5. Hangman (Queen - Live In Manchester: 11/26/1973)

Since the 1973 uploads are proving to be a hit among subscribers, I will continue to stick with them until I reach the last available concert from the year. When I made the decision to return to the channel to re-upload the Queen concerts, I mentioned that I was going to upload everything in chronological order. While this was the objective on paper, I always had in the back of my mind that it may not be the preferred style of uploading concerts - and that the “random years” way of doing things would be mentioned to me. After reading through comments and seeing such positive feedback about uploading all the 1973 concerts in order, I will continue the “chronological” uploads for the time being. This Manchester concert from the Queen I Tour is once again a fantastic display of raw vigor from the band and what’s great about this recording is that it’s complete. To date, this is the only truly complete recording from this tour which makes this essential listening. While the quality isn’t the absolute greatest, it is still decent enough to enjoy and the contents of this recording override any shortcomings about the quality. On this 42 minute recording, Queen sound fantastic overall and a couple of the band’s best performances from the tour come from this show in particular. There is a lot of creativity and embellishments from everybody on stage - reflecting pure dedication to their respective crafts. Freddie is once again in excellent vocal form - showing off his vocal range and singing with passion and aggression. Now, the performance synopsis begins! “Father To Son” has Freddie not singing the first line (or his mic needed to be turned up), but the overall performance is excellent with Freddie’s falsetto sounding gorgeous and Roger sounding very energetic. “Son And Daughter” has a few spots where the harmonies aren’t as clean as other performances, but Freddie delivers an amazing vocal performance of the song and the instrumental work between the other three members is top notch. “Ogre Battle” is a great version overall, but is a bit weaker compared to earlier versions as Freddie’s intonation isn’t as precise in spots. “Hangman” is one of the absolute best versions caught on tape as Freddie is extremely creative and gutsy with his vocal delivery. Brian also plays a very nice solo with great tastefulness. “Keep Yourself Alive” sounds amazing at this show with Freddie going for the “better every day” original melody and remembering the lyrics. Roger also drums like a man possessed - completely immersing himself into his performance. “Liar” isn’t nearly as epic as other versions from this tour (Brian playing a bum chord before the second verse and Freddie’s rougher high note attempts being examples), but still contains moments of pure brilliance with Freddie’s falsetto making an appearance, Brian’s superb solo, and the vocal harmonies sounding excellent. The “Jailhouse Rock Medley” has Brian going bananas with his playing, Freddie singing his ass off, and the energy level being through the roof. Lastly, “Bama Lama Bama Loo” continues the momentum of the previous performance with Brian’s playing being some of his best on the song! ENJOY!!!