News
July 2005
July 27th
Roger on Pollstar.com!
Pollstar.com has a nice article that includes Roger's thoughts regarding the 2 USA shows that Queen+Paul Rodgers will be doing in the USA in October in Hollywood and New Jersey.
Queen + Paul Rodgers + U.S. Updated 00:27 PDT Tue, Jul 26 2005
The pairing of the surviving members of Queen and singer Paul Rodgers, (Bad Company, Free), at first seemed a little incongruous. After all, who could possibly fill the late Freddie Mercury's catsuit?
If you answered "nobody," you'd be right. And Rodgers, along with Brian may and Roger Taylor, have wisely avoided comparison with the flamboyant former frontman, instead opting to let Rodgers be Rodgers.
The show has been well received in the U.K. and Europe, filling up large venues such as the Manchester Evening News Arena in England and garnering strong reviews there.
American fans will have a chance to judge for themselves, as Queen + Paul Rodgers has inked in shows October 16th at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., and L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl October 22nd.
Tickets go on sale for the East Coast gig at 10 a.m. July 30th, and the Hollywood Bowl show the same time the next day.
It's been almost 25 years since Queen's last U.S. tour - a 30-city romp of arenas and sheds in 1982. The band stole the show at London's Live Aid concert in 1985 and played in front of some 350,000 fans at Brasilia's Rock in Rio Festival the same year. Mercury was diagnosed with HIV in 1986 and died in 1991.
Taylor thinks the new incarnation of his band would earn the Mercury seal of approval. "Paul is one of the people who's influenced so many of the singers out there at the moment, and Freddie was a great fan of his," Taylor said. "I had always hoped we would tour again, and I'm thrilled we're doing it."
Deborah Speer / Pollstar
Source: http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=4159
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July 26th
ROGER's Birthday!
Today's Roger's 56th birthday and I wish him all the best he can get! Hope to bring him some ideas and record some new solo stuff. Have a great fun!
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July 25th
Q+PR in the STATES
2 dates have been announced on Brian's website (www.brianmay.com). These are:
October 16th - Continental Airlines Arena (The Meadowlands), East Rutherford, New Jersey
October 22nd - Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, California.
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July 10th
Q+PR HYDE PARK Rescheduled
Due to attacks in London the concert has been postponed to July 15th. All the tickets are valid for the rescheduled concert.
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July 5th
Q+PR HYDE PARK INTERVIEWS
Schedule of interviews now confirmed to support the Queen + Paul Rodgers show at Hyde Park on July 8th.
Wednesday 22 June: 6:25pm - 7:00pm. BBC Radio 2 Johnnie Walker (Stuart Marconie filling in for JW) - Roger Taylor, Brian May and Peter Kay. Live Q+PR versions of Fat Bottomed Girls and Reaching Out/Tie Your Mother Down are also to be aired.
Thursday 23 June: 8:00am - 8:20am. XFM Christian O'Donnell Show - RT and PK
Thursday 23 June: 9:00am - 10:00am. Capital Gold David Jensen - RT and BM
Tuesday 5 July:
2:15pm – 3:00pm BBC RADIO 5, Simon Mayo Show - RT and BM
3:45pm – 5:30pm CHANNEL 4 TV, Richard & Judy Show - RT and BM (expected on air at approx 5pm)
- Brian May has also given an interview to the Daily Mirror. The feature is also to include Roger and Paul - interviews to be confirmed.
- An hour long Queen special has also been pre-recorded for Virgin 105.8 FM and will be broadcast twice in the lead up to the Hyde Park show.
- TBC - Capital FM phone in by Peter into Johnny Vaughan's FM breakfast show on a date closer to the Hyde Park show
July 3rd
Exclusive !!!! - The SAS Band hits Cyprus (Larnaca never the same again)
16th of June 2005 - The big day is here at last !!!!. With the show scheduled to start at 9pm, I rounded up the crew and got to the stadium at 8:15pm. As we had media passes, we overtook the queue and walked straight in. All of a sudden, I heard my name being called, so I looked up and at the two bars, selling Leon (the popular Cyprus beer), Shark, etc was Helen Panteli (a close friend of the company). All the drinks were on sale for just L1.00 (largely due to the generosity of the companies concerned).
By this time stadium was starting to fill, with everyone first making their way to the bar, then to their seats, with the background music energizing every-one into the right spirit. By 9:05, with the arena filling up nicely, the SAS Band headed out across the hallowed Anorthosis turf towards backstage.
9:30 – The gala evening starts with the one and only Spike Edney (SAS Band Supremo, also known as the fifth member of Queen), who did the formal intro. First and best was guitarist Jamie Moses, who I have to say was admired by many for his non-stop excellent performance. He was admirably accompanied by Johnny Marty on the drums, Steve Stroud on bass guitar, Andy on the trumpet, Steve on sax and Spike Edney (who was on Keyboard throughout most of the show).
After Jamie Moses showed us his abilities, Chris Thompson from Manfred Mann, with his excellent strong voice, came on stage in his black shades, singing songs like Dave Is On The Road, Blinded By The Light, and Leader Of The Shuffle. By this time we were all raring to go. Next on stage the one and only Fish (from the legendary Marillion). With his silver shirt and high tempo rendition of Could Have Been You, the crowd were literally singing their hearts out. Fish belted out hit after hit, including his big hit of 1985 Kayleigh. By the time Fish began concluding his set with Sweet Home Alabama, all hands were in the air and the atmosphere in the stadium was electric.
As the night progressed, each artist built on the energy of the previous performance. By 10:30pm, Spike Edney had the audience in raptures with his analogy “Lord I’m so Drunk”, when describing the sound of an American womans Orgasm !
Continuing his set with an explosive rendition of Lynott’s classic The Boys Are Back In Town, Midge Ure urged the crowd to give it all they had, which they dutifully did. With his concluding rendition of his timeless classic Vienna, Midge Ure had the swaying crowd in raptures. Truely a master at work – Incredible!!!!!!
Next on stage was Ultravox supremo and Live Aid 2 co-organizer Midge Ure (surely if anyone deserves a knight-hood along-side Sir Bob Geldof - IT HIS HIM). For someone who only flew in at 5pm on the day of the concert, (due to his tireless dedication in organizing the upcoming Live Aid 2 concert), his performance was nothing short of remarkable. Opening with an explosive rendition of his classic song, Dancing With Tears In My Eyes, his guitar strapped on tight, he went on to play a glowing tribute to his friend Phil Lynott (of Thin Lizzy fame).
As Midge Ure left the stage, the clock wound back to the best of the seventies. Fabba Girls Zoë and Suzie, resplendent in their eye-catching Abba-esqe costumes (complete with white-tasseled skirts and knee-high boots), took us back to a better time with their turbo-charged performances of Waterloo and every-one’s favourite Dancing Queen. Zoe and Suzy deserve particular praise given their fantastic backing vocals throughout the whole concert.
As the Fabba Girls finished, Spike Edney was back on stage, telling the crowd how the following piece came together. Spike explained how they had been asked to write a 4-minute instrumental piece for the Party in the Park, held annually to support various charities, including the Prince’s Trust. Spike explained to the enthralled crowd, how sitting in a pub next to the rehearsal room, they had sat down and composed the self-styled, 25-Riff Overture. With a bravo performance by Jamie Moses, Spike, Steve Stroud and the band, the 25-Riff Overture was an eclectic mixture of the best of rock, such as the Blues Brothers Theme, Smoke In The Water and many more ……
Next up was Woman’s Hour !!!! 80’s Heat-Throb Paul Young (displaying few ravages of time), had the ladies melting under his ballards. Opening with Stay For Good, Paul continued with a rendition from Tower Power (with Jamie Moses), before finishing his set with his unforgettable, signature song, Every Time You Go Away. As someone who grew up in the 80’s, listening to timeless classics, take my word for it that there is nothing like seeing these past-masters live. After so many years of watching Paul Young on TV, reading about him in magazines, sticking posters on my wall etc, finally getting to have your picture taken with him and shaking his hand is like wow I’ve just died and gone to heaven!!!!!
You should have heard the crowd’s cheers when Chris Thompson appeared once again on stage this time performing the song Mighty Queen. We all knew what was coming up next…….. Special Guest Star – the legendary Mr. Roger Taylor !!!!!! Roger Taylor’s entry on stage had the whole stadium cheering. With hushed anticipation the crowd waited to hear which Queen classic they would hear first.
They were not disappointed - As Radio Gaga filled the air, hands were in the air clapping, everyone singing as loud as they could. Highlighting my evening, was the child standing beside us who knew the words to whole song, highlighting that just like Freddie Mercury himself, Queen’s Kind of Magic will always Live Forever, passing from generation to generation.
Roger Taylor then performed a special song, written especially for Nelson Mandela’s charitable foundations (and performed also on Queen’s recent sell-out tour). Entitled Say It’s Not True, the song was a timely reminder of the global tragedy of Aids. With the crowd were shouting out the names of different Queen songs, Mr. Taylor opted for Freddie Mercury’s good-bye song, the unforgettable, These Are The Days of Our Lives. Unfortunately, Queen were never able to perform this song live with their original line-up, as with all subsequent songs from the Innuendo album. Mr Taylor then belted out the Led Zepplin song Rock ‘n Roll, before dueting with Chris Thompson on Under Pressure.
Following this, Mr. Taylor took his trusty seat behind his drum kit (which he had brought with him from the UK), supporting Chris Thompson’s show-stopping rendition of The Show Must Go On – which was followed by the show’s finale as Spike Edney’s all-star SAS Band took up their places on stage. It was the first time of the night that the SAS Band were on stage together, and so all-together, they all sang the timeless Queen classics We Will Rock You, before concluding with the greatest curtain-closer ever written, We Are The Champions.
So ended an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza. All you could hear were the screams of we want more !!!!! The SAS Band dutifully obliged with a brilliant performance of the Beatles classic, I’ll Get By With A Little Help From My Friends, with Spike jumping into Fish’s arms, having run the full length of the stage, loosing a shoe in the process !!!!
This was the end but looked like they didn’t want to leave so not to upset this great crowd they all got in front of the microphones and when a say all I mean all the musicians, the singers the SAS Band! and sung acapella.
12am and the show that must go on comes to an end!!!!!!!!!!!
It was Such a Great experience!! That’s all from me Andria Smith !!
[SOURCE] AYIA NAPA
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