Queen-Live In Houston '77 (DVD) [tntvillage]

Queen-Live In Houston '77 (DVD) [tntvillage]



City: Houston, TX, USA

Venue: The Summit

Date: December 11, 1977

Recording length: 113 minutes

Video/Audio quality: A/A



Setlist:

1) We Will Rock You (Slow)

(Brian May)

2) We Will Rock You (Fast)

(Brian May)

3) Brighton Rock

(Brian May)

4) Somebody To Love

(Freddie Mercury)

5) Death On Two Legs

(Freddie Mercury)

6) Killer Queen

(Freddie Mercury)

7) Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy

(Freddie Mercury)

8) I'm In Love With My Car

(Roger Taylor)

9) Get Down Make Love

(Freddie Mercury)

10) The Millionaire Waltz

(Freddie Mercury)

11) You're My Best Friend

(John Deacon)

12) Liar

(Freddie Mercury)

13) Love Of My Life

(Freddie Mercury)

14) '39

(Brian May)

15) My Melancholy Blues

(Freddie Mercury)

16) White Man

(Brian May)

17) The Prophet's Song / Guitar Solo

(Brian May)

18) Now I'm Here

(Brian May)

19) Stone Cold Crazy

(Queen)

20) Bohemian Rhapsody

(Freddie Mercury)

21) Keep Yourself Alive

(Brian May)

22) Tie Your Mother Down

(Brian May)

23) We Will Rock You

(Brian May)

24) We Are The Champions

(Freddie Mercury)

25) Sheer Heart Attack

(Roger Taylor)

26) Jailhouse Rock

(Leiber/Stroller)

27) God Save The Queen

(Arr. Brian May)







This is the legendary Houston show - legendary only because its video was the one of the most sought-after documents of Queen for decades. The filming was the result of an agreement with the venue not only for Queen, but also many other bands' concerts held there that year. The footage of Aerosmith, The Eagles, and Kiss is well-known amongst collectors, and the Kiss footage has been officially released on Kissology volume 1. Footage of Led Zeppelin is rumoured to exist as well.



The performance is fantastic overall, and there are a few interesting things to point out. Brian breaks a string a minute into Liar, so Roger has to improvise on his hi-hat for a short while until his guitarist gets a Red Special copy. They then play a spectacular version of the debut album gem, with an extended jam in the middle where everyone shines.



Freddie makes a very rare reference to his recurring nodule problem which was an issue at many points during his career (but not during this great period for him). "It's a real bitch of a song. It really gets to the nodules, but we're gonna do it for you tonight. This is..." (he hesitates and chuckes to himself, probably because he's surprised at himself for even mentioning it!) "a song entitled White Man." He offers a great version of the song, as his voice is in superb shape tonight.



The high quality of the recording is apparent at the end of White Man, as Roger can be heard dropping his drum sticks with the knowledge that he has a 10-15 minute break ahead. The band skip the reprise of The Prophet's Song - the only time this is known to have happened on the entire tour - as Brian jumps right into Now I'm Here after his rather unique guitar solo (which starts with him fiddling with his EBow). Perhaps this was done because of time constraints (having a limited amount of film?). At the end of Now I'm Here, Roger breaks a drum stick during his brief drum break before the final fanfare.



A great picture of the crown lighting rig was taken before the concert by the head of the Queen crew, Peter "Ratty" Hince, and it can be seen on his website.



In 1989, My Melancholy Blues from this show was released on the UK 12" "The Miracle" single, and on The Miracle CD single in the UK and Austria. Also in 1989, an edited version of the song was seen on the Rare Live video release.