Queen: The Complete Works (140 page)

Repertoire:
‘Reaching Out’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Wishing Well’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘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’, ‘Imagine’

Itinerary:

July 2: Estadio Restelo, Lisbon, Portugal

July 6: Rhein-Energie Stadion, Cologne, Germany

July 10: Gelredome, Arnhem, Netherlands

July 15: Hyde Park, Parade Ground, London
(rescheduled from 8 July)

The Queen + Paul Rodgers band proceeded to a four-city open-air itinerary that offered them bigger audiences than the indoor venues had permitted. Brian was ill
during the Cologne show but, apart from messing up the guitar intro of ‘I Want To Break Free’, was in a good mood to match that of the audience, who were in high spirits despite getting drenched before the show even started. (Paul duly threw in a line from ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ following ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’.) In particular, there was a rousing reception given to ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ when the cast of the
We Will Rock You
musical joined the band on stage.

A proposed concert at Hyde Park on 8 July, reprising the original Queen’s triumphant 1976 free concert there and with The Darkness scheduled to join the band for a song or two, was postponed for a week as a mark of respect; the day before, London had been the target of a series of terrorist bombings, claiming fifty-two lives. The rescheduled Hyde Park gig therefore included a resonant, semi-acoustic rendition of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, with Brian, Roger and Paul each taking a verse at the end of the catwalk, later regrouping on the main stage for a full-band coda.

The Independent
was pleased with the Hyde Park show. “On the evidence of this concert, one has to ask where on earth has [Paul Rodgers] been for the last two and a half decades? It is a mini mystery of rock, like the riddle of why John Deacon, Queen’s original bassist is not on the tour and seems to have been written out of the script. The linking of guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor of Queen with Rodgers is both inspired and odd. Inspired because the voice is so great, and he retains a stage presence. He swings a microphone stand in the same way as Mercury, even if he hasn’t got the same swagger and panache, and even if he and the rest of Queen cannot remotely play an audience in the way that Freddie did. But the pairing is odd because Rodgers in his heyday was to some degree the antithesis of Mercury and Queen. Free were a band for the sweaty university circuit. The fans of their heavy, driving rock and intense ballads, were the ‘heads’, the post-hippies who were, frankly, unlikely to be playing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in their bedrooms. Freddie Mercury was camp; Paul Rodgers, whose sexuality was traditional rock star hetero, was never, ever camp. This oddity was well illustrated at Friday’s concert when Queen’s ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ was immediately followed by Free’s ‘Wishing Well’. The first is typically cheeky (excuse the pun), the second moody and contemplative. Yet, somehow it worked. Rodgers did justice to Queen’s classics and resurrected his own, with as many people singing along to Free’s ‘All Right Now’ as to Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’. And, it was a joy to be reminded that ‘Radio Ga Ga’ is one of the best singalong stadium anthems ever.”

ARUBA & US SHOWS

8 TO 22 OCTOBER 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’, piano on ‘Bad Company’)
, 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’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘Bad Company’, ‘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’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy’, ‘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’, ‘’39’

Itinerary:

October 8: Aruba Entertainment Center, Oranjestad, Aruba

October 16: Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey

October 22: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California

The Queen + Paul Rodgers band continued their 2005 campaign with three shows in October, each spaced about a week apart. The first was in Aruba, a surprising choice of locale, though the concert sold out fairly quickly and the band played to a packed house. The second and third shows marked the first time Brian and Roger had visited the United States under the Queen banner since 1982. The two concerts, one in East Rutherford and the other in Los Angeles, were seen as tests: if the shows were successful, there was the possibility of a full-scale US tour the following year. Thankfully, both shows were sold out and the band performed to enthusiastic audiences.

The sets differed slightly from previous legs. ‘I Want
To Break Free’ and ‘A Kind Of Magic’ were dropped in favour of ‘Bad Company’ (with Paul on piano) and ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy’, the first time either song was performed that year. In LA, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash joined the band on stage during ‘Can’t Get Enough’, causing uproar among the audience.

JAPANESE TOUR

26 OCTOBER TO 3 NOVEMBER 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’, piano on ‘Bad Company’), 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’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘Fire And Water’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘Bad Company’, ‘Say It’s Not True’, ‘’39’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’, ‘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’, ‘Wishing Well’, ‘I Want It All’, ‘I Was Born To Love You’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘All Right Now’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘God Save The Queen’, ‘Long Away’, ‘I Want To Break Free’

Itinerary:

October 26/27: Saitama Arena, Tokyo

October 29/30: Yokohama Arena, Yokohama

November 1: Nagoya Dome, Nagoya

November 3: Fukuoka Dome, Fukuoka

While the Aruba and North American shows in October were successful and enjoyable for Queen + Paul Rodgers, they merely served as a warm-up for the band’s first full-scale tour of Japan since 1985. ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’, a song reserved for Japanese audiences, was included, while ‘Wishing Well’ was brought back in place of ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy’. Even more surprising, following ‘I Want It All’ Roger and Brian, acoustic guitar in hand, strolled out to the end of the catwalk and duetted on Freddie’s 1985 solo track ‘I Was Born To Love You’. In its rerecorded state as released on
Made In Heaven
, the song, issued as a single in both 1996 and 2004, had become to Japan what ‘Love Of My Life’ was to South America.

The band played to capacity crowds each night, though, on his website, Brian would cite the “spaced-out” European itinerary and “highly intensive” Japanese schedule as mental and physical hindrances, also mentioning that he didn’t feel on top form during the US gigs either. He affirmed his determination, however, to perform better for the Stateside crowds in future, suggesting that plans were already afoot to bring Queen + Paul Rodgers to American soil.

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

3 MARCH TO 13 APRIL 2006

Musicians:
Brian May
(guitars, vocals, lead vocal on ‘Love Of My Life’, lead vocal intro on ‘Hammer To Fall’, acoustic guitar)
, Roger Taylor
(drums, vocals, lead vocal on ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, lead vocal intro on ‘Radio Ga Ga’)
, Paul Rodgers
(vocals, acoustic guitar on ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, piano on ‘Bad Company’)
, Spike Edney
(piano, keyboards, vocals)
, Danny Miranda
(bass guitar, vocals)
, Jamie Moses
(guitars, vocals)

Repertoire:
‘Reaching Out’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Can’t Get Enough’, ‘Take Love’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘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’, ‘Bad Company’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘Dragon Attack’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘All Right Now’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘God Save The Queen’, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘’39’, ‘Say It’s Not True’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘Red House’

Itinerary:

March 3: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida

March 5: Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida

March 7: Gwinett Center, Duluth, Georgia

March 9: MCI Center, Washington, D.C.

March 10: DCU Center, Worcester, Massachussets

March 12: Nassau Coliseum, New York, New York

March 14: Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

March 16: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario

March 17: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York

March 20: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

March 21: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio

March 23: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois

March 24: Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan

March 26: Xcel Energy Center, St Paul, Minnesota

March 27: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

March 31: Glendale Arena, Glendale, Arizona

April 1: State University’s Cox Arena, San Diego, California

April 3: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California

April 5: HP Pavilion, San Jose, California

April 7: MGM Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

April 10: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington

April 11: Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon

April 13: Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia

Rehearsals for the band’s first major US tour began in February 2006 and, though little attempt was made to update the set list, a few surprises were in store. ‘Dragon Attack’ was resurrected for the first time since 1985, and ‘Bad Company’ was retained, having not had a single performance during the European leg. The most surprising addition was ‘Take Love’, a new song written by Paul for the union’s first studio album.

Apart from performances of ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘’39’ and ‘Say It’s Not True’ during the first few shows (plus Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Red House’ at the final concert in Vancouver), the set list remained static, though songs were occasionally moved around to keep the band on their toes. Dissenters were quick to point out that some shows performed to less than capacity; while it was true that the band enjoyed only four sold-out shows (Toronto, Detroit, Las Vegas and Vancouver), they hardly experienced the kind of half-full arenas the nay-sayers indicated. Unfortunately, promotion for the tour was scant. The larger cities ran radio ads and special promotions, but areas that had never been Queen-friendly (Florida, Georgia and Arizona) were accorded a minimum of publicity.

While Queen had rarely attracted positive notices in the US, some reviews raked Brian and Roger over the coals for even daring to go out on tour without Freddie.
The Boston Globe
wrote, “It was much trumpeted as a Queen reunion, but no matter how much you squinted as the awkwardly named Queen + Paul Rodgers combo pounded out beloved classic rock anthems at the DCU Center on Friday night, it just wasn’t anything close ... The most haunting moment came when the video screen displayed 1970s footage of Queen: skinny, sexy kids with cool haircuts and endless possibilities. Before an encore of ‘We Will Rock You’, Free’s ‘All Right Now’, and ‘We Are the Champions’ came the audacious ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. As Taylor and May played their parts, a video screen displayed footage of the late Freddie Mercury singing and playing piano. For a while the pair were actually backing a tape of themselves. Eventually the band moved in, with Rodgers voicing the song’s more rocking parts. Superstar karaoke.” Chicago’s
Daily Herald
was equally unimpressed: “Imagine if the staples of 1970s arena rock – leather pants, fog, levitating pianos, drum solos, strobes – went through a modern day makeover that now included tanning, teeth whitening, expert designer duds and intermittent video footage that, like Oprah’s makeover specials, illustrated how then was scraggly and now is shiny. The result would be much like what arrived at the Allstate Arena Thursday, a tour that crossbred Queen and Bad Company, two bands from the classic rock years that previously had nothing in common other than they shared airplay in the glory years of FM radio ... The longer than two-hour show featured many usual Queen hits, but because Mercury, one of the most distinctive personalities in rock, also happens to be dead, the set list was padded with songs where that niggling little fact wouldn’t be so noticeable. Which meant too much time for Roger Taylor’s C-level power ballads (‘The Days of Our Lives’), a new song from Rodgers (’Take Love’) and forgotten Queen songs like ‘Dragon Attack’ that were never missed in the first place. Devoting time to such limp material, when many of Queen’s classics were ignored, was like showing up to Symphony Center to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play ‘Chopsticks’.”