by Georg Purvis
While the band was initially rusty and hesitant, it was still a positive experience for them, and they were enthusiastically received both by those in attendance on the night and those who were able to download from the Internet a short four-song clip of ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’.
FYLLINGEN, TROMOSO, NORWAY
11 JUNE 2005
Musicians: Brian May (vocals, guitars, acoustic guitar and lead vocals [one verse only] on ‘Cosi Celeste’), Spike Edney (keyboards), Jamie Moses (guitars), John Marte (drums), Steve Stroud (bass guitar), Jivan Gasparyan (duduk on ‘Theme From The Gladiator’ and ‘The Last Temptation Of Christ’), Peter Gabriel (vocals on ‘The Last Temptation Of Christ’), Zucchero (vocals on ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime’, ‘Senza Una Donna’, and ‘Cosi Celeste’), Sharon Corr (vocals on ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime’), Johnny Clegg (vocals on ‘Asimbonanga’)
Repertoire: ‘Theme From The Gladiator’, ‘The Last Temptation Of Christ’, ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime’, ‘Senza Una Donna’, ‘Cosi Celeste’, ‘Asimbonanga’
Brian appeared solo for this 46664 concert, and hinted on his website that he would be playing with Jivan Gasparyan, but that their set was still to be determined. Gasparyan, an Armenian musician and composer, is a professor at the Yerevan Conservatory where he instructs performers to professional levels in performance of the duduk (a double-reed instrument, cousin to the oboe). Brian and Jivan performed ‘Theme From The Gladiator’ and ‘The Last Temptation Of Christ’, with Peter Gabriel on lead vocals, before Brian returned on his own to play guitar on ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime’, ‘Senza Una Donna’, ‘Cosi Celeste’ (singing one verse on this song, his only vocal performance of the night) and ‘Asimbonaga’. As with the first 46664 concert, the house band consisted of Spike Edney on keyboards, Jamie Moses on guitars, John Marte on drums and Steve Stroud on bass.
HYDE PARK, LONDON
27 JUNE 2008
Musicians: Brian May (guitars, vocals, acoustic guitar on ‘Is This The World We Created...?’), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), Paul Rodgers (vocals), Spike Edney (piano, keyboards, vocals), Danny Miranda (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Moses (guitars, vocals)
Repertoire: ‘Is This The World We Created...?’ (Brian and Andrea Corr), ‘One Vision’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘All Right Now’, ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ (all-star finale)
Three months before the Rock The Cosmos tour was due to start, Queen + Paul Rodgers interrupted the final recording sessions for The Cosmos Rocks to play at the Hyde Park concert for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration. Annie Lennox, Zucchero, The Corrs, Amy Winehouse, and Razorlight were on the bill (rumored appearances from U2 and Eminem failed to materialize), all compered by an enthusiastic Will Smith, and Brian likened the experience to 1985’s Live Aid. The sextet rehearsed extensively for the tour, trimming down six songs to twenty minutes, and offering up five Queen favourites and a rousing rendition of ‘All Right Now’. There were some hiccups – Paul was clearly not fully prepared for the twists and turns of ‘One Vision’, starting to sing the bridge instead of the second verse – but they truly came alive with ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ and had the audience cheering wildly and singing along.
Earlier in the show, Brian appeared with Andrea Corr to sing an impassioned rendition of ‘Is This The World We Created...?’, and, much like Live Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, an all-star finale helped out with Jerry Drammers’ ‘Free Nelson Mandela’, recorded by The Special A.K.A. and produced by Elvis Costello in 1984. Amy Winehouse sang the opening verse, before a cast of a hundred bounced out onto the stage to bring the show to a close. Everyone was in high spirits, with Brian and Paul grinning wildly and clearly having a ball – a marked contrast from the spirits they would be in as the year came to an end.
* * *
QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS
EUROPEAN TOUR
28 MARCH TO 30 APRIL 2005
Musicians: Brian May (guitars, vocals, lead vocal on ‘’39’ and ‘Love Of My Life’, lead vocal intro on ‘Hammer To Fall’, acoustic guitar), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals, lead vocal on ‘Say It’s Not True’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, and ‘Radio Ga Ga’, congas on ‘Seagull’), Paul Rodgers (vocals, acoustic guitar on ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’), Spike Edney (piano, keyboards, vocals), Danny Miranda (bass guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar on ‘Say It’s Not True’), Jamie Moses (guitars, vocals, acoustic guitar on ‘Say It’s Not True’)
Repertoire: ‘Reaching Out’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘A Little Bit Of Love’, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Wishing Well’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘Say It’s Not True’, ‘’39’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Hammer To Fall’, ‘Feel Like Making Love’, ‘Let There Be Drums’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, Guitar Solo, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Can’t Get Enough’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘I Want It All’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘All Right Now’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘God Save The Queen’, ‘Seagull’, ‘Long Away’, ‘Tavaszi Szel Vizet Araszt’, ‘Danube Waltz’
Itinerary:
March 28: Brixton Academy, London
March 30: Le Zenith, Paris, France
April 1: Palacio de los Deportes, Madrid, Spain
April 2: Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
April 4: Palalottomatica, Rome, Italy
April 5: Forum, Milan, Italy
April 7: Nelson Mandela Forum, Firenze, Italy
April 8: BPA Palas, Pesaro, Italy
April 10: St Jakob’s Halle, Basel, Switzerland
April 13: Stadhalle, Vienna, Austria
April 14: Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany
April 16: Sazka Arena, Prague, Czech Republik
April 17: Arena, Leipzig, Germany
April 19: Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
April 20: Sportpaleis, Antwerpen, Belgium
April 23: Arena, Budapest, Hungary
April 25: Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany
April 26: Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands
April 28: Colour Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany
April 30: Globen, Stockholm, Sweden
It must be said that the 2005 touring band – consisting of Brian May, Roger Taylor, Paul Rodgers, former Blue Öyster Cult bassist Danny Miranda, and familiar stalwarts Jamie Moses and Spike Edney – is not the Queen we all know and love. “For years, I couldn’t see the point of doing Queen again,” Brian explained in 2005. “I couldn’t visualize it. Then we performed some songs with Paul, and it was like a door opened in my mind. It suddenly occurred to me that we could do something which will give people a little bit of what they want but will also take it to a new place. I’m starting to wonder why we didn’t think of it before.”
Well, they did think of it before: rumours started to formulate shortly after the tribute concert in 1992 that George Michael would become Queen’s new vocalist, and the same situation arose in 1997 after the Béjart Ballet event with Elton John. The closest the idea had previously come to fruition was in 2001, after Brian and Roger re-recorded ‘We Are The Champions’ with Robbie Williams for the film A Knight’s Tale, but all parties cooled on the project and it wasn’t pursued further. The 2004 UK Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame appearance with Paul Rodgers threw up the prospect of working with someone who wasn’t like Freddie – flamboyant and over-the-top – and the first major tour utilizing the Queen name (with Paul Rodgers duly added on) kicked off on home turf at the Brixton Academy, nine days after the 46664 concert in South Africa.
Expanding upon the set presented during the Fancourt concerts, the new repertoire added a smattering of songs from both Paul Rodgers’ and Queen’s respective canon. In addition to the three songs performed in South Africa, Paul’s �
��A Little Bit Of Love’, ‘Wishing Well’ and ‘Seagull’ were added, while, among others, hits like ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘I Want It All’ and – of course – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ were also included. An array of album material was brought out of mothballs: ‘Love Of My Life’ was inevitable, since it was perfect for audience participation and allowed Brian to conduct the crowd in his own way, while ‘I’m In Love With My Car’ made a welcome return after a twenty-four-year absence from the Queen set list. Perhaps the most surprising inclusion was ‘’39’, which hadn’t been performed by Queen since 1979. A brief, two-verse rendition from Brian was expanded later in the tour into a full performance, with the audience taking the lead for the most part.
The opening night at the Brixton Academy started off with a taped introduction of ‘It’s A Beautiful Day’, rejigged by Ross Robertson and DJ Koma into a techno mix that blended perfectly with the full (!) twenty-three-minute ‘Track 13’ from Made In Heaven. Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ was heard next before Paul launcherd into the opening verse of ‘Reaching Out’, which had been recorded as a charity single featuring Brian and Paul back in 1996. Brian then appeared for the opening bars of ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, with the curtain dramatically parting to reveal the other four musicians. After the first four numbers, the set took an acoustic turn, with Bad Company’s ‘Seagull’ (and later Roger’s gorgeous ‘Say It’s Not True’) as the introductory song and Brian taking over for ‘’39’ and ‘Love Of My Life’.
The acoustic segment took place at the end of the catwalk, with a slightly larger platform (or B-stage) that placed the band right in the middle of the audience. After the acoustic segment concluded, ‘Hammer To Fall’ was drastically reworked in an arrangement similar to Brian’s own rendition for his 1998 Another World tour; Brian would sing the first verse, with Paul joining him at the B-stage for the second. Brian’s ever-evolving guitar solo became a showcase not only for his technique but also for the massive lighting rig, blending effortlessly into his own solo song, ‘Last Horizon’. A pre-taped drum intro to ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’ followed, with Roger singing lead vocals at the B-stage, staying there for the introduction of ‘Radio Ga Ga’ before Paul took over.
The song that caused most concern to the band was ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’; how could they tackle such an important song? The solution was simple: the video screen would show Freddie on piano singing the introduction (from the 1986 Wembley concert), with the band playing along until leaving the stage for the operatic bit, with images of Queen’s past flashing on the screen. For the hard rock section, Paul would take over on lead vocals and, when the slow coda approached, both Freddie and Paul would duet on the closing lines. It was a neat homage to Freddie’s memory and succeeded in integrating him into the show without it appearing hokey.
The subsequent tour wound its way through France and Spain without incident until the 2 April show in Barcelona: Pope John Paul II suffered a massive heart attack and the fate of the first show in Italy was thrown into doubt. He died two days later and, at the concert that night, the band’s entrance was preceded by a minute’s silence, Brian later dedicating ‘Love Of My Life’ to all the “great lost ones.”
On 7 April Paul was suffering a throat infection, meaning that his time on stage was limited and the set list had to be restructured. He only sang on the first five songs before taking an extended break until ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Can’t Get Enough’ and ‘A Kind Of Magic’, having another rest until ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, then staying for the remainder of the show. As a result, ‘Seagull’ was replaced with ‘Say It’s Not True’, and Brian and Roger had to make the decision which songs to sing themselves. Roger took over lead vocals on the fast portion of ‘Hammer To Fall’, while Brian sang ‘I Want It All’ on his own.
At the final show in Italy, two additions to the set list were made: Brian threw in a snippet of ‘Long Away’ before ‘’39’, while a cover of Sandy Nelson’s ‘Let There Be Drums’ became the introduction to ‘I’m In Love With My Car’. As Paul was still ill, the vocal arrangements of the previous night remained the same. The tour continued through Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republik and Belgium before the band made a return visit to Hungary, with Brian performing the traditional folk song ‘Tavaszi Szel Viszet Araszt’ during his acoustic segment. The Budapest show was also filmed for a potential DVD release, though the preferred show in Sheffield on 9 May took precedence and was released as Return Of The Champions in October. The set list remained largely unchanged until 28 April in Hamburg, when Free’s ‘Wishing Well’ was included after ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, remaining in the set until the end of the year.
Critical reaction was surprisingly positive. The one dissenting voice was from Brixton’s Financial Times, who opined that “The idea of Queen without Freddie Mercury is about as enticing as summer without sunshine ... This Brixton Academy show, performed for an audience drawn by lottery from the group’s official fan club, was their first date. But neither the warmth of the welcome nor the evident bond between band and fans could make up for a sluggish evening of quasi-karaoke. Paul Rodgers was the singer given the thankless task of filling Mercury’s shoes. Rodgers has an impressive rock pedigree – he was in the bands Free and Bad Company – but despite a number of Mercury-esque attributes (robust voice, leather trousers, facial hair), he could not hope to match the original’s showmanship ... Endless Brian May guitar solos were scant consolation, and even a storming finale of ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’ came too late to salvage the evening. This, I am afraid, is one show that should not go on.”
The Daily Telegraph was more sympathetic: “The first night of a thity-two-date European tour by Queen + Paul Rodgers proved a remarkable rock ‘n’ roll experience, a daring and potentially disastrous experiment that, most of the time, worked brilliantly. This wasn’t merely two of the three surviving members of Queen teaming up with a replacement vocalist. It was a rare, if not unique, marriage of pop legends.” Even Stockholm’s The Local was glowing. “’Irreplaceable’ is a word to be used sparingly but it could almost have been Freddie Mercury’s nickname. The flamboyant genius, the ultimate showman, the rocker with a voice of a nightingale – when Mercury died in 1991, mourning fans the world over understood the remaining band members’ decision to put Queen on ice. Thirteen years later, Brian May and Roger Taylor, Queen’s guitarist and drummer respectively, decided that they had at last found their man. Despite the cynicism of many, at least here in Stockholm, Paul Rodgers is not an unknown. Brian May describes him as ‘one of the world’s great vocalists’ and anyone familiar with his work with Free and Bad Company will know that he is not a man to be daunted by a big stage. And so it proved. From the thunderous opener ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ to the traditional finale of ‘We Are The Champions’, Rodgers brought such vitality to Queen’s catalogue that there was no room for sentimentality at Stockholm’s Globen arena on Saturday night. Rodgers is canny enough – and Queen understand their fans well enough – not to try to replace Freddie Mercury. But with his powerful voice – less pure than Mercury’s but more throaty, more bluesy – he doesn’t so much claim the songs as his own as respectfully offer an interpretation. And that’s good enough for Queen fans.”
UK TOUR
3 TO 14 MAY 2005
Musicians: Brian May (guitars, vocals, lead vocal on ‘’39’ and ‘Love Of My Life’, lead vocal intro on ‘Hammer To Fall’, acoustic guitar), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals, lead vocal on ‘Say It’s Not True’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, and ‘Radio Ga Ga’), Paul Rodgers (vocals, acoustic guitar on ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’), Spike Edney (piano, keyboards, vocals), Danny Miranda (bass guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar on ‘Say It’s Not True’), Jamie Moses (guitars, vocals, acoustic guitar on ‘Say It’s Not True’)
Repertoire: ‘Reaching Out’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Wishing Well’, ‘Crazy Lit
tle Thing Called Love’, ‘Say It’s Not True’, ‘’39’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Hammer To Fall’, ‘Feel Like Making Love’, ‘Let There Be Drums’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, Guitar Solo, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Can’t Get Enough’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘I Want It All’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘All Right Now’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘God Save The Queen’, ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo?’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘Fire And Water’
Itinerary:
May 3: Metro, Newcastle
May 4: MEN-Arena, Manchester
May 6: NEC Arena, Birmingham
May 7: International, Cardiff
May 9: Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield
May 11: Wembley Pavilion, London
May 13: Odyssey, Belfast
May 14: The Point, Dublin
After a brief break, the Queen + Paul Rodgers touring band performed their first UK tour. The tour started on 3 May in Newcastle, though Paul’s vocal problems persisted and both ‘The Show Must Go On’ and ‘Feel Like Making Love’ were temporarily dropped. Otherwise, the set list remained largely the same, though the second night in Manchester saw a unique encore: not only did ‘Under Pressure’ make its debut (mainly sung by Roger), but Peter Kay and Patrick McGuinness made an appearance to perform ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo?’ Brian and Roger had appeared in the video for Kay’s Comic Relief charity single, which would be released a week after the final Queen + Paul Rodgers gig, and had duly asked Peter and Patrick to perform the song at their Manchester concert.
In Birmingham, ‘Under Pressure’ remained and ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ received its premiere performance, finally giving the absent John Deacon two songs in his former band’s set list. In Cardiff the following night, ‘The Show Must Go On’ and ‘Feel Like Making Love’ returned, with ‘Under Pressure’ temporarily replaced by ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ as the first encore number. The Sheffield performance was filmed and recorded, eventually seeing release in October as the Return Of The Champions CD and DVD; ‘Under Pressure’ was brought back, though Brian announced that the song wouldn’t be released and was just a personal bonus track for that night’s audience.
