A DAY AT THE COURT

2 CD

Label: Wardour 021     
Country: Japan
Released: September 2005 
Recorded: Earls Court, London, England,  June 6th. 1977.  The medley on cd 2 might comes from June 7th. gig.
Sound: Excellent mono soundboard recording
Comments:  Another bootleg of this Earls Court show in London 1977. Nice bootleg anyway. The encore medley might be from the day after, June 7th. I've been told so, but not sure correct.
Queen did 2 show, at Earls Court in London on this  tour. The 6th. & 7th. of June. Both filmed & recorded, but sofar no officially release of this shows has seen daylight.
Only bootlegs. Note that all the boots has the same source. There might bee some 'new mastering' but all in all, it's from the same source.

This concert is also out on various DVD bootlegs. Nice show.
Note that 'Wardour' label has re-released this bootleg on a 2cdr in March 2007.
Roots: Original from a bootleg video. More than less a raw copy, which was made out to be shown on early Queen UK fan club conventions.
Time: 63:13 / 55:19

Front cover


 CD ONE
 Intro: Procession  (tape)
  'A Day At The Races' theme  (tape) 
 Tie Your Mother Down
 Ogre Battle
 White Queen
 Somebody To Love
 Medley: Killer Queen
               Good Old Fashioned Love Boy      
               The Millionaire Waltz
               You're My Best Friend
               Bring Back That Leroy Brown     
 Death On Two Legs
 Doing Alright
 Brighton Rock
 '39
 CD TWO
 You Take My Breath Away 
 Medley: White Man
                 The Prophet's Song 
 Bohemian Rhapsody
 Keep Yourself Alive
 Stone Cold Crazy
 In The Lap Of The Gods...revisited  
 Now I'm Here
 Liar
 Medley: Lucille  (not listed)
              Jailhouse Rock
              Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting    
              Stupid Cupid
              Be Bop A Lula  (not listed)
              Jailhouse Rock  (reprise, not listed)
 God Save The Queen....


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Back cover

 
Review by Collectors music reviews
 
Queen's two shows at Earl's Court the summer 1977 were their biggest and (arguably) most important in England up to that point.  The band knew it and recorded and filmed them for the possibility for an official live LP and film.  Unfortunately the mic problems in "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Ogre Battle" nixed that plan.  So what we have is an excellent sounding mono video soundtrack recording.  A high, dull sounding generation first surfaced on a silver title in 1994 on A Night At The Court (TNT 007/8).  This was missing "Doin' Alright" and "Keep Yourself Alive".  The most recent silver release is on The Prophet's Queen on Gypsy Eye (GE-050/051).  This release has the missing tracks and sounded good but very thin and obviously several generations from the master.  In 2002 a new, better version of the video surfaced.  This new release on Wardour is from the new videotape and sounds much better, louder and cleaner than the previous releases making this a definitive version. 

 

This is a joyful, ebullient concert and both Freddie and Brian May acknowledge its significance.  "Thank you for coming to the first show in London for a long time.  This is a right carnival in the front,” Freddie says before an emotional version of "White Queen".  He encourages everyone to sing along to "Somebody To Love" since there are "only four of us on stage".  And Brian thanks everyone who followed the band from their early days at the Marquee.  The medley includes two songs from the latest Day At The Races, an unusual event since they are new tunes.  This is also a rare opportunity to hear an entire "Death On Two Legs".  It frequently began the medleys and was cut off after the guitar solo.  The show hits a fever pitch with "You Take My Breath Away" (with Freddie not bothering with the high notes) and the "White Man/Prophet's Song" medley.  "Bohemian Rhapsody" is played, as it would be for the rest of their career, with the band leaving the stage for the opera section.  This was the first tour where they did that and not divide the piece throughout the show.  The encores have a long rock and roll medley that includes a rare version of Elton John's "Saturday's Alright".  This piece of the tape comes from the June 7th show and not the 6th.  Wardour has produced an excellent title.  It far surpasses the previous releases and definitely worth having.  (GS)