by Georg Purvis
Itinerary:
November 4/5: Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo
November 7: Yubin Chokin Hall, Hiroshima
November 8: Kosei Nenkin Hall, Osaka
November 10: Denayoku Hall, Sendai
November 11: Kyoiku Bunka Kaikan, Kawasaki
November 13: NHK Hall, Tokyo Bay
The Brian May Band made their way to Japan in the first week of November 1993 to commence a seven-night, six-venue tour, the first time Brian had returned to the treasured country in eight years. If the reception on the previous leg had been lacklustre, Japan more than made up for it. The tour began in Tokyo, with the only change made to the set list the addition of ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’, though ‘Driven By You’ was dropped in Osaka, seemingly for good (Brian explained it was too difficult to sing). The only other major change was on the final night, when a lengthy, eleven-minute version of ‘Let Me Out’ made its final appearance as the penultimate song in the set. The band left Japan on 14 November, returning home for a few days before beginning another lengthy leg that would wrap up the year nicely.
BACK TO THE LIGHT EUROPEAN AND UK TOUR,
SECOND LEG
20 NOVEMBER TO 18 DECEMBER 1993
Musicians: Brian May (vocals, guitars), Cozy Powell (drums), Neil Murray (bass guitar), Jamie Moses (guitars, backing vocals), Spike Edney (piano, keyboards, vocals), Cathy Porter (backing vocals), Shelley Preston (backing vocals)
Repertoire: ‘The Dark’, ‘Back To The Light’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Love Token’, ‘Headlong’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘’39’ (intro), ‘Let Your Heart Rule Your Head’, ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’, ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, ‘Now I’m Here’, ‘Resurrection’ / Drum Solo / ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (reprise) / ‘Resurrection’ (reprise), ‘Last Horizon’, ‘We Will Rock You’ (slow/fast), God (The Dream Is Over)’, ‘Hammer To Fall’, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, ‘Big Spender’, ‘Mustapha’, ‘Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love)’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘Merry Christmas’, ‘Is This The World We Created...?’, ‘Chinese Torture’
Itinerary:
November 20: Terminal One, Munich, Germany
November 21: Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
November 23: CCH1, Hamburg, Germany
November 24: Eissporthall, Halle, Germany
November 27: Huxley’s Neue Welt, Berlin, Germany
November 29: Elysee Montmartre, Paris, France
November 30: Philipshalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
December 3: Royal Albert Hall, London
December 4: Royal Centre, Nottingham
December 5: Aston Villa Centre, Birmingham
December 7: Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
December 8: Point, Dublin, Eire
December 10: Royal Court, Liverpool
December 11: Pavilion, Plymouth
December 14: Zeleste, Barcelona, Spain
December 15: Aqualung, Madrid, Spain
December 17: Cascais Pavilion, Lisbon, Portugal
December 18: Boavista, Oporto, Portugal
The final leg of the lengthy Back To The Light tour started in Germany and continued through France, the UK, Ireland, Spain and Portugal, with support from Robby Valentine (for the first six dates), Nine Below Zero (the UK/Eire dates only), and – interestingly – Sweet Sister (the final European dates).
The set list remained similar to previous legs, with ‘Driven By You’ still out of the set, though the band threw in several surprises for the final dates. In Halle, to commemorate the second anniversary of Freddie’s death, Brian performed a rousing rendition of ‘Big Spender’ as the encore, while the Paris show featured a French-language version of ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’. ‘Is This The World We Created...?’ was performed as an intro to ‘Love Of My Life’ in Berlin, ‘Chinese Torture’ was inserted into the guitar solo in Düsseldorf, and The Beatles’ ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was (suitably) performed in Liverpool; ‘Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love)’ was performed in Barcelona and Madrid, with the latter venue also featuring ‘Mustapha’. Perhaps the most surprising addition was the vocal intro to ‘We Are The Champions’, sung by Cathy Porter, before ‘Hammer To Fall’ in Oporto, and ‘Merry Christmas’ was reportedly performed as the final song that night.
It had been a prosperous and rewarding year for Brian, though he was now ready for a lengthy break to get his thoughts together before heading into the studios to work on the final tracks recorded with Freddie in the winter and spring of 1991; consequently, Brian wouldn’t go out on tour again for nearly five years.
ANOTHER WORLD PROMOTIONAL CONCERTS
MAY TO 12 SEPTEMBER 1998
Musicians: Brian May (vocals, guitars), Neil Murray (bass guitar), Jamie Moses (guitars, backing vocals), Spike Edney (piano, keyboards, vocals), Steve Ferrone (drums), Suzi Webb (backing vocals), Zoe Nicholas (backing vocals)
Repertoire, VH1 performance (May 1998): ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Driven By You’, ‘Why Don’t We Try Again’, ‘Only Make Believe’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’
Repertoire, European performances: ‘Only Make Believe’, ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Driven By You’, ‘Why Don’t We Try Again’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ (slow), ‘Let Your Heart Rule Your Head’, ‘Hammer To Fall’ (slow/fast)
Repertoire, Chicago: ‘Business’, ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ / ‘Gimme The Prize (Kurgan’s Theme)’, ‘I Want It All’, ‘Headlong’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Tear It Up’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Chinese Torture’ / ‘China Belle’, ‘Hammer To Fall’ (slow/fast)
Itinerary:
June 5: Big Mama Club, Rome, Italy
June 9: Le Reservoir, Paris, France
June 11: Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street, London
June 20: Gala Night, Monte Carlo, Monaco
September 12: New World Music Theater, Chicago, Illinois
Brian has stated that touring is his lifeblood, his reason for being a musician, so it came as no surprise that he was itching to get back on the road after the release of Another World. But, just prior to the commencement of rehearsals in April 1998, Cozy Powell, who had been a driving force on the new album, died in a car accident, forcing Brian to question going through with the tour.
Instead of launching into a full-scale itinerary, a series of promotional concerts was planned. A semi-acoustic set was filmed for VH1 Europe in May and broadcast on 16 June, while three European-only shows were performed. Both set lists featured a smattering of new (Another World), old (Back To The Light) and older (a selection of Brian’s highlights from Queen’s back-catalogue) songs, though the most revelatory inclusion was ‘Hammer To Fall’, performed in a slow, stripped-down fashion before erupting into the familiar full-throttle rock arrangement.
After the brief, four-date European promotional tour, Brian and band flew to Chicago to give their one and only North American concert. Evidently, this Chicago date was supposed to make up for the lack of a tour; up to 600 fans from around the country flew or drove in to see the concert, and Brian rewarded them with the most comprehensive repertoire thus far, premiering two new songs: ‘Business’ and ‘China Belle’.
All the live performances prior to the start of the tour featured a new band: Neil Murray, Jamie Moses and Spike Edney were all retained from the previous line-up, while session drummer Steve Ferrone, who had played on ‘Another World’, deputized on drums. The backing vocalists had changed, reportedly because Cathy Porter and Shelley Preston were at loggerheads with each other. Vocal back-up came instead from Suzi Webb and Zoe Nicholas who, in their spare time, were in an ABBA tribute group called FABBA.
ANOTHER WORLD TOUR
15 SEPTEMBER TO 7 NOVEMBER 1998
Musicians: Brian May (vocals, guitars), Neil Murray (bass guitar), Jamie Moses (guitars, backing vocals), Spike Edney (piano, keyboards, vocals), Eric Singer (drums), Suzi Webb (backing vocals), Zoe Nicholas (backing vocals)
Repertoire: ‘Dan
ce With The Devil’ (taped intro), ‘Only Make Believe’ (Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’), ‘C’mon Babe’ (Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’), ‘Space’ (taped intro), ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, ‘Business’, Keyboard Solo, ‘China Belle’, ‘White Man’ (intro) / ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘I Want It All’ / ‘Headlong’ / ‘Tear It Up’ / ‘The Show Must Go On’, Bass Solo, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Driven By You’, ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Hammer To Fall’ (slow/fast), Guitar Solo, ‘Resurrection’ / Drum Solo / ‘Resurrection’ (reprise), ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Another World’, ‘All The Way From Memphis’, ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’, ‘Why Don’t We Try Again’, ‘Otro Lugar’, ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’, ‘Let Your Heart Rule Your Head’, ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’, ‘Slow Down’, ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, ‘Mustapha’ (intro), ‘Kalinka’
Itinerary:
September 15: Teatro Jovellanos, Gijon, Spain
September 17: Zeleste, Barcelona, Spain
September 18: Macumba, Madrid, Spain
September 20: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
September 22: La Cigall, Paris, France
September 23: Music Centre, Utrecht, Holland
September 24: E Halle, Groningen, Holland
September 28: Rockefella, Oslo, Norway
September 28: Circus, Stockholm, Sweden
September 30: Stodola, Warsaw, Poland
October 2: Columbiahalle, Berlin, Germany
October 3: Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, Germany
October 5: E-Werk, Cologne, Germany
October 7: Beethovensaal, Stuttgart, Germany
October 8: Zirkus Krone, Munich, Germany
October 10: Rockhaus, Vienna, Austria
October 12: Petofi, Budapest, Hungary
October 13: Posthof, Linz, Austria
October 18: Rolling Stone, Milan, Italy
October 19: Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzerland
October 21: Capitol Theatre, Offenbach, Germany
October 22: Small Sportshall, Prague, Czech Republic
October 24: Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
October 25: Royal Albert Hall, London
October 27: Colston Hall, Bristol
October 28: NIA Academy, Birmingham
October 30: City Hall, Newcastle
October 31: Apollo Theatre, Manchester
November 2: City Hall, Sheffield
November 3: Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Scotland
November 6: Oktiabrsky Hall, St Petersburg, Russia
November 7: MSA Luzhniki Arena, Moscow, Russia
The 1998 Another World tour saw many firsts for Brian. Not only did he employ a new backing band, including latterday KISS drummer Eric Singer, he also visited countries which he had never previously toured. Apart from the expected stops in Spain, Belgium, France, Holland, Austria, Switzerland and Germany (not to mention the UK), The Brian May Band made its live debut in Norway, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia.
The set list was shaken up considerably, with eight of the twelve songs from Another World performed (though only six with any regularity) and several Queen songs played. ‘White Man’ served as an introduction to ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ (which also featured the guitar/’bagpipe’ solo from ‘Gimme The Prize (Kurgan’s Theme)’), while ‘I Want It All’, ‘Headlong’ (previously played on the Back To The Light tour), ‘Tear It Up’ and ‘The Show Must Go On’ formed a mid-set medley. Of course, old standards like ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Hammer To Fall’ (the restructured slow/ fast version first premiered earlier in the year), ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ were still present, while less frequent performances of ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’, ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ and – surprisingly – the vocal introduction of ‘Mustapha’ peppered an already diverse set list.
Concerts opened with a taped introduction of ‘Dance With The Devil’, chosen in memory of Cozy Powell, followed by an announcement that Brian would be late and that his cousin, T. E. Conway, would perform a short set. The T. E. moniker is a clever and light-hearted parody of Conway Twitty and originated from a December 1994 guest appearance with the SAS Band, where Brian performed rousing renditions of ‘Only Make Believe’ and a countrified ‘Tie Your Mother Down’. As T E during the 1998 tour, he again reprised ‘Only Make Believe’, which then segued into ‘C’mon Babe’ (essentially an instrumental version of ‘Slow Down’), allowing Brian to switch out of character and into ‘Brian mode’: he appeared bent over in the same position as on the Another World cover while ‘Space’ played over the PA. At that song’s conclusion, Brian would address the crowd as the band launched into Rainbow’s ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, chosen as set opener as a tribute to Cozy.
The tour commenced on 15 September 1998 in Gijon, including a Spanish rendition of ‘Another World’, titled ‘Otro Lugar’, and ‘Why Don’t We Try Again’. ‘Otro Lugar’ would be performed on the other two Spanish gigs, while it would be translated into French for the Paris show on 22 September. While in Madrid, the audience was apparently desperate for ‘Mustapha’ to be played so, before the Queen medley, Brian sang the vocal introduction, which, predictably, went down a storm. ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’ was performed only twice on the tour – once in Groningen and again in Newcastle – while ‘Dancing Queen’ was given a rare one-off rendition in Stockholm, sung by backing vocalists Suzi Webb and Zoe Nicholas, whom Brian introduced under their professional name of FABBA.
Unfortunately, two shows had to be cancelled – one in Grenoble on 15 October and another in Modena the following day – due to Brian coming down with the flu, affecting his voice considerably. The tour moved on to the United Kingdom for eight nights; the concert at the Royal Albert Hall, in which Brian returned to the venue for the first time in nearly thirty years, was recorded and filmed for a live album and video that never saw release. Surprisingly, ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ was introduced midway through the UK tours, with Brian explaining in Manchester that he’d “had a look on the website yesterday and this was the most-requested song there.” The band also performed a rare version of ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ that night, which would only later be introduced in Australia.
A set of proposed South American dates never came to pass, but a couple of Russian ones did. The band arrived in St Petersburg on 5 November and performed a blistering set the following night. The tour then moved on to Moscow, where Brian introduced a traditional Russian folk song, ‘Kalinka’, into his guitar solo and also changed the words of ‘All The Way From Memphis’ to ‘All The Way From Moscow’.
ANOTHER WORLD JAPANESE TOUR
10 TO 14 NOVEMBER 1998
Musicians: Brian May (vocals, guitars), Neil Murray (bass guitar), Jamie Moses (guitars, backing vocals), Spike Edney (piano, keyboards, vocals), Eric Singer (drums), Suzi Webb (backing vocals), Zoe Nicholas (backing vocals)
Repertoire: ‘Dance With The Devil’ (taped intro), ‘Only Make Believe’ (Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’), ‘C’mon Babe’ (Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’), ‘Space’ (taped intro), ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, Keyboard Solo, ‘China Belle’, ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’, ‘White Man’ (intro) / ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘I Want It All’ / ‘Headlong’ / ‘Tear It Up’ / ‘The Show Must Go On’, Bass Solo, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Driven By You’, ‘’39’ / ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Hammer To Fall’ (slow/fast), Guitar Solo, ‘Resurrection’ / Drum Solo / ‘Resurrection’ (reprise), ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Another World’, ‘All The Way From Memphis’, ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’
Itinerary:
November 10: Sun Plaza, Tokyo
November 11: Shibuya Kokaido, Tokyo
November 13: Bottom Line, Nagoya
November 14: IMP Hall, Osaka
The lengthy Another World tour wasn’t yet over: though Brian had played thirty-two dates in fifteen d
ifferent countries, both Japan and Australia were still calling. First up was a trip to far-flung Tokyo on 10 November, where a slightly altered set list was introduced. ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ was now a permanent fixture, while ‘’39’ also served as an introduction to ‘On My Way Up’. Not surprisingly, ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’ was also part of the set list, introduced as a second encore in lieu of ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’. The first night in Tokyo saw Nuno Bettencourt joining the band on stage for additional guitar on ‘Tie Your Mother Down’. On the 15th, The Brian May Band flew to Perth to fulfil the last six dates of their tour in Australia, the first time Brian had been there since 1985.
ANOTHER WORLD AUSTRALIAN TOUR
20 TO 28 NOVEMBER 1998
Musicians: Brian May (vocals, guitars), Neil Murray (bass guitar), Jamie Moses (guitars, backing vocals), Spike Edney (piano, keyboards, vocals), Eric Singer (drums), Suzi Webb (backing vocals), Zoe Nicholas (backing vocals)
Repertoire: ‘Dance With The Devil’ (taped intro), ‘Only Make Believe’ (Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’), ‘C’mon Babe’ (Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’), ‘Space’ (taped intro), ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, Keyboard Solo, ‘China Belle’, ‘White Man’ (intro) / ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘I Want It All’ / ‘Headlong’ / ‘Tear It Up’ / ‘The Show Must Go On’, Bass Solo, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’, ‘Driven By You’, ‘’39’ / ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Hammer To Fall’ (slow/fast), Guitar Solo / ‘Waltzing Matilda’, ‘Resurrection’ / Drum Solo / ‘Resurrection’ (reprise), ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Another World’, ‘All The Way From Memphis’
Itinerary:
November 20: Metropolis Concert, Perth
