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Review
by
Collectors
music reviews
A Day At The Bristol
contains the complete tape from Queen's first date in the UK on the Day
At The Races tour. Three other shows exist on tape
including May 30th Glasgow (released on Gypsy Eye on A Day At
The Apollo (GE-145/146)), June 3rd Liverpool and the soundboard
recording for June 6th at Earl's Court released both in audio and
video many times. The sound quality for the Bristol tape is
clear but distant and lacking in significant detail. The
audience sings and claps along to many of the song obscuring the
action on stage although that is actually a plus for a Queen show
which relies upon heavy audience participation to be effective.
A small cut during "Brighton Rock" is the only cut on the
tape which is otherwise complete and becomes enjoyable once the ears
adjust. This tour is significant because it marks the
transition between the elaborate production Queen of the
mid-seventies and the more stripped down band on News Of The
World. Many numbers from Queen II like
"Ogre Battle" and "White Queen" would be dropped
to never surface again. "You Take My Breath
Away" from the new album was performed only on this tour and is
a good touch although the sparse arrangement in the live setting
strips the song of any of its power.
Most
of the fun songs from A Day At The Races are played early
in the show during the medley. "Killer Queen" is the
first song followed by "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy"
(with Freddie again forgetting some words) and "The Millionaire
Waltz". "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" with May
playing the ukulele is the final song as it has in previous
tours. "Death On Two Legs" is introduced by Freddie
as a song "we've only just introduced to the set about a nasty
old soul". It is played as an independent number and is
one of the few times one can hear the second verse. Before
"Sweet Lady" Freddie says "This next song is
dedicated to all the beautiful ladies in the audience
tonight.." and a male voice from the audience shouts
"Thank you Freddie!!” Many consider that song to be the
weakest on A Night At The Opera but it works very well in a
live environment and it is a shame it never appeared again.
"White Man" paired with "The Prophet's Song"
gives May two solo set pieces in the concert along with
"Brighton Rock". On previous tours "Bohemian
Rhapsody" was divided into two or three sections scattered
throughout the concert but is played as a single song on this tour
for the first time. "In The Lap Of The
Gods...Revisited" is the set closer.
"Now
I'm Here", one of their hits from Sheer Heart Attack,
is the first encore followed by an eleven-minute version of
"Liar". "I'm A Man" by Muddy Waters makes
a rare appearance as an encore. Some collectors have discussed
whether or not they Queen every played Bo Diddley's "Mannish
Boy" but is almost impossible to tell since they are
essentially the same song with the very similar lyrics.
"Jailhouse Rock" closes the event before the taped
"God Save The Queen" plays with the audience singing
along. Breakdown, a label by the same people behind Blue Cafe,
have been releasing Queen titles at a furious pace and are the only
real option for collectors right now. Gypsy Eye is MIA and
Wardour have been on a Jeff Beck binge of late. The photos on
the front and back are actually very clear but the inserts are
printed on only one side with very thin paper. They use silver
cdrs but with glued on paper labels. Labels like Sirene and
Trial print the info on the actual discs and the jury is still out
about the longevity of productions like this. However
Breakdown didn't use EQ on the tape leaving it imperfect yet
listenable. There are also too few releases from Queen's UK
tour for A Day At The Races so this release, if it can be
found at a reasonable price, is worth seeking out. (GS)
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