Queen: The Complete Works (139 page)

Well, they did think of it before: rumours started to formulate shortly after the tribute concert in 1992 that George Michael would become Queen’s new vocalist, and the same situation arose in 1997 after the Béjart Ballet event with Elton John. The closest the idea had previously come to fruition was in 2001, after Brian and Roger re-recorded ‘We Are The Champions’ with Robbie Williams for the film
A Knight’s Tale
, but all parties cooled on the project and it wasn’t pursued further. The 2004 UK Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame appearance with Paul Rodgers threw up the prospect of working with someone who wasn’t like Freddie – flamboyant and over-the-top – and the first major tour utilizing the Queen name (with Paul Rodgers duly added on) kicked off on home turf at the Brixton Academy, nine days after the 46664 concert in South Africa.

Expanding upon the set presented during the Fancourt concerts, the new repertoire added a smattering of songs from both Paul Rodgers’ and
Queen’s respective canon. In addition to the three songs performed in South Africa, Paul’s ‘A Little Bit Of Love’, ‘Wishing Well’ and ‘Seagull’ were added, while, among others, hits like ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘I Want It All’ and – of course – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ were also included. An array of album material was brought out of mothballs: ‘Love Of My Life’ was inevitable, since it was perfect for audience participation and allowed Brian to conduct the crowd in his own way, while ‘I’m In Love With My Car’ made a welcome return after a twenty-four-year absence from the Queen set list. Perhaps the most surprising inclusion was ‘’39’, which hadn’t been performed by Queen since 1979. A brief, two-verse rendition from Brian was expanded later in the tour into a full performance, with the audience taking the lead for the most part.

The opening night at the Brixton Academy started off with a taped introduction of ‘It’s A Beautiful Day’, rejigged by Ross Robertson and DJ Koma into a techno mix that blended perfectly with the full (!) twenty-three-minute ‘Track 13’ from
Made In Heaven
. Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ was heard next before Paul launcherd into the opening verse of ‘Reaching Out’, which had been recorded as a charity single featuring Brian and Paul back in 1996. Brian then appeared for the opening bars of ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, with the curtain dramatically parting to reveal the other four musicians. After the first four numbers, the set took an acoustic turn, with Bad Company’s ‘Seagull’ (and later Roger’s gorgeous ‘Say It’s Not True’) as the introductory song and Brian taking over for ‘’39’ and ‘Love Of My Life’.

The acoustic segment took place at the end of the catwalk, with a slightly larger platform (or B-stage) that placed the band right in the middle of the audience. After the acoustic segment concluded, ‘Hammer To Fall’ was drastically reworked in an arrangement similar to Brian’s own rendition for his 1998
Another World
tour; Brian would sing the first verse, with Paul joining him at the B-stage for the second. Brian’s ever-evolving guitar solo became a showcase not only for his technique but also for the massive lighting rig, blending effortlessly into his own solo song, ‘Last Horizon’. A pre-taped drum intro to ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’ followed, with Roger singing lead vocals at the B-stage, staying there for the introduction of ‘Radio Ga Ga’ before Paul took over.

The song that caused most concern to the band was ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’; how could they tackle such an important song? The solution was simple: the video screen would show Freddie on piano singing the introduction (from the 1986 Wembley concert), with the band playing along until leaving the stage for the operatic bit, with images of Queen’s past flashing on the screen. For the hard rock section, Paul would take over on lead vocals and, when the slow coda approached, both Freddie and Paul would duet on the closing lines. It was a neat homage to Freddie’s memory and succeeded in integrating him into the show without it appearing hokey.

The subsequent tour wound its way through France and Spain without incident until the 2 April show in Barcelona: Pope John Paul II suffered a massive heart attack and the fate of the first show in Italy was thrown into doubt. He died two days later and, at the concert that night, the band’s entrance was preceded by a minute’s silence, Brian later dedicating ‘Love Of My Life’ to all the “great lost ones.”

On 7 April Paul was suffering a throat infection, meaning that his time on stage was limited and the set list had to be restructured. He only sang on the first five songs before taking an extended break until ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Can’t Get Enough’ and ‘A Kind Of Magic’, having another rest until ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, then staying for the remainder of the show. As a result, ‘Seagull’ was replaced with ‘Say It’s Not True’, and Brian and Roger had to make the decision which songs to sing themselves. Roger took over lead vocals on the fast portion of ‘Hammer To Fall’, while Brian sang ‘I Want It All’ on his own.

At the final show in Italy, two additions to the set list were made: Brian threw in a snippet of ‘Long Away’ before ‘’39’, while a cover of Sandy Nelson’s ‘Let There Be Drums’ became the introduction to ‘I’m In Love With My Car’. As Paul was still ill, the vocal arrangements of the previous night remained the same. The tour continued through Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republik and Belgium before the band made a return visit to Hungary, with Brian performing the traditional folk song ‘Tavaszi Szel Viszet Araszt’ during his acoustic segment. The Budapest show was also filmed for a potential DVD release, though the preferred show in Sheffield on 9 May took precedence and was released as
Return Of The Champions
in October. The set list remained largely unchanged until 28 April in Hamburg, when Free’s ‘Wishing Well’ was included after ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, remaining in the set until the end of the year.

Critical reaction was surprisingly positive. The one
dissenting voice was from Brixton’s
Financial Times
, who opined that “The idea of Queen without Freddie Mercury is about as enticing as summer without sunshine ... This Brixton Academy show, performed for an audience drawn by lottery from the group’s official fan club, was their first date. But neither the warmth of the welcome nor the evident bond between band and fans could make up for a sluggish evening of quasi-karaoke. Paul Rodgers was the singer given the thankless task of filling Mercury’s shoes. Rodgers has an impressive rock pedigree – he was in the bands Free and Bad Company – but despite a number of Mercury-esque attributes (robust voice, leather trousers, facial hair), he could not hope to match the original’s showmanship ... Endless Brian May guitar solos were scant consolation, and even a storming finale of ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’ came too late to salvage the evening. This, I am afraid, is one show that should not go on.”

The Daily Telegraph
was more sympathetic: “The first night of a thity-two-date European tour by Queen + Paul Rodgers proved a remarkable rock ‘n’ roll experience, a daring and potentially disastrous experiment that, most of the time, worked brilliantly. This wasn’t merely two of the three surviving members of Queen teaming up with a replacement vocalist. It was a rare, if not unique, marriage of pop legends.” Even Stockholm’s
The Local
was glowing. “’Irreplaceable’ is a word to be used sparingly but it could almost have been Freddie Mercury’s nickname. The flamboyant genius, the ultimate showman, the rocker with a voice of a nightingale – when Mercury died in 1991, mourning fans the world over understood the remaining band members’ decision to put Queen on ice. Thirteen years later, Brian May and Roger Taylor, Queen’s guitarist and drummer respectively, decided that they had at last found their man. Despite the cynicism of many, at least here in Stockholm, Paul Rodgers is not an unknown. Brian May describes him as ‘one of the world’s great vocalists’ and anyone familiar with his work with Free and Bad Company will know that he is not a man to be daunted by a big stage. And so it proved. From the thunderous opener ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ to the traditional finale of ‘We Are The Champions’, Rodgers brought such vitality to Queen’s catalogue that there was no room for sentimentality at Stockholm’s Globen arena on Saturday night. Rodgers is canny enough – and Queen understand their fans well enough – not to try to replace Freddie Mercury. But with his powerful voice – less pure than Mercury’s but more throaty, more bluesy – he doesn’t so much claim the songs as his own as respectfully offer an interpretation. And that’s good enough for Queen fans.”

UK TOUR

3 TO 14 MAY 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’)
, 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’, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Wishing Well’, ‘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’, ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo?’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘Fire And Water’

Itinerary:

May 3: Metro, Newcastle

May 4: MEN-Arena, Manchester

May 6: NEC Arena, Birmingham

May 7: International, Cardiff

May 9: Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield

May 11: Wembley Pavilion, London

May 13: Odyssey, Belfast

May 14: The Point, Dublin

After a brief break, the Queen + Paul Rodgers touring band performed their first UK tour. The tour started on 3 May in Newcastle, though Paul’s vocal problems persisted and both ‘The Show Must Go On’ and ‘Feel Like Making Love’ were temporarily dropped. Otherwise, the set list remained largely the same, though the second night in Manchester saw a unique encore: not only did ‘Under Pressure’ make its debut (mainly sung by Roger), but Peter Kay and Patrick
McGuinness made an appearance to perform ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo?’ Brian and Roger had appeared in the video for Kay’s Comic Relief charity single, which would be released a week after the final Queen + Paul Rodgers gig, and had duly asked Peter and Patrick to perform the song at their Manchester concert.

In Birmingham, ‘Under Pressure’ remained and ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ received its premiere performance, finally giving the absent John Deacon two songs in his former band’s set list. In Cardiff the following night, ‘The Show Must Go On’ and ‘Feel Like Making Love’ returned, with ‘Under Pressure’ temporarily replaced by ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ as the first encore number. The Sheffield performance was filmed and recorded, eventually seeing release in October as the
Return Of The Champions
CD and DVD; ‘Under Pressure’ was brought back, though Brian announced that the song wouldn’t be released and was just a personal bonus track for that night’s audience.

Once again, the British press was positive, drawing attention to the absent friend but respectfully conceding that Paul was a suitable stand-in. Sheffield’s
The Star
wrote, “As the lights went down the original members of the line-up took to the stage – drummer Roger Taylor and lead guitarist Brian May, complete with trademark perm. The crowd went wild but if it was dark-clad, long straggly-haired rock types you were expecting in the packed audience you would have been disappointed. From ten-year-olds sitting on their dads’ shoulders to thirty-somethings, forty-somethings, even pensioners, there were all sorts singing along to Mercury’s lyrics. Just as the audience reflected the band’s wide appeal Rodgers intentionally set out not to try and be the new Freddie Mercury. But he did an excellent job with his voice – sexy, husky and strong, stepping out of the limelight for almost half the set which was performed by May and Taylor.” Birmingham’s
Evening Telegraph
opined, “Queen without Freddie Mercury might seem, on paper, a brazen case of Hamlet without the prince, but they conjured up a truly majestic kind of magic for a packed-to-the-rafters NEC. The concept worked because, rather than trying to act as a replacement or a substitute for the great showman, Paul Rodgers provided a triumphant alternative. He might not boast Mercury’s charisma and theatricality, but he proved that he is a superb rock vocalist in his own right as he wove some of his own hits (’Feel Like Making Love’, ‘Wishing Well’) into the Queen back catalogue ... May – one of the very few men in the world who can look cool wearing bubble-curls and a big girl’s blouse – was in supreme form, reminding us that his unique, gloriously fluid guitar was a key component in Queen’s success. And Taylor, too, clearly revelled in the occasion, especially when introducing the one new song, poignant AIDS warning ‘Say It’s Not True’. It remains to be seen whether this project will produce more fresh material but as they led an ecstatic audience through encore choruses of ‘All Right Now’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, it was difficult to imagine that they won’t be back with more of the same. You can’t have it all, but when some of the greatest rock music ever written is recreated so brilliantly, you’ve got more than most of us could dared to have dreamed of.”

OPEN AIR TOUR

2 TO 15 JULY 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’)
, 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’)