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Queen and Paul Rodgers

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Post subject: Queen and Paul Rodgers
Posted: Wed 06 Apr , 2005 10:57 am
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Well, I have tickets for the Dublin Concert in May. Any other fans out there? Anyone get to the earlier gigs?

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Independant 4 Star Review - 31.03.2005
Today´s coverage sees a 4 star(****) review in The Independent(page 16), headline: "Queen Remain A Right Royal Treat"

Unprepossessing though G4's take on "Bohemian Rhapsody" is, its Top 10 success bears testimony to the enduring appeal of Queen's songs. Fourteen years after Freddie Mercury's death from Aids, the band's back-catalogue continues to make millions in royalties, while the highly successful stage musical We Will Rock You is about to enter its fourth year. When Q magazine published a special edition on Queen earlier in 2005, moreover, loyal fans lapped it up in droves.

The guitarist Brian May and the drummer Roger Taylor have continued to make guest appearances with Queen fans such as The Darkness and The Foo Fighters, but last year, when they announced they had reformed Queen with Paul Rodgers, some thought it an odd marriage. Though the macho, mighty-voiced Rodgers was undoubtedly the real deal when fronting Free and Bad Company, one could hardly imagine him strapping on falsies - as Mercury once did - for a strutting rendition of "I Want to Break Free."

Apart from a benefit performance in South Africa for Nelson Mandela's 46664 campaign, last night's press-and- fan-club-only show was the first that Queen and Rodgers had played together. Their equal billing was immediately underlined by the choice of openers: Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down" and the Free classic "Little Bit of Love".

May rocked the loose-black-trousers-and-Nike-trainers look, while the trimmer, more toned Rodgers wore leather strides and a tight-fitting T-shirt. "Are their any fat-bottomed girls in tonight?" Rodgers enquired before the song of the same name's impressive a cappella section kicked in. Well, Mercury wouldn't have asked that.

Mercury was greatly missed, of course, for both his showmanship and his flaunting of Queen's pomposity. But that doesn't mean it wasn't wonderful to hear Rodgers - a soulful, granite-solid vocalist whom Mercury himself much admired - tackling the likes of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Radio Ga Ga" and, yes, "I Want to Break Free". During the latter, the crowd sang the first two verses alone at great volume. Rodgers looked thrilled; Taylor was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

No one, least of all May, seemed quite prepared for the tide of emotion that was unleashed when he announced that he wanted to sing one of Mercury's songs. Accompanying himself on 12-string acoustic, the guitarist led the crowd in a heartfelt rendition of "Love of My Life", the song's lyric taking on a new resonance, namely that of a musician paying tribute to an absent friend with whom he'd written some truly great pieces of music. Great, too, to hear May - hairstyle and Vox-amplified guitar sound unchanged in 30 years - lend his considerable talents to such rock staples as Free's "All Right Now" and Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love".

"It's hard to find the words," the guitarist said at one point, visibly touched, "but somehow the spirit is still alive." The ensuing roar from the crowd seemed to voice one thought: in a world of lumpenproletariat mundanity, Queen remain a right royal treat.

The Sun also carries a two-page spread on the return of Queen with Paul Rodgers on Page 16. Very much a reworking of original Tour press release.

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Posted: Wed 06 Apr , 2005 2:17 pm
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Wow what a combination. I never would have imagined such a marriage.
I really like both Queen and Bad Company, but to me they were greatly different bands. To my ear, Mercury had much more range than Rodgers, and I am having a bit of a tough time imagining Rodgers singing some of Queen's songs. Especally at his age.
Brian May was always one of my favorite guitarists, and guitarists age more gracefully than singers, so I see now problem there. I hope the combination works, and I hope they do tour worldwide. I would like to see that show for myself.

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Posted: Mon 16 May , 2005 2:12 pm
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Well, I'm still coming down. Saw the concert on Saturday night. I have to admit I was more than a little dubious. After the disappointing Clapton concert earlier this year I was afraid of seeing another spent force in action. Worse, I was afraid I would see the worst sort of tribute band, with someone trying to be Freddie. What I got was one of the most emotional experiences I have ever experienced.

Even before the music started there was a real buzz in the audience. There were spontaneous bouts of Radio GaGa Clapping and Mexican Waves while we waited for the concert to start. There was no support act, so there was a sort of a pre-recorded warmup. I remember a remixed version of U2s Beautiful Day and Eminem's Lose Yourself. The show opened with Paul Rodgers on his own, on a runway into the center of the crowd singing Reaching Out. He has a great bluesy voice that shows no sign of age and he had the crowd hanging on every note before Brian cut in with a gutsy overdriven guitar seguing into a hard driven version of Tie Your Mother Down. Rodgers sang particularly well. They followed with a selection of favourites from Queen and Rodgers back catalogue, often favouring lesser known Queen staples like 39 and Love of My Life.

Brian's solo acoustic Love of My Life was highly charged and extremely emotional. A lot of tears flowed and the entire crowd sang along, often leaving Brian silent and obviously moved. There was a real sense of love and a silent tribute to Freddie without any posturing or overt sentimentalism. Roger Taylor did perform a new song written for the benefit of the AIDS trust and both Roger and Brian performed a beautiful version of "Those Were the Days of Our Lives" to footage of Queens tour of Japan and the guys taking ceremonial tea. There was a lot of cheering when Freddie or Johns faces appeared, but again in a celebratory rather than a sentimental way. Rodgers tactfully stayed out of the way during these particularly emotional numbers but returned to rock the house on various other numbers.

It was nice to see Roger Taylor take the mic on a number of occasions, notably "I'm in Love with My Car" and "Radio GaGa". Highlights of the final sections included Free's "Alright Now" and a sort of virtual performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody". It began with footage of Freddie singing, I think from the '86 Wembley Stadium concert, then Roger and Brian Joined in for the Drum and Guitar parts and finally Rodgers joined on vocals for the final section. There's not too many bands nowadays who will play for 2 hours, but Queen and Paul Rodgers rocked us for over 2 and a Half hours without a break.

If they get to a venue near you, don't miss it.

Here's what the QueenOnline website had to say about the gig.
Quote:
Fire and Water For Ireland

Queen + Paul Rodgers rounded up their date European tour in Ireland over the weekend by performing their longest set of the whole trek. The inclusion of the Free classic 'Fire and Water' was a refreshing and welcome surprise to the middle of the well oiled set.

Q+PR now have several weeks off before tackling four huge outdoor shows in July in Portugal, Germany, the UK and Holland.

Dublin and Belfast set List was as follows:

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; Under Pressure; Say Its Not True; 39; Love Of My Life; Hammer To Fall; Feel Like Making Love; Fire And Water; I'm In Love With My Car; Gtr 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

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Posted: Mon 16 May , 2005 7:11 pm
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Wow. I don't know Paul Rodgers, or Bad Company, but I do love Queen.

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Posted: Mon 22 Aug , 2005 9:43 am
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Just saw they have a few dates in the US coming up:

Sun 16 October - US, New Jersey, Continental Airlines Arena (The Meadowlands)
Sat 22 October - US, California, Hollywood Bowl

They're also in Aruba on Sun 8th October

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