5. See What A Fool I've Been (Queen - Live In London: 9/13/1973)

It’s finally time to revive this channel and clean up this mess! After over a year since last uploading a concert onto this channel, it is time to get back into the driver’s seat and start a new era. Nearly every concert that was previously on this channel will be removed and replaced by a superior version in some way (whether it would be a better source, an upgraded source, a version with less audio compression, or a complete re-write of the description). The two-month hiatus I took last summer has completely restored my drive to continue work on this channel - and I will not stop until everything has been 100% done.

This is the earliest circulating Queen live concert and for fans that aren’t familiar with Queen’s earliest live work, it is a huge contrast compared to their more familiar concerts later on in the decade and into the 80s. The sound on these 1973 recordings captures a raw, youthful, and hungry band that will stop at nothing to achieve world-wide success. While Queen would play absolutely amazing and legendary shows later on in their career, there is something magical about hearing them at this stage in their live career.

This multi-sourced version of the show is the best available version to date. Thanks to Pittrek (for his source merges) and GinjaNinja (for improving the audio balance/mix), this show has amazing audio quality, is complete, and is recommended to any Queen fan for essential listening. The only real downside to this recording is that Freddie is low in the mix, but it isn’t a major issue as he can still be heard quite clearly. DJ Alan Black also adds commentary in between songs which is nice to hear for newer fans that aren’t as familiar with this early era of Queen.

On this 39 minute recording, the band sound fantastic with plenty of energy, passion, enthusiasm, and creativity. Since this show features Queen II songs well before the album’s release date, those songs feature alternative lyrics compared to the upcoming official releases and live versions from later years. Freddie sounds excellent overall at this show - with his soft tone and falsetto being especially prominent on specific numbers. While not yet possessing the same control, technique, and power as he would later on in the decade, his raw and youthful voice during this time period has a charm about it and it really suits the material nicely. Now, time to get into the performance synopsis!

“Father To Son” is the earliest known live version and it’s a fantastic performance from everybody on stage. Brian’s guitar work is amazing and comes through extremely nicely on this performance. Freddie’s vocal performance is also great with his falsetto sounding especially pure. “Son And Daughter” has some sour vocal harmonies in spots, but is otherwise a very solid rendition with Roger and Brian especially sounding brilliant. Brian’s guitar solo (despite the Echoplex’s sound cutting out) sounds very spirited and foreshadows some of his greatest live guitar work over the next few years. “See What A Fool I’ve Been” sounds fantastic and is among the best live versions of the era as the musicianship is splendid (despite a slight goof during Brian’s first solo section) and Freddie really shows gusto during his vocal performance. He mixes the softer tone that is displayed on the recorded version, with a more aggressive “rock” approach akin to Robert Plant and it sounds brilliant. “Ogre Battle” has great energy and a gutsy delivery from Freddie, but he has some intonation issues in spots (especially during the chorus sections). “Liar” is a spirited performance with all four members playing as if their lives depended on it. While Freddie has done stronger vocal deliveries of the song in later years, his youthful tone and energy more than make up for any vocal shortcomings. Brian’s guitar solo is especially juicy on this night along with Roger and John showing off their instrumental prowess. The “Jailhouse Rock Medley” sounds fantastic with the energy level being high and Brian playing his ass off. “Big Spender” features Roger’s splendid drumming and Freddie sounding strong. Concluding this show, Bama Lama Lama Loo is a great performance with Freddie giving his all on the vocals and the instrumentation sounding rock-solid!

ENJOY!!!

Note: “Deacon John on bass… “No, it’s not!”