12-13-1975 – Sounds – Hammersmith Odeon

by Phil Sutcliffe

‘BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY’ as a single is astonishingly close to a true expression of the character of Queen in any setting.

Live at Hammersmith they exuded the same exhilarating mixture of heavy, grandiose, beautiful and sheer extravagant silliness encapsulated in their superb No 1. And to spend an awful lot of time smiling with sheer pleasure at a rock show can be no bad thing.

The inch-perfection of every movement, calculated for effect and co-ordinated to the lights is one entertaining feature, “artistic” in the showbiz sense and at the same time amusing you with the absurdity of taking so much trouble over ephemera.

Then there’s Freddie’s orgiastic relationship with most of his audience. His dark satanic face pouts and postures then once in a while lapses into a look of shrewd assessment of how he’s doing followed by a voluptuous leer of delight and something like “MY daaarlings!” They have presence and character; you relate to them as well as listen to them.

But they really do make good music as well, which is why everyone knows they will be one of the bands that last. So far they are better in the studio than onstage because of the difficulties of matching volume and excitement with beauty and precision. It’s not a destructive margin, though. They give out with unstinting power and hit four-voice harmonies with total certainty. And then once in a while they pull out something special to show that they can and will develop on stage rather than just perform proficiently.

Brian’s guitar and Freddie’s vocal solos were the creative highspots. Each in turn took centre-stage to lay melodies one on another in echoed complexity, with conscious skill but also with the sort of soul that is aware of the ecstasy sounds can convey. Brian’s guitar orchestra particularly had me just shaking my head in wonderment.