounds very potent in this recording. They liked
to save the best for last and "Another One Bites The Dust"
is played as the first encore followed by a destructive "Sheer
Heart Attack". It's A Killer is Wardour's second
release from the US Game tour (following Ultimate Entertainer II (Wardour-014)) and
the label again uses a dark tint over the cover picture imitating the
style of the official LP. The inside has several pictures from
the tour including one of Freddie sitting on the shoulders of Darth Vader,
a funny choice since he sang he doesn't like Star Wars in "Bicycle
Race". Like other current releases on this
label the inserts are printed on thick glossy paper and are limited
to three hundred copies and is very recommended.
St.
Paul 1980
is the bonus dvdr. It is twenty-four minutes shot on super 8mm by an
enterprising fan in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. He had recently
obtained the equipment and filmed fragments of several shows between
1980-1982 starting with a Gary Neuman show in March. He is on
the floor in what looks like the tenth row and is able to capture
some amazing close-ups of Freddie and the band over the heads of the
audience. Wardour assembled the fragments out of order by
placing "You're My Best Friend", "Save Me" and
"Now I'm Here" after "Keep Yourself Alive".
Also, what is labeled as "Get Down, Make Love" on the
release is actually the tympani and guitar solo from "Keep
Yourself Alive". The sound, recorded by an external mike held
by the filmer's brother, runs a bit too fast but is otherwise excellent. He
placed the show in its entirety on Youtube and can be seen there.
Since there is no other documentation for this show this is a welcome
addition and a great bonus by Wardour. (GS)
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