Queen - On Fire at the Bowl

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars For The Brilliant Sound Quality!
Review: First of all, this concert was recorded in 1982. The picture quality isn't perfect. There are lines. The lighting is a bit off. Again, this is 1982. Technology has greatly improved since then. In any case, it's been restored very nicely. If you keep the time period in mind, you should have no problem enjoying this brilliant concert performance, despite it's expected visual limitations.

Most impressive about this concert is how the sound has been so brilliantly restored and remastered. Thumbs up to the remastering team behind the project. I was a bit unsure of purchasing this DVD, concerned that the sound quality wouldn't be all that impressive, considering the master tapes date way back to 1982. I was wrong! 1982? No way! It sounds as clear as many concerts released in only the past decade. It's nice to hear so much effort and work go into remastering the audio, sounding much better than a lot of other releases from that era released recently on DVD. Just listen to "Somebody To Love" and you will hear the brilliance of a crisp, clean recording. Queen have never sounded better!

Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: I just hope that Queen continue to release more and more videos and concerts from their archives. They filmed and taped a lot and I want to see it all. Queen On Fire is an amazing show. I have never seen the Hot Space songs done live (just hearing them on bootlegs), and I have to say that Hot Space has aged exceptionally well. The extras on disc 2 are also great. Rare interviews and pieces from other Hot Space tour concerts (Vienna and Tokyo). Brian and Roger, keep them coming!

Rating:
Summary: Wow...
Review: I only had the chance to see Queen live once in Dallas during the Hot Space tour, and I've got probably every single one of their concert DVDs... But this one... This is the one that takes me back to Reunion Arena, 7th row center...

The "smear" from some lights is not a problem with the DVD, but rather a problem with video camera technology of the day... While it's presence certainly dates the production, it in no way diminishes the fact that this DVD is a must have for any true fan.

The only thing that bothered me in any way was the 5.1 audio doesn't seem to have enough "realistic" separation to give me that "at the concert" feel, but it is clean and crisp... Even during Brian's "mishap" :-)

Rating:
Summary: End of Transitional Period
Review: In the summer of 1970 former wreckage vocalist Freddie Mercury united with Bassist Tim Groce, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May to from a band. This band was named Queen by Mercury on July 12 of that year (the actual start of Queen) but Groce left and Queen did not get thier classic and perminant line up until John Deacon joined them in February 1971 (the true start of Queen). That was also when they really became a touring band.
In 1974 at the Rainbow concert Queen started being recorded in concert consistantly and from this point to 1979s Live Killers they were at thier best as a live band. This Dvd does not capture this period with it 5 major shows from 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1979 still overdue for full official release. It features Queen near the end of a transitional period where they went from no offstage/onstage additional musician as late as November 1979 (still just Queen) to one used at every concert at the end of 1982 and no keys in concert to keys played mainly by this musision and often. Because of that progression in Live Queen this concert (from the summer of 1982) is better then Live At Wembley but not as good as We Will Rock You.

Rating:
Summary: They really were on fire
Review: It's easy to see why some people would claim this was Queen at their peak. This is a very solid concert, very high energy, and very Queen.

Of course, there are flaws in the actual video, due to the date of the concert and the lack of huge budgets for live videos at the time. These shouldn't be a problem for your enjoyment, however, unless you really dig picture perfect presentation. Queen was more about the show anyway, and the sounds are pretty top notch. The visual performance is every bit as good, even if the video doesn't always capture a picture perfect reflection of it.

My only real issue is that Brian's vocals appeared to be heavily buried in the mix. I know that Brian has never had the presence of Freddie or even Roger, but his vocals should be a little more obvious. This could, however, be a flaw in the actual recording of the concert, and doesn't ruin the disc at all.

Otherwise, Freddie Mercury is on the entire night. Queen's presentation is simply excellent. This is, perhaps the only chance to catch "Hot Space" tracks in full versions on video (Action this day, Staying Power, Backchat). While the hot Space album is considered by many fans to be the low point of Queen's career, it's part of the Queen experience (And I am personally a fan of Staying Power and Backchat). Hearing "Hero" from Flash Gordon live is also a solid option.

The high points of this show are many, but include: We Will rock You (Fast), Somebody to Love, Now I'm Here, Dragon Attack (on of my favorites), Back Chat, Get Down, Make Love (The visual presentation in the bridge of this song is amazing), Fat Bottomed Girls, and Tie Your Mother down.

In total, this video does capture Queen in a strong light, whether this is at their "peak" or not. Highly recommended to Queen fans, or just fans of a good live show.

Rating:
Summary: Freddie's energetic concert!
Review: Ok let me start of by saying that it's not as good as Wembley, there is no Spike Ednie (I thought this guy was almost always was with them.) I don't care for Morgan Fisher on piano playing which is noticeable on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." We Will Rock You is done twice and they finish "Now I'm Here" after Dragon Attack. It appears they did that sort of thing a lot, but I only have Wembley so I didn't know.

You have those annoying scratch marks as well that are a lot worse than on the Wembley DVD. From Memory on the video casette version of Wembley, I don't remember seeing any scratch marks on the viedo at all! Strange that! There are too many of those "Hot Space" songs. I don't know why they chose "Back Chat" live, seems as if they could have chose a better one.

On the other hand! the concert goes really fast and it's really heavy! Yeah!!! I often think to myself it's only a couple of steps away from Heavy Metal when I listen to these guys! The concert appears to move on a lot more than Queen, and that's great. Overall I think the setlist is fine because they cover a whole range of material! These Hot Space songs performed live sound so much better! Even Back Chat sounds good! As what other people have said Freddie Mercury's voice is in top form. He is very youthful on this concert and he is a bit more "riscae" on this concert. This is Queen at one of the best moments of the
career, Wembley being a bit better, even though his voice isn't his best their. And this is Queen doing what they want on "Live at the Bowl."

I don't care what people think of me saying this, I don't like the name of the group being mixed in with a title. It should be written like this:

QUEEN
On Fire
Live at the Bowl

People may think Queen is called "Queen On Fire," because the top line is written in all caps!

But it's good to see on the other DVD them live in Japan and Austria, some of these appear on rare live.

Rating:
Summary: a most satisfying purchase...on fire, indeed.
Review: Queen delivers a fine product from 1982, an energetic show from the Hot Space tour. The band still has its raw edge intact, in spite of the occasional offstage supporting instruments. Fans will be pleased with the setlist (including a supercharged "Fat Bottomed Girls", one of my personal faves here), and in addition should be impressed with how the songs from Hot Space really opened up in a live environment...gives me a newfound appreciation of the material (especially "Calling All Girls", located in the photo gallery on Disc 2). The picture quality doesn't match up to Live At Wembley or the remastered We Will Rock You DVD, but it's satisfactory enough...soundwise 'tho, it's a sparkling audio mix that'll make most Queen diehards salivate. Here's hoping we get more concerts like this from the vaults... 4.5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Concert: Good Companion to WE WILL ROCK YOU
Review: Totally superb concert. I wish it had been done in widescreen.
However, the sound is great, the video is awesome, and all round it is a great QUEEN fan collectible.
Trivial criticisms abound about this DVD, but its excellent, and the extras are great. In fact some really cool bits from this concert have been showing up in VHS tapes over the years, and any fan that has been buying QUEEN vhs's should see that.
Well worth it for anyone who likes the band, and even for those who don't.
On a 5.1 system, the impression is just great. All the faves are there, and even some not so common items.

Rating:
Summary: On Fire and Still Burning
Review: What do you get when the worlds greatest live rock band performs in front of 40,000 loyal fans? Queen On Fire At The Bowl and then some. As you may or may not be aware of, Queen had (and may still have) the largest fan club in the world, and it seemed as if the entire fan club was at this particular concert.

Queen On Fire At The Bowl was recorded live at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 5, 1982. On Fire showcases Freddie's voice in top form. Rarely have I heard Freddie use trills as much as he did in this concert. His vocals were extremely powerful and pretty much controlled throughout the set with the exception of Action This Day where Freddie seems to struggle to maintain his upper range. Freddie, however bounced back with powerful vocal renditions of Play The Game, Staying Power and of course my favorite of the three, Somebody To Love. Freddie's "Impromtu Lauch" (from Ryan M's review) into Somebody was something different and special to listen to. Another Freddie highlight was the "Impromtu" sing along with the audience where Freddie has them singing like Aretha Franklin. Even the audience has their own highlight when they sing a nice rendition of Love of My Life. Hearing the audience sing this song reminded me of the Rock In Rio concert where it sounded like all 250,000 fans sang along. This made me realize how truly loved this song is.

Though Freddie's voice was probably the highlight of the show, It does take the four of them to play Queen music. I have to say that Roger Taylor's drum playing was excellent this night. Roger was never one to show off his playing skills, but this night he seemed to tease us with a lot of little drum fills that were pretty impressive. I was disappointed that Keep Yourself Alive was not a part of this set. I think Roger would have shined.

John Deacon was his usual quiet self, however his bass playing seems to stand out more in this set, especially during songs with his more recognized bass lines such as Bite The Dust and Under Pressure. John also plays Rhythm Guitar during Staying Power.

Brian May's guitar work was pretty steady during this gig, however he seemed to lose direction during his solo. I've always believed that Brian play's his best solos when he does the full version of Brighton Rock. It just seems as if he needs the beginning of Brighton Rock to launch his solo, it seems to get all 4 of his cylinders going, as evident in his solo at the Hammersmith Odeon Christmas concert.

Over all I think that this performance by Queen was one of their best performances, deserving the title On Fire At The Bowl.

The picture quality of this DVD could have been better, it was a bit grainy and dark in some parts, there but then again what can one expect from a recording from 1982. The sound quality was great in 5.1 DTS however, the stereo sound quality is surpassed by the Live at Wembley sound. The bonus footage features extra live performances from Seibu Stadium Tokyo, Japan and Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria, and rare interviews with Freddie, Brian and Roger. This DVD set also features a nice photo gallery of the band which is shown during a live recording of Calling All Girls.
For queen fans, this is a definite must, and for music fans who want to know what all the hoopla's about when it comes to Queen's live show, here it is. This is the second dimension to Queens live abilities. The third will be Live At The Hammersmith Odeon where Queen struts their heavy stuff. Until then, this will definitely do!
On Fire is Hot!

Rating:
Summary: ENERGETIC AND POWERFUL!
Review: WOW! I just purchased this DVD 2 days before writing this review, and I was amazed at how wonderful a concert Queen gave at the Bowl. This epic concert is a must buy on DVD, featuring sheer rock n' roll from Queen as well as their best tracks from "Hot Space"(it had some nice tunes, even if you were one of those Queen fans who hated that album, i.e. Under Pressure, Staying Power(both performed by the way).

The concert takes off once we hear the sensational perfomance of the hit track "Play the Game". Freddie's voice is on the mark in pretty much throughout the concert and we hear some wonderful guitar riffs from Brian May. If you're into Queen, check out this live DVD because it is arguably one of the best Live performances ever given by them. It features some great drum work from Roger Taylor which a great bonus to Brian May's big guitar solo half way through.

As an addition, the DVD also features exclusive interviews with the band and tour highlights in Japan and France which are a great plus.

This 2 disc DVD set is everything you would hope to expect, and more from one of the greatest rock n' roll bands of all time.

Song Highlights:

Play the Game: We hear sensational piano playing and great vocals from Mercury on this track and the guitar solo from May is brilliant.

Crazy little thing called love: An all around brilliant performance from the crew and Mercury surprises us all with impressive playing on an acoustic guitar.

Bohemian Rhapsody: Always a treasure to hear, and especially when you hear a performance of the song like this. Wonderful piano playing from Mercury, and the rock section of the song is sensational.

Tie Your Mother Down: WOW! This is about the heaviest the concert gets, and it is performed perfectly.

Overall, this DVD concert is a must buy for any Queen fan. Even if you're just into the hits from Queen, you'll adore this concert. Well, what are you waiting for? BUY IT!