News
September 2004
September 27th
QUEEN - ON FIRE AT THE BOWL Press Release
Currently Roger and Brian go for some more WWRY introductions - in Russia and Germany. More on that later, now in the mean time some more interesting things - Queen at Milton Keynes concert, which hasn't been released yet (till that certain time...;))
Queen On Fire - Live At The Bowl
Hot Space Tour ‘82
New Live DVD – CD from Queen,
EMI/Parlophone Release 25 October 2004
“We hadn’t seen the footage for years, but when we looked at it we couldn’t believe how good it was, we were on fire”. Roger Taylor talking about the band’s 1982 concert at M K Bowl which is released in its full version for the first time – on DVD and CD, October 25.
Says Brian May: “This is the first time the Milton Keynes night has been shown in its entirety, and I have to say we all get a kick out of it – all the more amazing because we came off stage that night thinking we hadn’t done ourselves justice!!! I’m proud to say It Rocks!!”.
By 1982 Queen were at a peak in terms of touring and recording. They were coming off the back of two of their biggest singles – Another One Bites The Dust and Under Pressure – and by now they were playing more than 60 sell-out concerts a year in the biggest stadiums of the world.
They were also basking in the glory of having been the first foreign band to have toured and conquered Latin America. 1981 had seen the band play football stadiums throughout Argentina and Brazil, including two sell-out concerts at Sao Paulo’s historic Morumbi Stadium.
Such was the demand on the band to play arenas and stadiums throughout the world that they managed to play only 4 dates in the UK between 1981 – 1983. The M K Bowl concert was one of these and the closest they came to playing London in these 3 years. The date was originally to have been played at Arsenal football ground, but when permission was turned down, the date was switched to the M K Bowl.
It is little wonder then that by the time they reached the gig in June 1982 that the Queen touring machine was in prime condition. “We just stormed through that concert,” says Taylor. “I’d forgotten just how tight the band was by then.”
“Queen On Fire – Live At The Bowl” is Queen at its electric best, with the band charging through 25 numbers drawn from the biggest hits and best loved live songs – Dragon Attack, Now I’m Here, Tie Your Mother Down, Sheer Heart Attack, and two versions of We Will Rock You, including the much sought after ‘fast’ version, altogether 110 minutes of live classics.
Filmed by Gavin Taylor, and only ever seen in an edited version on Channel 4’s The Tube, this release has the concert restored to its original full length, amounting to an additional 47 minutes of previously unseen footage. Not released on video, “Queen On Fire – Live At The Bowl”, marks the first time a recording of this concert has been available to own.
“I think people will be surprised, as I was, all these years later, how different the show is from the well known Queen Wembley 86 Stadium performance,” says Brian May. “ A large percentage of the songs are different…It kicks off with us blasting into “Flash” and gets very hot!” The set holds up very well, and Freddie’s ad-libs are something to behold…the other things I had forgotten was how much freedom we had to stretch and enjoy ourselves on the spur of the moment”.
As to be expected from Queen, the release comes only after extensive restoration to the original footage and sound. Audio producers Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson returned to the original 24 track analogue recording and created brand new PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 surround sound mixes. “Unlike the Wembley DVD project, the only mixes available were mono, so we decided to start from scratch,” says Shirley-Smith. “We transferred the entire concert multi-track recordings onto Pro Tools HD. Then we’d listen to each track for any imperfections, distortions or crackles and meticulously remove them. For example, there’s one bit when Brian’s playing piano and it’s very soft –so soft that when we turned it up to the level it needed to be, we just got a load of hiss. Using Pro Tools you can get rid of things like that. The actual mixing, however, was done using vintage analogue”
The result, says Shirley-Smith, is a great band caught at the height of their performing years.
As with all previous releases in the Queen DVD Collection, “Queen On Fire -Live At The Bowl” comes with a second disc full of bonus features. The 75 minutes of extras include behind the scenes footage of preparations for the concert, together with unseen material from interviews filmed on the day with Brian May and Roger Taylor
Further interview footage shot in Munich during the European leg of this tour shows Freddie, Brian and Roger discussing the tour, the then current Hot Space album, as well as discussing the 10 year longevity of the band.
In addition, disc two provides over 35 minutes of bonus live performance from the same year, filmed at the Vienna Stadthalle in May and the final show of the tour at Tokyo’s Seibu Stadium in November.
The disc also features a photo gallery which raids the Queen photo archive in a stunning collection of rare and previously unseen shots from the 1982 tour that took the band across Europe, the US and Japan. In a real treat for Queen collectors, the gallery is displayed to a recording of the band performing “Calling All Girls” at that year’s Tokyo concert, the very first time this track has been made available.
“I feel positively knackered!” says Freddie mid-way through “Queen On Fire – Live At The Bowl”. With over 3 hours of concert footage and extras “Queen On Fire – Live At The Bowl” is likely to leave the viewer “on fire”!
Release Information:
“Queen On Fire – Live At The Bowl” EMI/Parlophone.
DVD Catalogue: 544 1879 / 7243 5 44187 9 2
CD Catalogue: 863 2112 / 7243 8 63211 2 1
DVD produced by Simon Lupton and Rhys Thomas
Executive producer: Jim Beach
Original concert footage directed by Gavin Taylor.
Produced by Malcolm Gerrie.
Audio for DVD Produced by Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson.
Bonus Features Edited by: Lucas Friedman
September 14th
ROGER REPORTING FROM THE US OF A!
"Hello Queen Online..."
"Roger here reporting from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA in the wake of our Opening Gala night of We Will Rock You at the Paris Las Vegas."
"The show was a triumph. Robert De Niro flew in from New York and Mayor Oscar Goodman named September 8th 'Queen Day'. Vegas truly rocked!"
"The after show party on the Paris pool deck under the Eiffel Tower was a blast. Brian and I played a short set with two of the best drummers and guitarists in the World. Chad Smith, Simon Phillips, Steve Vai and Steve Luthaker joined us along with Meatloaf, Glenn Hughes and Kacie and Jason from the cast. Glenn Hughes ripped his way through 'Stone Cold Crazy' and Meatloaf brought the house down with 'Johnny Be Goode'"
"From the West Coast of America, Brian and I are going straight through to Moscow to check out the band and cast of our Russian production scheduled to open on 17th October. Before that we are off to Australia for the opening of the Oz production in Sydney."
"November will see the DVD release of our 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl. 'Queen On Fire - Live At The Bowl' has full 5.1 DTS Sound and all the other normal extras. It's great to finally get this concert into the market place as of course it has never been released. Only the shortened version was shown on television. Also at long last Bob Geldof's Live Aid will be out on DVD as well and we are proud to be part of it."
"Also check out the Wire Daisies. Treana Morris' group from my home county Cornwall release their first single 'Butterfly' and their album 'Just Another Day' this month."
"The single is available this week for download at www.wiredaises.com. Get in and download it. I first saw Treana sing in a bar in Cornwall, What a voice! She then joined me on my Electric Fire Tour and of course sang some great vocals with us down at the 46664 concert in Cape Town."
"On the subject of downloads, Queen will be a launching our own unique download project very shortly on www.queenonline.com. Full details are still under-wraps at the moment, but look out for some really exciting 'live' wire news very soon."
"Cheers for now"
Roger
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SOURCE: www.queenonline.com
September 13th
Queen WWRY after show party & Rockwalk
Roger Taylor put his handprint on Hollywood Rockwalk on September 8th.
©GettyImages
Plus more info on the after show party:
"Tie Your Mother Down" was sung by the US WWRY cast;
"The Show Must Go On" was sung by the US WWRY cast;
"Don't Stop Me Now" was sung by the US WWRY cast;
"Stone Cold Crazy" sung by Glenn Hughes and played bass by him;
"Rock'n'Roll" sung by ROGER with Glenn Hughes on bass;
"Johnny B Good" sung by Meatloaf, bass by Glenn Hughes;
"With A Little Help From My Friends" sung by everyone with Glenn Hughes on bass.
September 10th
Queen WWRY after show party
The setlist on the show was:
Tie Your Mother Down
The Show Must Go On
Don't Stop Me Now
Stone Cold Crazy*
Rock'n'Roll**
Johnny B Good**
With A Little Help From My Friends**
Some sources say they also did "These Are the Days Of Our Lives". Have to wait and check that.
* Glenn Hughes on vocals and bass
** Glenn Hughes on bass.
Other artists include Lukather, Vai, Bettencourt and Chadilicious, and old friends Eric Singer, Simon Phillips and Meat Loaf.
©www.glennhughes.com
This is a message from Glenn, taken from his official site:
Hi Everyone,
I had a blast in Vegas working with Brian and Roger. I really enjoyed singing "Stone Cold Crazy". Great to play with Lukather, Vai, Bettencourt and Chadilicious, and old friends Eric Singer, Simon Phillips and Meat Loaf. Let me tell you, there was a lot of great vibes up on that stage. The show "We Will Rock You" is a lot of fun and I think everyone should go see it. It brought a tear to my eye. The music of Queen is undeniably brilliant.
Peace,
Glenn
PS More interesting news coming next week.
©www.glennhughes.com
September 3rd
Queen WWRY musical in the U.S.
The official U.S. premiere of We Will Rock You (with the band and many celebs in attendance) takes place at The Paris, Las Vegas on September 8th.
There is a lot about Queen taking place there in the US now, and November 2nd is the tentative U.S. release date of the new audio album "Command Performance Milton Keynes 1982" and the "On Fire At The Bowl" DVD.
©Chris Farina
Also Queen will be presented on Rockline: To celebrate the opening of We Will Rock You in Las Vegas, Rockline will rebroadcast, with new updates from the We Will Rock You Premiere, Queen's thunderously well received appearance on the program (originally broadcast June 23). Check out www.rocklineradio.com for your local affiliate, up-to-the-minute details, etc. The show will be broadcast on September 15th.
And there is a new ad using Queen music, but this time not Taylor's composition: We Will Rock You (an ad concerning some jeans...)