It's Late dropped in December 77
May 17, 2021 21:45:24 GMT
The Real Wizard, logexpTommy, and 12 more like this
Post by Ryan Newton on May 17, 2021 21:45:24 GMT
This is something that I have discussed with a few others and I thought I would post it all here for everyone else to discuss.
It's Late is a favourite among many fans, being one of the standout tracks from the News of the World album. It was added to the set for the supporting tour in 1977 and was kept in for much of the next two years. Due to the lack of recordings and just missing information in general, many of the sets from the USA 77 tour are unknown, and many may not realize that It's Late was dropped for much of December. This wasn't even known about until I started putting together some pieces myself. Here's what we know:
It's Late was played for most of the November shows. It was first performed in Boston on 11/12 and is also known to have been played on 11/13, 11/18, 11/19, 11/21, 11/23, and likely 11/29 as Queenlive.ca states a fan recalls the song being played. It may have been played at the other November shows, but I can't confirm anything right now so I wont make any definitive statements.
It was also played at the next show on 12/1 at Madison Square Garden. However, this is where It's Late's run seems to get cut short. For the second night at MSG on 12/2, It's Late, My Melancholy Blues, and Spread Your Wings are all cut at the expense of Doing All Right and Saturday Nights.
The recently surfaced Dayton 12/4 film captures bits of most songs, but It's Late is curiously not on the film, so we can safely conclude that it was also dropped here as well.
The song was not played at Chicago 12/5
We have no definitive info regarding Atlanta 12/8.
An attendee of Fort Worth 12/10 does not recall It's Late being played, so it may very well have been dropped here as well.
We all know Houston 12/11 doesn't have it.
We have no definitive info regarding Las Vegas 12/15.
Regarding San Diego 12/16, Queenlive.ca states: "Here is a gloriously positive review of the show in the Dec 20th LA Times. It states that six new songs were performed, giving further credence to the suggestion that It's Late, Spread Your Wings, and My Melancholy Blues were songs that rotated in the setlist on this tour." It's clear that one of the songs was dropped, and I would bet on It's Late given what we know.
For Oakland 12/17, I have spoken with SteveZ, who some of you may know on the Royal Orleans Led Zeppelin forum. He attended this show as a youngster (as well as the 78 show; the tape we have of that show is his), and when I listed off a few songs that were rotated on the tour, he said he recalled them playing Spread Your Wings and My Melancholy Blues, but not It's Late.
We all know that Long Beach 12/20 doesn't have it either.
For the second night in Long Beach on 12/21, we have evidence to suggest that this is where it finally makes its comeback, although this isn't anything definitive, and I cant spill too much just yet.
And of course, LA 12/22 is the final night of the tour, so it's no surprise that they bring out everything they have, and for 78 and onwards it would be a staple in the set.
This is all very curious, as much of this info was unknown 5 years ago. Why they dropped it is mostly up for speculation. I think the main reason is that Freddie struggled with this song a lot and they wanted to give his voice a rest for many of the nights. 12/1 MSG is the last one before they dropped it, and it's clear on the recording that he's very off pitch on many of the higher parts.
It's Late is a favourite among many fans, being one of the standout tracks from the News of the World album. It was added to the set for the supporting tour in 1977 and was kept in for much of the next two years. Due to the lack of recordings and just missing information in general, many of the sets from the USA 77 tour are unknown, and many may not realize that It's Late was dropped for much of December. This wasn't even known about until I started putting together some pieces myself. Here's what we know:
It's Late was played for most of the November shows. It was first performed in Boston on 11/12 and is also known to have been played on 11/13, 11/18, 11/19, 11/21, 11/23, and likely 11/29 as Queenlive.ca states a fan recalls the song being played. It may have been played at the other November shows, but I can't confirm anything right now so I wont make any definitive statements.
It was also played at the next show on 12/1 at Madison Square Garden. However, this is where It's Late's run seems to get cut short. For the second night at MSG on 12/2, It's Late, My Melancholy Blues, and Spread Your Wings are all cut at the expense of Doing All Right and Saturday Nights.
The recently surfaced Dayton 12/4 film captures bits of most songs, but It's Late is curiously not on the film, so we can safely conclude that it was also dropped here as well.
The song was not played at Chicago 12/5
We have no definitive info regarding Atlanta 12/8.
An attendee of Fort Worth 12/10 does not recall It's Late being played, so it may very well have been dropped here as well.
We all know Houston 12/11 doesn't have it.
We have no definitive info regarding Las Vegas 12/15.
Regarding San Diego 12/16, Queenlive.ca states: "Here is a gloriously positive review of the show in the Dec 20th LA Times. It states that six new songs were performed, giving further credence to the suggestion that It's Late, Spread Your Wings, and My Melancholy Blues were songs that rotated in the setlist on this tour." It's clear that one of the songs was dropped, and I would bet on It's Late given what we know.
For Oakland 12/17, I have spoken with SteveZ, who some of you may know on the Royal Orleans Led Zeppelin forum. He attended this show as a youngster (as well as the 78 show; the tape we have of that show is his), and when I listed off a few songs that were rotated on the tour, he said he recalled them playing Spread Your Wings and My Melancholy Blues, but not It's Late.
We all know that Long Beach 12/20 doesn't have it either.
For the second night in Long Beach on 12/21, we have evidence to suggest that this is where it finally makes its comeback, although this isn't anything definitive, and I cant spill too much just yet.
And of course, LA 12/22 is the final night of the tour, so it's no surprise that they bring out everything they have, and for 78 and onwards it would be a staple in the set.
This is all very curious, as much of this info was unknown 5 years ago. Why they dropped it is mostly up for speculation. I think the main reason is that Freddie struggled with this song a lot and they wanted to give his voice a rest for many of the nights. 12/1 MSG is the last one before they dropped it, and it's clear on the recording that he's very off pitch on many of the higher parts.
