A Day at the Races Tour

A Day at the Races Tour
Tour by Queen
Associated album A Day at the Races
Start date 13 January 1977
End date 7 June 1977
Legs 4
No. of shows 41 in North America
19 in Europe
60 in Total (63 scheduled)
Queen concert chronology

The A Day at the Races Tour was a concert tour by the British rock band Queen, supporting their late 1976 album A Day at the Races.

This tour was the first in which the band played "Somebody to Love" and many others. "Brighton Rock" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" were performed full-length for the first time. Also, singer Freddie Mercury performed a vocal canon between "White Man" and "The Prophet's Song".

"When people started singing along, we found it kind of annoying…" recalled Brian May. "There there was an enormous realisation, at Bingley Hall in the Midlands. They sang every note of every song. Freddie and I looked at each other and went, 'Something's happening here. We've been fighting it, and we should be embracing it.' That's where 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are the Champions' came from. It was an epoch-making moment."[1]

The opening act for most of the North American concerts was Thin Lizzy. In New York City, the concert at Madison Square Garden sold out within moments of tickets going on sale.[2]

The final two shows at Earls Court were recorded, with the band using an expensive lighting rig in the shape of a crown for the first time.[3] Both shows were also professionally filmed on video and the first can be found on many bootlegs. Of one such release – Top Fax, Pix And Info[4] – photographer Ross Halfin said: "It was a Silver Jubilee show. This had excellent soundboard quality. I actually shot this show as a much younger man."[5]

Setlist

First Leg – North America
  1. Procession
  2. Tie Your Mother Down
  3. Ogre Battle
  4. White Queen (As It Began)
  5. Somebody to Love
  6. Killer Queen
  7. The Millionaire Waltz
  8. You're My Best Friend
  9. Bring Back that Leroy Brown
  10. Sweet Lady
  11. Brighton Rock
  12. '39
  13. You Take My Breath Away
  14. White Man
  15. Freddie Mercury Vocal Cannon
  16. The Prophet's Song
  17. Bohemian Rhapsody
  18. Stone Cold Crazy
  19. Keep Yourself Alive
  20. Liar
  21. In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited
    Encore
  22. Now I'm Here
  23. Big Spender
  24. Jailhouse Rock
  25. God Save The Queen (tape)

Songs played scarcely:

Second Leg – Europe
  1. A Day At The Races (album intro)
  2. "Tie Your Mother Down"
  3. "Ogre Battle"
  4. "White Queen (As It Began)"
  5. "Somebody to Love"
  6. "Killer Queen"
  7. "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy"
  8. "The Millionaire Waltz"
  9. "You're My Best Friend"
  10. "Bring Back That Leroy Brown"
  11. "Death On Two Legs (Dedicated to...)"
  12. "Sweet Lady"
  13. "Brighton Rock"
  14. Guitar Solo
  15. "Brighton Rock" (reprise)
  16. "'39"
  17. "You Take My Breath Away"
  18. "White Man"
  19. "The Prophet's Song"
  20. "Bohemian Rhapsody"
  21. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  22. "Stone Cold Crazy"
  23. "In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited"
    Encore
  24. "Now I'm Here"
  25. "Liar"
  26. "Big Spender" (Replaced by "I'm A Man" on 13 May 1977)
  27. "Jailhouse Rock"
  28. "God Save The Queen"

Song played scarcely:

  • "Doing All Right"
  • "Mannish Boy" (possibly)
  • "Lucille" (Replaced "I'm A Man" in Earls Court)
  • "Stupid Cupid"
  • "Be Bop A Lula"
  • "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting"
  • "Procession" opened the two shows at Earls Court as well as the "A Day at the Races (intro)"

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America
13 January 1977 Milwaukee United States Milwaukee Auditorium
14 January 1977 Madison Dane County Coliseum
15 January 1977 Columbus St. John Arena
16 January 1977 Indianapolis Indiana Convention Center
18 January 1977 Detroit Cobo Hall
20 January 1977 Saginaw Saginaw Civic Center
21 January 1977 Louisville Louisville Gardens
22 January 1977 Kalamazoo Wings Stadium
23 January 1977 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
25 January 1977 Ottawa Canada Ottawa Civic Centre
26 January 1977 Montreal Montreal Forum
28 January 1977 Chicago United States Chicago Stadium
29 January 1977 Dayton, Ohio Hara Arena
30 January 1977 Toledo Toledo Sports Arena
1 February 1977 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens
3 February 1977 Springfield United States Springfield Civic Center
4 February 1977 College Park Cole Field House
5 February 1977 New York City Madison Square Garden
6 February 1977 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
8 February 1977 Syracuse Onondaga County War Memorial
9 February 1977 Boston Boston Garden
10 February 1977 Providence Providence Civic Center
11 February 1977 Philadelphia Philadelphia Civic Center
19 February 1977 Hollywood Hollywood Sportatorium
20 February 1977 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center
21 February 1977 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
22 February 1977 Birmingham Boutwell Memorial Auditorium
23 February 1977 St.Louis Kiel Auditorium
24 February 1977 Norman Lloyd Noble Center
25 February 1977 University Park Moody Coliseum
26 February 1977 Houston Sam Houston Coliseum
1 March 1977 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
2 March 1977 Inglewood The Forum
3 March 1977
5 March 1977 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
6 March 1977[lower-alpha 1] San Francisco Winterland Ballroom
8 March 1977 Sacramento Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
9 March 1977 Fresno Selland Arena
11 March 1977 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
12 March 1977 Portland United States Paramount Theatre
13 March 1977 Seattle Seattle Center Arena
16 March 1977 Calgary Canada Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
17 March 1977
18 March 1977 Edmonton Northlands Coliseum
Europe
8 May 1977 Stockholm Sweden Johanneshovs Isstadion
10 May 1977 Gothenburg Scandinavium
12 May 1977 Copenhagen Denmark Brøndby Hall
13 May 1977 Hamburg West Germany Congress Centrum Hamburg
14 May 1977[lower-alpha 2] Frankfurt Festhalle Frankfurt
16 May 1977 Düsseldorf Philipshalle
17 May 1977 Rotterdam Netherlands Ahoy Rotterdam
19 May 1977 Basel Switzerland Sporthalle
Jubilee Tour
23 May 1977 Bristol England Bristol Hippodrome
24 May 1977
26 May 1977 Southampton Gaumont Theatre
27 May 1977
29 May 1977 Stafford Bingley Hall
30 May 1977 Glasgow Scotland Apollo Theatre
31 May 1977
2 June 1977 Liverpool England Liverpool Empire Theatre
3 June 1977
6 June 1977[lower-alpha 3] London Earls Court
7 June 1977

Notes

  1. ↑ Originally scheduled to take place on 5 March.
  2. ↑ Originally scheduled to take place at Jahrhunderthalle.
  3. ↑ Originally scheduled to take place on 5 June.

The 1/29/1977 date at Hara Arena in Dayton, OH was cancelled. Never heard official reason for the cancellation but heard Brian May was injured.

Tour band

References

  1. ↑ "Queen: Living Legends 2015", Classic Rock #217, December 2015, p15
  2. ↑ Tiven, Jon (1977). "Queen's Live Act Stuns City". Circus.
  3. ↑ Hilburn, Robert (1978-12-20). "Pop Music Review: Putting Queen in Audio Seat Queen for a Night". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ↑ discogs.com/Queen-Top-Fax-Pix-And-Info/master/688139
  5. ↑ Halfin, Ross (May 2015). "Who's Who". Classic Rock #209. p. 69.
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