Queen Tour

That was a long time ago and festivals are a different type of concert (and one offs) to being the sole reason that 10 - 15000 people come to see you. I'm not trying to knock PR here. I just thing for him it will be something he hasn't really done before and will be an enjoyable challenge for him (I don't mean he can't do it). Hence don't knock him for giving it a go!

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Originally posted by greeny:
That was a long time ago and festivals are a different type of concert (and one offs) to being the sole reason that 10 - 15000 people come to see you.

But they're not really coming to see him though, are they!

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Originally posted by starbuck:

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I would be surprised if John Deacon is performing, he said never again.

I'm fairly certain he isn't. I know that Glen Hughes - ex-Trapeze mainman and former Deep Purple bassist/vocalist - was asked but he turned it down, although I'm not sure who else they've approached.

seen earlier posts suggesting FREE's Andy Fraser was in, which would have been fucking 'A', now read also lost to AIDS only last week!!!!!

Is this right about Andy Fraser? If so, that's sad news indeed. One of rock's best ever bassists, in my opinion.

G

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Is this right about Andy Fraser?

Blimey thats a shock if true, cant find any info

I read that the first fan club concert was less than great in the FT. only UK newspaper I have access too.

Did anyone go??

Andy

Queen died in 1991, although later you could posthumously buy recordings of their sounds, e.g. 1995 'Made In Heaven'.

Only yesterday I replaced all my/their vinyl sold for a lark in 1989 with FOPP CDs at £5 a lump, and so far recordings of my vinyl sadly sound better than CDs. The queen is dead.

REVIEW in the independent 31st March


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

Plus Reviews of the Brixton Academy Gig:

The Daily Telegraph
"a remarkable rock-and-roll experience, a daring and potentially disastrous experiment that, most of the time, worked brilliantly. An extraordinary evening that was both a raucous celebration and a respectful memorial. A kind of magic indeed."

The Guardian
**** (out of five)
"May and Taylor were the real deal - the engine of the band as well versed as Mercury in the art of grandiosity. As a one-off, though, a marvellous night than ranks as one of the gigs of the year."

The Daily Star (3/4 page)
"Five minutes into their comeback show any cobwebs are blasted away. Mature members of the rock aristocracy playing together is often awful, but Queen prove they still rock."

The Daily Express (full page)
"Rogers rules as the show goes on for Queen. While Paul Rodgers and Queen are emphatically not Freddie Mercury and Queen, the new group more than did justice to the songs in their repertoire. They will undoubtedly enjoy success and acclaim this summer when they move to playing the kind of huge stadium venues which they rocked so successfully in their heyday."

John Deacon has not touched a bass guitar since his last session with queen he suffers from depression and rarely leaves his house.As far as Paul Rodgers is concerned he is one of a few that can sing and he is the best rock vocalist out there

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Originally posted by artist:
John Deacon has not touched a bass guitar since his last session with queen he suffers from depression and rarely leaves his house.As far as Paul Rodgers is concerned he is one of a few that can sing and he is the best rock vocalist out there

Humm. Not sure where you get this info from but it's not correct. John has played bass sporadically on record and live with Taylor and May, and has been an occational member of former Queen live keyboard player Spike Edney's SAS Band. As for his vocal Talents he is renowned as having a total inability to sing, so I'm not sure why Paul Rodgers would say he could??

However you are correct that he is seldom seen in public, though I'm not sure this has anything to do with depression, he has simply retired from the music biz and is spending his time with his wife and Six kids as far as I know (actually I guess 6 kids could cause a bit of depression from time to time )

Having very recently been slightly disappointed by £5 FOPP CD replacements for all my old Queen vinyl, I am very pleased to find that when I play them not on Nait 5i-Naim CD5i-Linn Kan system but on cheaper Marantz CD7300-Marantz PM7200-Cerwin Vega V15F system they sound great/make me think that Queen genuinely were one of the great rockbands with Who/Stones/LedZep. Not a bad 'Queen Mania' thing on ITV1 & 2 last night IMO...

Chaps

John Deacon is very busy taking long holidays around the world.

He took the view that Freddies death was an appropriate time to change direction and he chose early retirement.

With an annual income of £3.5m, I think he made the right decision.

Regards

Mick

Dudes (I'm American, after all...)

What is FOPP?

With half-a-dozen or so DVDs of excellent Queen shows available, I see no reason to see two of them with the blueswailing, macho-posturing Paul Rodgers; a less apt fill-in for Freddie I couldn't imagine.

Then again, I wasn't at the recent concerts, so I'll admit ignorance and a failure of imagination on this point.

Free were an amazing band though.

Regards

Bruce

(Apologies to Mick for posting style)

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(Apologies to Mick for posting style)

One's enough thanks.

Howard