| City: | Sun City, Bophuthatswana |
| Venue: | Super Bowl |
| Date: | October 19, 1984 |
| Presumed setlist: | Machines (tape), Tear It Up, Tie Your Mother Down, Under Pressure, Somebody To Love, improv / My Fairy King (part), Killer Queen, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, It's A Hard Life, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here, Is This The World We Created?, Love Of My Life, Another One Bites The Dust, Hammer To Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free, Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen |
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Queen were apparently about an hour late getting on stage, leading them to play a slightly shortened set. The band play with great vigour and excitement on this night, embellishing the songs in enthusiastic ways that they hadn't done in years. Freddie's voice is in great shape, and he sings very passionately throughout. He even goes for the high notes in Seven Seas Of Rhye. It is a truly remarkable performance, with the band playing like they have plenty to prove (even though it's the eighth night) in this unfamiliar and politically dangerous territory. Between Somebody To Love and Killer Queen, Freddie plays a descending progression which the band jam on - the end result being something reminiscent of "The March Of The Black Queen" from Queen II. But then comes the real surprise, as Brian and Roger join him for a bit of "My Fairy King" from their debut album. There is a lengthy improvisation after the medley during which Freddie jumps up and down the octaves effortlessly, demonstrating vocal range and natural abilities in a way that only he can. He then passes on the high note at the beginning of It's A Hard Life, as he had given his all for the past few minutes. Freddie introduces Dragon Attack (which is followed by a superb jam into Now I'm Here), something which he had never done previously. He later introduces Another One Bites The Dust with the "tits and ass" speech he had used for Fat Bottomed Girls on previous tours. He cheekily urges everyone to sing along during Love Of My Life. "Don't be shy now, girls. Come on!" He later leads them through a brief singalong of We Will Rock You before Hammer To Fall. Freddie, before Crazy Little Thing Called Love: "I must let you know, I only know three chords on this fucking guitar, so three chords is all you're gonna get. This song is for all you crazy people in the audience tonight. I'm sure there's a few of you here. I've been told this sin city is full of you people that are crazy." Bri completely misses the slide guitar solo in Radio Ga Ga, and to compensate Freddie sings a few notes of it in falsetto. Freddie sings the bridge of I Want To Break Free as close to the original as he ever would. |
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| Recording length: | 88 minutes (2 CD, incomplete) |
| Quality: | A+ / A |
| Source: | Soundboard |
| Lineage: | Soundboard > ? > Maxell XLII Cassettes > MiniDisc > PC (Audacity) > MP3 |
| Track listing: | Machines (tape), Tear It Up, Tie Your Mother Down, Under Pressure, Somebody To Love, improv / My Fairy King, Killer Queen, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, It's A Hard Life, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here, Is This The World We Created?, Love Of My Life [cut], Another One Bites The Dust, Hammer To Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free, Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions |
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This is a stereo soundboard tape of the second-last South African show. Although the recording is superb quality, there is a slight lack of top end (and an overall lack of clarity, especially on side B), probably from a poor tape transfer somewhere down the line. The first side of the 90 minute cassette came out in 2009, and the long-awaited second half finally emerged in 2015. Love Of My Life cuts out part way through, so it's hard to know if the Stone Cold Crazy medley and/or Brian May's solo spot was performed. |
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| Recording length: | 1 CDR, incomplete |
| Quality: | ? |
| Source: | Soundboard |
| Lineage: | "Live At Superbowl '84" (Gypsy Eye Project) |
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| Track listing: | Machines (tape), Tear It Up, Tie Your Mother Down, Under Pressure, Somebody To Love, improv / My Fairy King, Killer Queen, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, It's A Hard Life, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here, I Want To Break Free [cut], Crazy Little Thing Called Love [cut] |
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The recording was bootlegged by Gypsy Eye (formerly Breakdown, now calling themselves the 'Gypsy Eye Project') in November 2009. A 1986 interview with the band from Irish radio is included where they speak about the Sun City shows. |
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| Recording length: | 1 CDR, incomplete |
| Quality: | ? |
| Source: | Soundboard |
| Lineage: | "Sun City Boys" (Godfather) silvers |
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| Track listing: | Machines (tape), Tear It Up, Tie Your Mother Down, Under Pressure, Somebody To Love, improv / My Fairy King, Killer Queen, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, It's A Hard Life, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here |
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Godfather bootlegged the recording as well. Like Gypsy Eye, they included the Irish radio interview, but omitted the clips of songs from the second half of the show, opting instead for the Freddie Mercury tracks with Michael Jackson recorded in 1983. |
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| Recording length: | 1 CDR, incomplete |
| Quality: | ? |
| Source: | Soundboard |
| Lineage: | "Sun City" |
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| Track listing: | Machines (tape), Tear It Up, Tie Your Mother Down, Under Pressure, Somebody To Love, improv / My Fairy King, Killer Queen, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, It's A Hard Life, Dragon Attack, Now I'm Here, I Want To Break Free [cut], Crazy Little Thing Called Love [cut] |
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Here's yet another CDR bootleg of the Sun City recording, from an unknown label. |
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