Queen: The Complete Works (136 page)

ANTHEMS TOUR
(WITH KERRY ELLIS)

1 MAY TO 16 JULY 2011

Musicians:
Kerry Ellis
(vocals)
, Brian May
(guitars, vocals)
, Rufus Taylor
(drums)
, Stuart Morley and Jeff Leach
(keyboards)
, Jamie Humphries
(guitar)
, Neil Fairclough
(bass guitar)
, Kirstie Roberts and Niamh McNally
(backing vocals)

Repertoire:
‘Overture’ / ‘Dangerland’, ‘I’m Not That Girl’, ‘I Can’t Be Your Friend’, ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, ‘Somebody To Love’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Some Things That Glitter’, ‘Save Me’, ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’, ‘You Have To Be There’, ‘I Love It When You Call’, ‘Defying Gravity’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘Anthems’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’

Itinerary:

May 1, Royal Albert Hall, London

May 3, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

May 5, The Sage, Gateshead

May 6, City Hall, Sheffield

May 8, Royal Centre, Nottingham

May 9, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

May 11, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

May 12, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow

May 14, St David’s Hall, Cardiff

May 16, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

May 18, Theatre, Milton Keynes

May 19, Pavilion, Southend Cliffs

May 21, Forum, Bath

June 1, Hampton Court Palace Festival, London

July 16, RAF Cranwell

Brian’s appreciation for Kerry Ellis has been well-documented. Ever since she caught the guitarist’s eye in a late 2001 performance of
My Fair Lady
, he has touted her consistently as the Next Big Thing, even telling
What’s On Stage
in 2010, “From the moment I first heard [her] sing, I was entranced, and felt the conviction that I would one day make an album for her. That conviction never left me.”
Anthems
was released in September 2010, and fulfilled a personal goal for Brian, even if it wasn’t exactly a critical or commercial success. With his creative juices flowing once again – he wrote two songs specifically for the album, and later commented that ‘Some Things That Glitter’ from
The Cosmos Rocks
was written with her in mind – Brian agreed to embark on a tour with her, using his name to appeal to a wider audience. (How, then, to categorize this tour? It’s not strictly a Brian May solo tour, yet to say he was a guest performer would undermine his involvement.)

The tour kicked off with a double charity performance (matinee and evening) at the Royal Albert Hall on 1 May 2011, with proceeds benefiting Leukemia & Lymphoma Research. From the start, this was meant to be a theatrical event instead of just a concert: Kerry made her appearance as part of a group
of hooded monks, tearing off her robe dramatically for the ‘Dangerland’ opener. All of
Anthems
was performed, and Brian even took to the mic a few times to lead the audience through an acoustic rendition of ‘Love Of My Life’. His perfunctory guitar solo was given a slight revamp, leading into ‘Last Horizon’, while Kerry performed ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’ on her own. Unsurprisingly, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ ended the set, while ‘Anthem’ and ‘Defying Gravity’ were encore performances. The charity concerts were well-received, and served as an auspicious start to the tour.

As the tour of the United Kingdom unfolded, the set became a little more adventurous, with ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ added as the final number and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ introduced in Glasgow. Brian was clearly having a ball, with Rufus Taylor serving as a fine substitute for his father and injecting a much-needed shot of energy. While Kerry’s voice inevitably strayed toward the West End perfection musical singers are noted for, she also employed a fine rock voice on the Queen songs, prompting one critic to wax hyperbolic: “[She] quickly dispelled any doubts about her ability to step into Freddie Mercury’s shoes.” A bold statement, yes, and not one that all fans would agree with, but after the rough-hewn partnership with Paul Rodgers, Brian needed something more on familiar footing, and Kerry proved to be a most worthy muse.

ROGER TAYLOR

Although he was the first to issue a solo record and the first to branch out into live performances (with The Cross), Roger was, surprisingly, the last member of Queen to embark on a solo tour. Roger only performed two major, albeit brief, solo tours; it’s likely that he had achieved all he needed to with The Cross in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and that he was happier with semi-retirement than being constantly on the road. Much like Brian, Roger ended his solo career once the Queen name started to make waves in the music industry again. His final concert was on 3 April 1999, though the creative rebirth of the Queen + Paul Rodgers union, which resulted in
The Cosmos Rocks
, has inspired Roger to restart his solo career.

HAPPINESS? TOUR

28 JULY TO 29 JANUARY 1995

Musicians:
Roger Taylor
(vocals, drums, percussion, guitar)
, Stewart Bradley
(bass guitar)
, Michael Crossley
(keyboards, vocals)
, Jason Falloon
(guitars, vocals)
, Joshua J. Macrae
(drums)

Repertoire:
‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘Touch The Sky’, ‘Everybody Hurts Sometime’, ‘Ride The Wild Wind’, ‘Tenement Funster’, ‘Man On Fire’, ‘’You Had To Be There”, ‘I Want To Break Free’, ‘Foreign Sand’, ‘Voodoo Chile’, ‘Soul (See You In Hull)’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, ‘Happiness?’, ‘The Key’, ‘Revelations’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘Nazis 1994’, ‘Old Friends’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘Twist And Shout’, ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ ‘Dear Mr Murdoch’, ‘Loneliness...’

Itinerary, 1994:

July 28: Walpole Park, Gosport Festival, Gosport

September 15: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

September 26: Sun Plaza, Tokyo, Japan

September 28: Club Citta, Kawasaki, Japan

September 30: Kokusai Koryu Centre, Osaka, Japan

October 14: Presswerk, Cologne, Germany

October 24: City Square, Milan, Italy

November 19: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

November 20: Junction, Cambridge

November 22: Rock City, Nottingham

November 23: Riverside, Newcastle

November 24: Irish Centre, Leeds

November 26: Royal Court, Liverpool

November 27: The Leadmill, Sheffield

November 29: The Garage, Glasgow

November 30: Bierkeller, Bristol

December 1: Forum Assago, Milan, Italy

December 2: City Hall, Truro

December 3: Manchester University, Manchester

December 4: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton

December 8: Europe 1 Studios, Paris, France
(afternoon & evening shows)

Itinerary, 1995:

January 16: Hippodrome, Monfalcone, Italy

January 17: Palazetto, Schio, Italy

January 18: Teatro Verdi, Genova, Italy

January 20: Vidia, Cesena, Italy

January 21: Teatro Tenda, Firenze, Italy

January 22: Palladium, Rome, Italy

January 24: Teatro Nazionale, Valetta, Malta

January 25: Teatro Metropolitan, Palermo, Italy

January 26: Teatro Metropolitan, Catania, Italy

January 29: Havanna Club, Napoli, Italy

Roger’s first proper solo tour coincided with the release of
Happiness?
in September 1994, with dates restricted to smaller venues around the UK, though the touring band also journeyed to Japan, Germany, Italy and France. The musicians Roger employed for the tour were all from the
Happiness?
album sessions except for newcomer Stewart Bradley on bass guitar; the shows were guaranteed to be tight yet raunchy, and no one walked away disappointed.

The set included several surprises, not least the fact that all but one of the twelve tracks from
Happiness?
were performed live. (Only ‘Freedom Train’ eluded the repertoire, though ‘Dear Mr Murdoch’ and ‘Loneliness...’ were performed infrequently.) Also, the Queen choices drew more from the band’s latter period, the only 1970s songs being ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and an exciting rendition of ‘Tenement Funster’, marking its debut in the live setting. ‘Ride The Wild Wind’ made its live bow during this tour and became a veritable tour de force, while the only solo track not taken from the new album was ‘Man On Fire’. There were covers aplenty as well, with Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Chile’ and The Isley Brothers’ ‘Twist And Shout’ as mainstays, though less frequent renditions of Bob Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ were also included.

Joshua J. Macrae was the regular drummer, with Roger preferring to stay front and centre and focus on his singing (and occasional guitar playing on ‘I’m In Love With My Car’ and ‘Happiness?’), though he did take to the drums for ‘Ride The Wild Wind’, ‘Tenement Funster’, ‘’You Had To Be There”, ‘Revelations’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Nazis 1994’.

Following the UK leg, it was announced that Roger would continue the itinerary into January 1995 with a brief tour of Italy. With ten dates in ten cities, this was the most extensive Italian tour undertaken by any Queen member. Each show was well attended, and Roger and the band finished the tour in high spirits. It was a surprise, then, that he took nearly four years to go back on the road.

1998 CONCERTS

24 SEPTEMBER AND 14 OCTOBER 1998

Musicians:
Roger Taylor
(vocals, drums, percussion, guitar)
, Steve Barnacle
(bass guitar)
, Michael Crossley
(keyboards, vocals)
, Mike Exelby
(guitars)
, Jason Falloon
(guitars, vocals)
, Keith Prior
(drums)
, Treana Morris (vocals on ‘Surrender’), Jonathan Perkins
(vocals on ‘Surrender’ (October 14 only) and ‘She’s Rich’)
, Bob Geldof
(vocals on ‘Like A Rolling Stone’)

Cyberbarn gig (September 24):
‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Pressure On’, ‘A Nation Of Haircuts’, ‘Believe In Yourself’, ‘People On Streets’, ‘No More Fun’, ‘Tonight’, ‘Surrender’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’

Shepherd’s Bush Empire (October 14):
‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Pressure On’, ‘A Nation Of Haircuts’, ‘Believe In Yourself’, ‘People On Streets’, ‘No More Fun’, ‘Tonight’, ‘Surrender’, ‘She’s Rich’, ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, ‘London Town, C’mon Down’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, ‘Tenement Funster’, ‘Strange Frontier’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’

Initially, Roger only planned two concerts to promote
Electric Fire
, his fourth solo album. The first was on 24 September 1998 and was by far his most memorable. With hopes of broadcasting live on the Internet to all corners of the world – “We wanted to make this concert accessible to people throughout the world, not just to people with access to major cities,” Roger explained in a press release – the concert was broadcast from his Surrey studio (or Cyberbarn, as it was dubbed for the occasion) with a small audience. Having set a world record for the most online views (595,000 overall), the video was later edited by DoRo and released as
Live At The Cyberbarn
.

The second promotional concert was on 14 October at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Treana Morris was the support act, performing, among others, a version of The Beatles’ ‘Ticket To Ride’ and Queen’s own ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’. However, Roger had a host of guests stop by. Jonathan Perkins, who had provided vocals on the album version of ‘Surrender’, reprised his role on that song, singing co-lead with Treana (Roger stood patiently in the wings until the song was over), and then provided a number of his own entitled ‘She’s Rich’. Bob Geldof also made a surprise appearance, performing a thundering rendition of Bob Dylan’s ‘Like A Rolling Stone’.

Roger premiered eight new songs during these two concerts (seven were performed at both, with ‘London Town, C’mon Down’ debuted at Shepherd’s Bush only) and introduced a new set list, very different from his previous one. The only question remained was, would he tour or not?

ELECTRIC FIRE UK TOUR

15 MARCH TO 3 APRIL 1999

Musicians:
Roger Taylor
(vocals, drums, percussion)
, Steve Barnacle
(bass guitar)
, Michael Crossley
(keyboards, vocals)
, Mike Exelby
(guitars)
, Jason Falloon
(guitars, vocals)
, Keith Prior
(drums)
, Treana Morris
(vocals on ‘Surrender’ and ‘Under Pressure’)

Repertoire:
‘Interlude In Constantinople’
(intro)
, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Pressure On’, ‘A Nation Of Haircuts’, ‘Believe In Yourself’, ’I Want To Break Free’, ‘No More Fun’, ‘Tonight’, ‘A Kind Of Magic’, ‘Surrender’, ‘These Are The Days Of Our Lives’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘London Town, C’mon Down’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, ‘Tenement Funster’, ‘Strange Frontier’, ‘Happiness?’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘People On Streets’, ‘Rock And Roll’

Itinerary:

March 15: Guildhall, Gloucester

March 16: Coal Exchange, Cardiff

March 18: Truro Hall, Cornwall

March 19: The Stage, Stoke

March 20: Manchester University, Manchester

March 21: Leadmill, Sheffield

March 23: The Garage, Glasgow

March 24: Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh

March 25: Riverside, Newcastle

March 27: Liverpool L2, Liverpool

March 28: The Junction, Cambridge

March 29: The Waterfront, Norwich

March 30: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton

March 31: Rock City, Nottingham

April 2: Pyramid Centre, Portsmouth

April 3: Astoria Theatre, London

Roger had given no indication that he would tour
Electric Fire
– even Jacky Smith, a constant source of information, was left in the dark. The perfect time to have made such an announcement would have been when he appeared on
TFI Friday
on 9 October 1998, but no such topic was brought up. Nothing more was heard until the new year, when it was announced that Roger was working on a remix of ‘Surrender’, to be released as a single in March, and – almost as an afterthought – that he would be performing a short UK tour.