Queen II Tour

The Queen II Tour (also known as the Spring 1974 Tour) was a concert tour by British rock group Queen to promote their 1974 album Queen II. It was the second major tour by the group and started only a month and a half after the end of the Queen I Tour. The band visited major cities in the UK. They would tour the United States as the opening act for Mott the Hoople. The band had to cancel all other concerts after 12 May 1974 as guitarist Brian May contracted hepatitis.[1]

Queen II Tour
Tour by Queen
Poster for the concert at the Rainbow Theatre
Associated albumQueen II
Start date1 March 1974
End date2 April 1974
Legs1
No. of shows22 in Europe
Queen concert chronology

Background

In March the band commenced a UK tour to promote their new album 'Queen II', and then embarked on their first trip to the USA. Once again they played support band to Mott The Hoople on a four-week tour beginning in April. The band paid more attention to their look on stage and employed the services of Zandra Rhodes to design some of their costumes. Queen's appearances came to an abrupt halt when Brian collapsed from hepatitis after the New York show on 11 May, and the band flew home for Brian to recover.[2]

Mercury played the piano for the first time on stage on the songs "White Queen", "Seven Seas Of Rhye" and "The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke".

Broadcasts and recordings
Main article: Live at the Rainbow '74

The band released a live album in September 2014. The album features three performances live at the Rainbow Theatre. The one CD features the November while the other CD features the show from this tour.

The show was performed at the Rainbow Theatre on 31 March 1974 and the show was recorded by music producer Roy Thomas Baker. The CD features most of the songs on the setlist, however excluding "Hangman" and "Big Spender" but including "Seven Seas of Rhye", "See What a Fool I've Been" and "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke". The album features the only known live recording of "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke", which is considered to be the highlight of the album for some fans.

Also, from the show is video footage of "Son & Daughter" and "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll" making this the earliest known footage of the band performing live.

The album peaked at #11 in UK Charts.

Tour band

Opening act
  • Nutz

Setlist
  1. "Procession"
  2. "Father to Son"
  3. "Ogre Battle"
  4. "Son and Daughter"
  5. "White Queen (As It Began)"
  6. "Great King Rat"
  7. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  8. "Liar"
Encore
  1. "Jailhouse Rock" / "Stupid Cupid" / "Be-Bop-A-Lula"
  2. "Big Spender"
  3. "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll"
Notes

The track listing varied from each show, with different songs becoming the encore. "Doing All Right" from the first album was not performed on this tour, but on Queen's live set on tours after. Other tracks occasionally performed on this tour were:

  • "Seven Seas of Rhye" (Played on 15 and 31 March and 2 April)
  • "See What a Fool I've Been" (Played on 16 and 31 March)
  • "Bama Lama Bama Loo" (Played on 31 March)
  • "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" (Played on 1, 8, and 31 March)

"The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" was thought to have never been played live, but there is an official recording of Queen playing the song live released on the live album, which features their performance at the Rainbow Theatre on 31 March 1974. The song is also thought to have played live at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool and at the Locarno Ballroom in Sunderland, but it is unknown.

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue
Europe
1 March 1974 Blackpool England Empress Ballroom
2 March 1974 Aylesbury Friars Aylesbury
3 March 1974 Plymouth Plymouth Guildhall
4 March 1974 Paignton Paignton Festival Hall
8 March 1974 Sunderland Locarno Ballroom
9 March 1974 Cambridge Cambridge Corn Exchange
10 March 1974 Croydon The Greyhound
12 March 1974 London Dagenham Roundhouse
14 March 1974 Cheltenham Cheltenham Town Hall
15 March 1974 Glasgow Scotland Queen Margaret Union
16 March 1974 Stirling Pathfoot Refectory
19 March 1974 Cleethorpes England Winter Gardens
20 March 1974 Manchester Main Debating Hall
22 March 1974 Canvey Island The Paddocks
23 March 1974 Cromer Royal Links Pavilion
24 March 1974 Colchester Woods Leisure Centre
26 March 1974 Douglas Isle of Man Palace Lido
28 March 1974 Aberystwyth Wales The Great Hall
29 March 1974 Penzance England Penzance Gardens
30 March 1974 Taunton County Ballroom
31 March 1974 London Rainbow Theatre
2 April 1974 Birmingham Barbarella's

References
  1. "Queen live on tour: Queen II". QueenConcerts. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  2. "Live 1974". QueenOnline. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
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