by Georg Purvis
November 22: Heaven Nightclub, Adelaide
November 23: Palais Theatre, Melbourne
November 25: Capital Theatre, Sydney
November 26: Workers Club, Newcastle
November 28: Alexandra Hills Hotel, Brisbane
The six-date, six-city Australian tour started on 20 November, five days after the band had arrived in Perth; Brian was heard to forlornly mention at the soundcheck in Adelaide that he wasn’t used to playing such small venues. His attitude changed for the better, however, and the tour was well received. Brian even incorporated ‘Waltzing Matilda’ (and, in Sydney, ‘I Still Call Australia Home’) into his guitar solo.
The set list remained generally the same, with the rare exception of ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ being performed during the acoustic set. The final number of the shows was either ‘Another World’ or ‘All The Way From Memphis’ – ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’ was omitted from this leg – depending on the night. On 26 November, Suzi Webb received a warm birthday greeting from both band and audience, while her on-stage present was a birthday cake presented by two firemen in G-strings, undoubtedly reminding Brian of ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ at Madison Square Garden back in 1978.
Brian’s 1998 campaign finished in Brisbane on the 28th. Apart from several one-offs over the next few years, it eventually transpired that the Another World tour would be his final solo venture. He became enveloped instead in other projects, namely the We Will Rock You musical, the 46664 concerts and Queen + Paul Rodgers, leaving little time to focus on a solo career.
ANTHEMS TOUR (WITH KERRY ELLIS)
1 MAY TO 16 JULY 2011
Musicians: Kerry Ellis (vocals), Brian May (guitars, vocals), Rufus Taylor (drums), Stuart Morley and Jeff Leach (keyboards), Jamie Humphries (guitar), Neil Fairclough (bass guitar), Kirstie Roberts and Niamh McNally (backing vocals)
Repertoire: ‘Overture’ / ‘Dangerland’, ‘I’m Not That Girl’, ‘I Can’t Be Your Friend’, ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, ‘Somebody To Love’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Some Things That Glitter’, ‘Save Me’, ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’, ‘You Have To Be There’, ‘I Love It When You Call’, ‘Defying Gravity’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘Anthems’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’
Itinerary:
May 1, Royal Albert Hall, London
May 3, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
May 5, The Sage, Gateshead
May 6, City Hall, Sheffield
May 8, Royal Centre, Nottingham
May 9, Symphony Hall, Birmingham
May 11, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
May 12, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
May 14, St David’s Hall, Cardiff
May 16, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
May 18, Theatre, Milton Keynes
May 19, Pavilion, Southend Cliffs
May 21, Forum, Bath
June 1, Hampton Court Palace Festival, London
July 16, RAF Cranwell
Brian’s appreciation for Kerry Ellis has been well-documented. Ever since she caught the guitarist’s eye in a late 2001 performance of My Fair Lady, he has touted her consistently as the Next Big Thing, even telling What’s On Stage in 2010, “From the moment I first heard [her] sing, I was entranced, and felt the conviction that I would one day make an album for her. That conviction never left me.” Anthems was released in September 2010, and fulfilled a personal goal for Brian, even if it wasn’t exactly a critical or commercial success. With his creative juices flowing once again – he wrote two songs specifically for the album, and later commented that ‘Some Things That Glitter’ from The Cosmos Rocks was written with her in mind – Brian agreed to embark on a tour with her, using his name to appeal to a wider audience. (How, then, to categorize this tour? It’s not strictly a Brian May solo tour, yet to say he was a guest performer would undermine his involvement.)
The tour kicked off with a double charity performance (matinee and evening) at the Royal Albert Hall on 1 May 2011, with proceeds benefiting Leukemia & Lymphoma Research. From the start, this was meant to be a theatrical event instead of just a concert: Kerry made her appearance as part of a group of hooded monks, tearing off her robe dramatically for the ‘Dangerland’ opener. All of Anthems was performed, and Brian even took to the mic a few times to lead the audience through an acoustic rendition of ‘Love Of My Life’. His perfunctory guitar solo was given a slight revamp, leading into ‘Last Horizon’, while Kerry performed ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’ on her own. Unsurprisingly, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ ended the set, while ‘Anthem’ and ‘Defying Gravity’ were encore performances. The charity concerts were well-received, and served as an auspicious start to the tour.
As the tour of the United Kingdom unfolded, the set became a little more adventurous, with ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ added as the final number and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ introduced in Glasgow. Brian was clearly having a ball, with Rufus Taylor serving as a fine substitute for his father and injecting a much-needed shot of energy. While Kerry’s voice inevitably strayed toward the West End perfection musical singers are noted for, she also employed a fine rock voice on the Queen songs, prompting one critic to wax hyperbolic: “[She] quickly dispelled any doubts about her ability to step into Freddie Mercury’s shoes.” A bold statement, yes, and not one that all fans would agree with, but after the rough-hewn partnership with Paul Rodgers, Brian needed something more on familiar footing, and Kerry proved to be a most worthy muse.
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ROGER TAYLOR
Although he was the first to issue a solo record and the first to branch out into live performances (with The Cross), Roger was, surprisingly, the last member of Queen to embark on a solo tour. Roger only performed two major, albeit brief, solo tours; it’s likely that he had achieved all he needed to with The Cross in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and that he was happier with semi-retirement than being constantly on the road. Much like Brian, Roger ended his solo career once the Queen name started to make waves in the music industry again. His final concert was on 3 April 1999, though the creative rebirth of the Queen + Paul Rodgers union, which resulted in The Cosmos Rocks, has inspired Roger to restart his solo career.
HAPPINESS? TOUR
28 JULY TO 29 JANUARY 1995
Musicians: Roger Taylor (vocals, drums, percussion, guitar), Stewart Bradley (bass guitar), Michael Crossley (keyboards, vocals), Jason Falloon (guitars, vocals), Joshua J. Macrae (drums)
Repertoire: ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘Touch The Sky’, ‘Everybody Hurts Sometime’, ‘Ride The Wild Wind’, ‘Tenement Funster’, ‘Man On Fire’, ‘’You Had To Be There”, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘Foreign Sand’, ‘Voodoo Chile’, ‘Soul (See You In Hull)’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, ‘Happiness?’, ‘The Key’, ‘Revelations’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Nazis 1994’, ‘Old Friends’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘Twist And Shout’, ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ ‘Dear Mr Murdoch’, ‘Loneliness...’
Itinerary, 1994:
July 28: Walpole Park, Gosport Festival, Gosport
September 15: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
September 26: Sun Plaza, Tokyo, Japan
September 28: Club Citta, Kawasaki, Japan
September 30: Kokusai Koryu Centre, Osaka, Japan
October 14: Presswerk, Cologne, Germany
October 24: City Square, Milan, Italy
November 19: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
November 20: Junction, Cambridge
November 22: Rock City, Nottingham
November 23: Riverside, Newcastle
November 24: Irish Centre, Leeds
November 26: Royal Court, Liverpool
November 27: The Leadmill, Sheffield
November 29: The Garage, Glasgow
November 30: Bierkeller, Bristol
December 1: Forum Assago, Milan, Italy
December 2: City Hall, Truro
December 3: Manchester University, Manchester
December 4: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
December 8: Europe 1 Studios, Paris, France (afternoon & evening shows)
Itinerary, 1995:
January 16: Hippodrome, Monfalcone, Italy
January 17: Palazetto, Schio, Italy
January 18: Teatro Verdi, Genova, Italy
January 20: Vidia, Cesena, Italy
January 21: Teatro Tenda, Firenze, Italy
January 22: Palladium, Rome, Italy
January 24: Teatro Nazionale, Valetta, Malta
January 25: Teatro Metropolitan, Palermo, Italy
January 26: Teatro Metropolitan, Catania, Italy
January 29: Havanna Club, Napoli, Italy
Roger’s first proper solo tour coincided with the release of Happiness? in September 1994, with dates restricted to smaller venues around the UK, though the touring band also journeyed to Japan, Germany, Italy and France. The musicians Roger employed for the tour were all from the Happiness? album sessions except for newcomer Stewart Bradley on bass guitar; the shows were guaranteed to be tight yet raunchy, and no one walked away disappointed.
The set included several surprises, not least the fact that all but one of the twelve tracks from Happiness? were performed live. (Only ‘Freedom Train’ eluded the repertoire, though ‘Dear Mr Murdoch’ and ‘Loneliness...’ were performed infrequently.) Also, the Queen choices drew more from the band’s latter period, the only 1970s songs being ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and an exciting rendition of ‘Tenement Funster’, marking its debut in the live setting. ‘Ride The Wild Wind’ made its live bow during this tour and became a veritable tour de force, while the only solo track not taken from the new album was ‘Man On Fire’. There were covers aplenty as well, with Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Chile’ and The Isley Brothers’ ‘Twist And Shout’ as mainstays, though less frequent renditions of Bob Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ were also included.
Joshua J. Macrae was the regular drummer, with Roger preferring to stay front and centre and focus on his singing (and occasional guitar playing on ‘I’m In Love With My Car’ and ‘Happiness?’), though he did take to the drums for ‘Ride The Wild Wind’, ‘Tenement Funster’, ‘’You Had To Be There”, ‘Revelations’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Nazis 1994’.
Following the UK leg, it was announced that Roger would continue the itinerary into January 1995 with a brief tour of Italy. With ten dates in ten cities, this was the most extensive Italian tour undertaken by any Queen member. Each show was well attended, and Roger and the band finished the tour in high spirits. It was a surprise, then, that he took nearly four years to go back on the road.
1998 CONCERTS
24 SEPTEMBER AND 14 OCTOBER 1998
Musicians: Roger Taylor (vocals, drums, percussion, guitar), Steve Barnacle (bass guitar), Michael Crossley (keyboards, vocals), Mike Exelby (guitars), Jason Falloon (guitars, vocals), Keith Prior (drums), Treana Morris (vocals on ‘Surrender’), Jonathan Perkins (vocals on ‘Surrender’ (October 14 only) and ‘She’s Rich’), Bob Geldof (vocals on ‘Like A Rolling Stone’)
Cyberbarn gig (September 24): ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Pressure On’, ‘A Nation Of Haircuts’, ‘Believe In Yourself’, ‘People On Streets’, ‘No More Fun’, ‘Tonight’, ‘Surrender’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’
Shepherd’s Bush Empire (October 14): ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Pressure On’, ‘A Nation Of Haircuts’, ‘Believe In Yourself’, ‘People On Streets’, ‘No More Fun’, ‘Tonight’, ‘Surrender’, ‘She’s Rich’, ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, ‘London Town, C’mon Down’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, ‘Tenement Funster’, ‘Strange Frontier’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’
Initially, Roger only planned two concerts to promote Electric Fire, his fourth solo album. The first was on 24 September 1998 and was by far his most memorable. With hopes of broadcasting live on the Internet to all corners of the world – “We wanted to make this concert accessible to people throughout the world, not just to people with access to major cities,” Roger explained in a press release – the concert was broadcast from his Surrey studio (or Cyberbarn, as it was dubbed for the occasion) with a small audience. Having set a world record for the most online views (595,000 overall), the video was later edited by DoRo and released as Live At The Cyberbarn.
The second promotional concert was on 14 October at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Treana Morris was the support act, performing, among others, a version of The Beatles’ ‘Ticket To Ride’ and Queen’s own ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’. However, Roger had a host of guests stop by. Jonathan Perkins, who had provided vocals on the album version of ‘Surrender’, reprised his role on that song, singing co-lead with Treana (Roger stood patiently in the wings until the song was over), and then provided a number of his own entitled ‘She’s Rich’. Bob Geldof also made a surprise appearance, performing a thundering rendition of Bob Dylan’s ‘Like A Rolling Stone’.
Roger premiered eight new songs during these two concerts (seven were performed at both, with ‘London Town, C’mon Down’ debuted at Shepherd’s Bush only) and introduced a new set list, very different from his previous one. The only question remained was, would he tour or not?
ELECTRIC FIRE UK TOUR
15 MARCH TO 3 APRIL 1999
Musicians: Roger Taylor (vocals, drums, percussion), Steve Barnacle (bass guitar), Michael Crossley (keyboards, vocals), Mike Exelby (guitars), Jason Falloon (guitars, vocals), Keith Prior (drums), Treana Morris (vocals on ‘Surrender’ and ‘Under Pressure’)
Repertoire: ‘Interlude In Constantinople’ (intro), ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Pressure On’, ‘A Nation Of Haircuts’, ‘Believe In Yourself’, ’I Want To Break Free’, ‘No More Fun’, ‘Tonight’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘Surrender’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘London Town, C’mon Down’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, ‘Tenement Funster’, ‘Strange Frontier’, ‘Happiness?’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘People On Streets’, ‘Rock And Roll’
Itinerary:
March 15: Guildhall, Gloucester
March 16: Coal Exchange, Cardiff
March 18: Truro Hall, Cornwall
March 19: The Stage, Stoke
March 20: Manchester University, Manchester
March 21: Leadmill, Sheffield
March 23: The Garage, Glasgow
March 24: Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh
March 25: Riverside, Newcastle
March 27: Liverpool L2, Liverpool
March 28: The Junction, Cambridge
March 29: The Waterfront, Norwich
March 30: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
March 31: Rock City, Nottingham
April 2: Pyramid Centre, Portsmouth
April 3: Astoria Theatre, London
Roger had given no indication that he would tour Electric Fire – even Jacky Smith, a constant source of information, was left in the dark. The perfect time to have made such an announcement would have been when he appeared on TFI Friday on 9 October 1998, but no such topic was brought up. Nothing more was heard until the new year, when it was announced that Roger was working on a remix of ‘Surrender’, to be released as a single in March, and – almost as an afterthought – that he would be performing a short UK tour.
The tour itself was an extension of the two promotional concerts Roger gave in 1998, with eight new songs and a smattering of latterday Queen hits (‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Under Pressure’ and ‘Radio Ga Ga’), though the most surprising inclusions were ‘Strange Frontier’, last performed with The Cross in 1990, and ‘Interlude In Constantinople’, used as a suitably atmospheric taped introduction to each concert. The only song in the set list that came from H
appiness? was the title track, an encore performance again before ‘Radio Ga Ga’ concluded the show.
Dubbed The Free Radicals, the band differed only slightly from the 1994/95 personnel: Jason Falloon and Michael Crossley were still on hand, while Steve Barnacle, Mike Exelby and Keith Prior were recruited on bass, guitars and drums respectively. The most exciting addition was Treana Morris, who had made her debut on ‘Surrender’, and would later join The Wire Daisies. She would duet superbly with Roger on ‘Under Pressure’ and ‘Surrender’ as well as providing backing vocals throughout. As on the previous tour, Roger stood front and centre, occasionally slapping a tambourine (during ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’ and ‘Surrender’), though he played no guitar on this tour. His drumming was also minimal, confined to the introduction and finale of ‘We Will Rock You’, the intros of ‘Pressure On’ and ‘Under Pressure’, and the solo and conclusion of ‘London Town, C’mon Down’.
The most striking concert by far was Wolverhampton, where various band members had intimated to fans before the show that it would “definitely be memorable.” It was certainly that: Brian May strolled on stage just before ‘Under Pressure’, which had been moved back as an encore number, staying through ‘Rock And Roll’ and concluding with ‘Radio Ga Ga’. After this, Roger’s last ever date as a solo artist was on 3 April 1999 at the Astoria Theatre in London, where he performed to 2000 people, perhaps the largest audience of the tour.
* * *
OTHER EVENTS
A CONCERT FOR LIFE: FREDDIE MERCURY
TRIBUTE CONCERT FOR AIDS AWARENESS
20 APRIL 1992
Musicians, second part only: John Deacon (bass guitar), Brian May (guitar, vocals, lead vocal and keyboards on ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’, acoustic guitar on ‘Thank You’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, and ‘’39’), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals, bass drum and tambourine on ‘’39’), Spike Edney (keyboards, vocals), Slash (guitar on ‘Tie Your Mother Down’), Tony Iommi (guitar), Mike Moran (keyboards on ‘Somebody To Love’), Joshua J Macrae (percussion on ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’), Maggie Ryder, Miriam Stockley, Chris Thompson and Peter Straker (backing vocals), The London Community Gospel Choir (chorus vocals on ‘Somebody To Love’), Mick Ronson (guitar on ‘All The Young Dudes’)
