Queen II Tour

Queen II Tour

Tour by Queen
Associated album	Queen II
Start date	1 March 1974
End date	11 May 1974
Legs	2
No. of shows	41
Queen concert chronology

The Queen II 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 and also went on to tour the United States, supporting Mott the Hoople. The band had to cancel all other concerts after 11 May 1974 as guitarist Brian May contracted hepatitis.

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.

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".

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
Europe
1 March 1974	Blackpool	England	Blackpool Winter Gardens
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		Croydon Greyhound
12 March 1974	London		Dagenham Roundhouse
14 March 1974	Cheltenham		Misto Hall
15 March 1974	Glasgow	Scotland	University of Glasgow
16 March 1974	Stirling		University of Stirling
19 March 1974	Cleethorpes	England	Winter Gardens
20 March 1974	Manchester		Manchester University
22 March 1974	Canvey Island		The Paddocks
23 March 1974	Cromer		Royal Links Pavilion
24 March 1974	Colchester		Woods Leisure Centre
26 March 1974	Isle of Man		Palace Lido
28 March 1974	Aberystwyth	Wales	Aberystwyth University
29 March 1974	Penzance	England	The Gardens
30 March 1974	Taunton		Century Ballroom
31 March 1974	London		Rainbow Theatre
2 April 1974	Birmingham		Barbarella's
North America
16 April 1974	Denver	United States	Regis College
17 April 1974	Kansas City		Memorial Hall
18 April 1974	St. Louis		Kiel Auditorium
19 April 1974	Oklahoma City		Fairgrounds Appliance Building
20 April 1974	Memphis		Mid-South Coliseum
21 April 1974	New Orleans		St. Bernard Civic Auditorium
26 April 1974	Boston		Orpheum Theatre
27 April 1974	Providence		Palace Theatre
28 April 1974	Portland		Exposition Hall
1 May 1974	Harrisburg		Farm Arena
2 May 1974	Allentown		Agricultural Hall
3 May 1974	Wilkes-Barre		Kings College
4 May 1974	Waterbury		Palace Theatre
7 May 1974	New York City		Uris Theatre
8 May 1974
9 May 1974
10 May 19741st gig
10 May 19742nd gig
11 May 1974

Average Setlist

UK Tour

1. "Procession"
2. "Father to Son"
3. "Ogre Battle"
4. "Son and Daughter"
5. "Guitar Solo"
6. "Son and Daughter (Reprise)"
7. White Queen (As It Began)"
8. Great King Rat"
9. "Keep Yourself Alive"
10. "Liar"
    "Encore":
11. "Jailhouse Rock"/"Stupid Cupid"/"Be Bop a Lula"
    "Encore:
12. "Big Spender"
13. "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll"

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"
• "See What a Fool I've Been"
• "Bama Lama Bama Loo"
• "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke"

"The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke" was thought Queen never played it live but there is an official recording of the song live released on Live at the Rainbow '74 and album featuring Queen's 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 in Sunderland, but it is unknown.

US Tour

1. "Procession"
2. "Father to Son"
3. "Ogre Battle"
4. "Son and Daughter"
5. "Guitar Solo"
6. "Son and Daughter (Reprise)"
7. "Great King Rat"
8. "Liar"
9. "Keep Yourself Alive"
10. "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll"
    "Encore:
11. "Big Spender"
12. "Bama Lama Bama Loo"

Songs played scarcely:

• "See What A Fool I've Been" (instead of "Great King Rat")
• "Jailhouse Rock"/"Stupid Cupid"/"Be Bop a Lula" (instead of "Bama Lama Bama Loo")

Live at the Rainbow '74

Live at the Rainbow '74 is a live album released by Queen 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 the highlight of the album for 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 British Charts.

Tour band

• Freddie Mercury: Lead vocals, piano, tambourine.
• Brian May: Guitar, backing vocals.
• Roger Taylor: Drums, backing vocals.
• John Deacon: Bass guitar, additional vocals.