SPACE BOOGIE 

2 CD

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Review by Collectors music reviews
 
This concert on November 3rd was professionally filmed, recorded and released in Japan (with some editing).  The entire show has unfortunately never surfaced ("Body Language", for example, was cut from the video).  The Queen On Fire 2 DVD set released last November included several numbers from this show as a bonus, and "Calling All Girls" is used at bumper music for the gallery. 

Space Boogie is an audience recording of the final night of Queen's very long Hot Space tour of 1982.  It is a good to very good audience recording.  It sounds almost as if the taper were recording from one of Seibu Stadium's speakers rather than from the stage.  It's a bit thin and top heavy.  The noisy people further hamper it right by the microphone who like to hold conversations and sing along with the band.  Some people may like to hear several Japanese girls sing the chorus to "Teo Torriatte" with Freddie.  It depends upon one's expectation about audience recordings.  The DVD is available for a nice clear recording of the events on stage.  But the unique experience for the concertgoers adds to the atmosphere. 

It was the final night of the tour that began the previous spring and the road weariness is evident here and there.  Both Freddie and Brian May flub parts in "Play The Game", for example.  There are a lot of great moments in the show too.  "Calling All Girls" is very heavy and there is emphasis upon the crowd favorites like "Love Of My Life" and "Another One Bites The Dust".  A unique feature of Queen's set list on the Hot Space tour was the decision to drop the early medley portion of the show.  It was always a good way to raise the excitement early in the concert.  In the Japanese shows they compensate by expanding "Now I'm Here" to include "Put Out The Fire" along with "Dragon Attack.”  Despite some of the limitations this is another very good Wardour release.  (GS)