Immigrant Magic (Gypsy Eye GE148/149)
Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany – June 26th, 1986
Disc 1 (57:37): One Vision, Tie Your Mother Down, In The Lap Of The Gods…Revisited, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Tear It Up, A Kind Of Magic, Under Pressure, Another One Bites The Dust, Who Wants To Live Forever, I Want To Break Free, impromptu, Immigrant Song, guitar solo, Now I’m Here
Disc 2 (49:03): Love Of My Life, Is This The World We Created?, (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care, Hello Mary Lou, Tutti Frutti, Bohemian Rhapsody, Hammer To Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Radio Ga Ga, We Will Rock You, Friends Will Be Friends, We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen
Queen took a short five day break after the important Mannheim show on June 21st which included a radio broadcast around Germany. Berlin captured in an excellent stereo audience recording taped close to the stage. It captures the weight of the performance very well. Immigrant Magic is the only silver pressed edition of what is one of the best tapes from Queen’s Magic tour. Gypsy Eye brought out the high end slightly, but did a very good job overall with the tape.
This was Queen’s first visit to Berlin in two years. Freddie’s voice was well rested thanks to the five day break in the tour and this represents one of his best vocal perfomances on the Magic tour. The tape pics up right at the “God works in mysterious ways” introduction to “One Vision.”
The early medley begins with a passionate “In The Lap Of The Gods…Revisited” and runs through “Seven Seas Of Rhye” and “Tear It Up” before ending with “A Kind Of Magic,” their latest artistic creation. “Under Pressure” and “Another One Bites The Dust” forms a dance pair, reminding the audience what Queen were doing only several years before.
Freddie gives the usual denail to the break up rumors before “Who Wants To Live Forever.” As the next song “I Want To Break Free” begins Freddie quips, “Is this where I wear the funny dress?” During the improper improvisation Brian plays a few bars of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” prompting the rest of the band to follow. It lasts for about a minute and Freddie is okay with the viking shrieks but is a but vague on the lyrics.
The very long acoustic set includes both originals the the covers of well known rockabilly tunes. “(You’re So Square) I Don’t Care” and “Hello Mary Lou” were regularly played by Zeppelin on their early tours. May acknowledged in an interview that was the inspiration for including them in the Magicset and provides another link to Zeppelin. After the first verse of “Hello Mary Lou,” Freddie says to “See, they’re clapping on the off-beat.”
“I think you know this one” is Freddie’s simple introduction to the set closer “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” The encore set, beginning with a very tight “Radio Ga Ga” is standard for the tour. Gypsy Eye’s cover art for this release is a clever combination of the “Immigrant Song” single with the portraits of Queen in their Magiccartoon personas. Overall this is a solid effort by the label and is one of the best documents to have from the Magic tour.
