E-mail at: tigerlily@queenzone.com
"I am a musician by profession, that's my whole life, and I didn't want to waste it in easy retirement"
You can listen to the first ever acoustic performance of Freddie Mercury's song "I Was Born To Love You" taken from their first Japanese concert in Tokyo (26.10). The quality is very poor but better than nothing! Download.
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Queen + Paul Rodgers decided to add some more songs, most interesting of which is Freddie Mercury's solo song "I Was Born To Love You". Interesting is "Teo Torriate", a Queen song almost always played while in Japan. Also the second night in Tokyo saw Rodgers' "Fire & Water" added. Also see two more Japan dates added on tour 2005 site.
Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo – 26/10/05
Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo – 27/10/05
Roger with Foo Fighters 14 Oct 2005 East Rutherford New Jersey - photos under Foo Fighters site
On VH-1 Classic this Sunday, October 23, at 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM, Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers of Queen discuss their new CD and DVD "Return of the Champions." This interview was recorded in New York on 14 October. More sound bites from the same session may be aired during the coming months.
Excerpt From Interview With Roger Taylor/Paul Rodgers To Air VH1 Classic Sunday 10/23
''Press Release Source: VH1 Classic''
''Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers Speak Out on VH1 Classic About The Once and Future Queen''
Friday October 21, 11:32 am ET
''NEW YORK, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers of Queen stop by VH1 Classic on Sunday, October 23 (10 am and 10 pm ET) and chat with Amy Scott about Freddie Mercury, why they are now performing together and their new CD and DVD ''Return of the Champions.''
''ROGER TAYLOR Says PAUL RODGERS Enhances What Queen Is Now And ISN'T Replacing FREDDIE MERCURY''
''I think Paul's vocals have added to our sound. In a way, they've given us more. We did actually come from the blues, although [we] might not sound like that all the time ... He's added that blues edge to this big world of sound that Brian and I kick up with our other guys.''
''It's given a different sort of slant to a lot of our material. And he does have the range to cover a lot of Freddie's notes because Freddie had a tremendous range. And he's Paul Rodgers, he's not trying to be Freddie Mercury, and I wish people would just understand that we're not doing this to cash in on anything.''
''We're not going out there with somebody pretending to be Freddie Mercury. You know what's the point of that? We're going out there, playing our songs, and Paul's songs as well -- he's got some great songs. We are what we are now, you know, we're not what we were then. Although we do a lot of our old material, obviously, 'cause really it's ours ... We're just going up, playing our songs, and it's a great show. And it rocks like hell. And we're very proud of it ... Paul is great to come back with. He's one of our all-time favorites. Certainly one of Freddie's favorite singers ever. And we used to listen to him before we ever made a record.''
''PAUL RODGERS Says Queen Songs Such As ''I Want to Break Free'' and ''The Show Must Go On'' Match His Passion''
''I love to take a song and grip it from somewhere way down here and deliver it back to people. Queen actually have a lot of songs that I can relate to on that level. Strangely enough, ''I Want to Break Free'' is one of those. Because to me, I feel most of us have something that we want to break free from. A relationship, a job. The place you live, whatever it might be. And so it has meaning on lots of levels. And there's another song that I really am particularly fond of that we do live called ''The Show Must Go On.'' That's something that Queen themselves only experienced in the studio. And, so we have the opportunity, it's like virgin territory when we go out and play that live onstage.''
''Launched in May 2000, VH1 Classic is a 24-hour network that presents music videos, concerts and music specials all day long, featuring the best rock, soul and pop artists from the 60's, 70's and 80's, including The Beatles, The Stones, Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, The Who, Stevie Wonder, The Police and many more. Learn more at http://www.vh1classic.com.''
REVIEW: OK, First of all I'd like to say that I was wonderful meeting some of you guys at the tailgate party. I was a bit upset that I didn't spot some of the people that I actually expected to meet, but I hope this won't be my last chance.
So now my review...
THE GOOD
- The turn-out for the show was great. It was a complete sell-out and nearly half of the arena stood up through most of the show. The boring part of going to a show where the average age is around 40 is that people don't stand up even for the best songs. I've gone to see Aerosmith with a crowd of middle age people who don't even stand up for 'Walk This Way. Why even go to a rock concert when you're going to sit on your ass watching the show? That's why sometimes I rather go to shows with a fanbase of teens and people in the 20s. I was very surprised to see the whole crowd stood up and clapped their hands. It was awesome!
- Roger Taylor was in great shape. Not only for drumming but for singing as well. I really look forward to see Roger performing again.
- Brian was great all through out the show. His guitar solo was incredible, and he proved once again that he is still one of the best guitarists of all time.
- Paul was quite decent for most of the Queen songs. Excellent performances of Free & Bad Company songs. Those songs were indeed done for him. Also kudos to him for showing great on stage showmanship, and being his true self while taking Freddie's place.
THE BAD
- Paul could hardly ever be heard through out the show. Perhaps next time the sound technicians should make sure that Paul can be heard louder because it seemed like Brian and Roger sounded far louder on guitar and drums.
- Now, on the subject of Brian's guitar compared to Paul's voice, I think it was a bit too loud. Don't get me wrong, I love to hear music loud, but even something very loud gets to a point where it's just too loud.
- Same set list. Good thing they didn't peform 'A Kind Of Magic' and 'I Want To Break Free', but why can't they perform 'It's Late', 'Now I'm Here' or 'Under Pressure'.
THE UGLY
- Sorry guys, but 35-40 bucks for a t-shirt is just too much. I've been to other concerts and for the most part the price of the t-shirts don't go past 30. It might not be Queen's idea to set those prices, but that's just too much.
- I think Paul had once in a while a hardtime trying to fit into Freddie's shoes. I mean, can we really blame the guy for singing songs that weren't made for his voice? Nope, but I still give him my thumbs up for giving a very good performance. However, I gotta tell you that if they're planning on touring next year they should cut those ticket prices a bit. Aerosmith and Bon Jovi have their full line-up on their upcoming tour dates, and they're charging 75% less than Queen + PR.
Now, if Queen had their full line-up with Freddie and John, then they could charge that and even more. However, this is still 1/2 Queen with someone who is singing songs that weren't particularly made for him to sing. Very good show, although I can't say excellent.
MY REVIEW FROM (1/10): 8.5 (by Mr.Jingles, www.queenzone.com)
OTHER INFO:
On Sunday night (October 16th), Queen + Paul Rodgers played their first-ever US show. A packed Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, saw Queen and Rodgers pull from both their catalogues during a show that lasted over two hours, including Queen classics such as "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions," and "Fat Bottomed Girls," along with Rodgers standards like Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Rock And Roll Fantasy" and Free's "All Right Now." The band's only other US show for this year is on Saturday (October 22nd) at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, after which they play a series of dates in Japan, though there are reports of a proper North American tour for next year.
Backstage after the concert, Rodgers exclusively told us that the show went great:
"Well, it went remarkably well, actually. When we finished rehearsing, we sort of went, 'OK, we like it - let's go and see if the people like it,' you know? So each area that we've gone into, we've gone into full-on, but wondering how we're gonna go down here, you know? And it's been just remarkable."
The show drew a cross-section of famous folks, including actor Tim Curry and rockers Billy Squier, ex-Rainbow frontman Joe Lynn Turner, Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice, Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda, and Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott, who's an old friend of guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Elliott exclusively gave us this review of the concert:
"I loved it. This is the second time I've seen this tour - I saw them in Dublin, just before we started the baseball stadium tour this summer, and I thought it was phenomenal. And tonight, seeing 'em in front of this many people is just a beautiful thing. I'm so glad they're still doing it."
Submitted by: Kokis [www.queenzone.com]
Roger did make a guest appearance at Foo Fighters concert on 14th October at the USA's Continental Airline Arena, NJ. He played drums on "Tie Your Mother Down", along with Taylor Hawkins singing the song. More on that on Contactmusic.com:
''FOO FIGHTERS teamed up with veteran British act QUEEN in a surprise collaboration at a New Jersey gig on Friday (14 OCT05).''
''Fans of the BEST OF YOU hitmakers were treated to a rare duet with Queen drummer ROGER TAYLOR in a rendition of his band's classic TIE YOUR MOTHER DOWN.''
''The unexpected performance at New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena saw Foo Fighters drummer TAYLOR HAWKINS move to lead vocals to accommodate their celebrated guest.''
''Queen are currently staging a US tour, RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONS, with ex-FREE star PAUL RODGERS on vocals - their first trek since 1986.''
17/10/2005 13:47
Source: http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/foo%20fighters%20duet%20with%20queen
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The songs removed from the setlist were:
I Want To Break Free
'39
A Kind Of Magic
Wishing Well
The songs added were:
Bad Company and Rock & Roll Fantasy.
The setlist ten was as follows:
Reaching Out
Tie Your Mother Down
Fat Bottomed Girls
Another one Bites the Dust
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Bad Company
Say It's Not True
Love Of My Life
Hammer To Fall
Feel like Makin' 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
Rock & Roll Fantasy
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
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