Artist | Queen + Paul Rodgers |
---|---|
Date | 28.03.2005 |
Venue | Brixton Academy |
City | London |
Country | UK |
Setlist | 01. Intro: Track 13 [tape - Made In Heaven] 02. Intro: Lose Yourself [tape - Eminem] 03. Intro: Reachin' Out (Paul on vocals + Spike keyboards only) 04. Tie Your Mother Down (Paul on vocals) 05. A Little Bit Of Love (Paul on vocals) 06. I Want To Break Free (Paul on vocals) 07. Fat Bottomed Girls (Paul on vocals) 08. Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Paul on vocals + guitar) 09. Seagull (Paul on vocals + guitar, Roger on congas) 10. '39 (Brian on vocals & guitar) 11. Love Of My Life (Brian on vocals & guitar) 12. Hammer To Fall slow/fast (Brian and Paul on vocals) 13. Guitar solo 14. Last Horizon 15. These Are The Days Of Our Lives (Roger on vocals) 16. Radio Ga Ga (Roger and Paul on vocals) 17. Can't Get Enough (Paul on vocals) 18. I'm In Love With My Car (Roger on vocals and drums!) 19. I Want It All (Brian on vocals) 20. A Kind Of Magic (Paul on vocals) 21. Bohemian Rhapsody (Freddie and Paul on vocals) 22. The Show Must Go On (Paul on vocals) 23. Feel Like Makin' Love (Paul on vocals) 24. All Right Now (Paul on vocals) 25. We Will Rock You (Paul on vocals) 26. We Are The Champions (Paul on vocals) 27. God Save The Queen |
Support band | none or unknown |
Attendance | 4500 |
Audio recording | Length: 146:57 Quality: VG+ [a very enjoyable recording] No download link available |
Video - information | At least three different video recordings but only one of them is complete (not counting the Track 13 intro which is present only on my own audio recording in its entirety :-) |
Bits and pieces | '39 was not planned and Brian sang it after a guy from the audience suggested it. Roger drummed the intro to I'm In Love With My Car twice and he looked a bit confused - Spike had to count "1-2-3-4", otherwise Roger would have never finished the drum intro :-) I Want It All was sung by Brian because Paul had some vocal problems. |
Line-up | Paul Rodgers (lead vocals, acoustic guitar) Brian May (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, lead/backing vocals) Roger Taylor (drums, congas, lead/backing vocals) Jamie Moses (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals) Danny Miranda (bass guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals) Spike Edney (keyboards, backing vocals) |
Photos supplied by: YourValentine, Jeroen
When I got into the stalls area of the auditorium, I chose an area facing the right of the stage as the audience view it. We'd all probably been standing there for over an hour when a note started to sound. It might've been the first note of 'One Vision', but it held as it was for ages and ages, sometimes fading, at one point accompanied by a twinkling of keyboards (apparently Track 13, though it didn't sound like it to me at the time); later on the audience piped in with a Freddie-type 'DAY-OH' or 'Why are We Waiting?' at which point – as if by response – some percussion…
Patience around me started to wear thin.
When the note stopped, and suddenly broke into Eminem, and thanks to my daughter's love of hip hop, I recognised this as the song from which Brian had quoted on his soapbox earlier, about losing yourself in the music, owning it, having only one shot and not to blow this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
When it was over, Paul arrived on stage in front of a curtain, and started singing 'Reaching Out'. Suddenly, from nowhere, Brian appeared, playing alongside him – and then the curtain fell to reveal Roger drumming and the rest of the band – the other two guitarists – Jamie Moses and Danny Miranda (bass), and Spike Edney on keyboards. The music broke into 'Tie Your Mother Down' which sounded perfectly amazing and paced on with such energy that I was breathless by the end of it! 'A Little Bit of Love' and 'I Want To Break Free' followed - with Paul letting us take over part of the vocals - followed.
Paul asked, "Any fat-bottomed girls out there?" to introduce the next number. Then he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar for the first few bars of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', by the end of which the whole venue was whirring, although I'm not sure that those in front of me had much room to dance!
Then things quietened down a bit when Paul sang 'Seagull', with Roger emerging to play bongos. Next, Brian sat down with his acoustic guitar and started to hold a cheerful, confident and cosy 'fireside' monologue – he said that the fact that the spirit had been kept alive was partly due to them, but also to us. He asked, "Can you believe that we're doing this?" and I think he answered his own question by saying, "It's a miracle" and going on to boast that he could play anything he wanted to – we settled on ''39' by cheering! Then a song which was always done as a trio - 'Love of My Life'- Freddie's song, performed in the past by Freddie, Brian and the audience – was now a duet, with Brian and the audience carrying each other along in memory of that missing third member - our number one.
Then came an interesting version of 'Hammer To Fall' which I'd first heard on 'Rock Radio' the previous weekend. It started slowly, with Brian, Roger and Jamie on harmonic vocals, finally breaking into the well-known rock pace of the song when Paul took over the singing.
After that, Brian started on his guitar interlude, moving from front stage to back, standing against the background of a video, which led us through London traffic to a point where he knew that he was standing outside the Dominion – we moved on to the front of Buckingham Palace, and climbed up the walls, knowing very well where he was going to end up! Just in case there were any doubts, we finished up out in the galaxies with exploding supernovas, and all the time, the incredible sound of the Red Special, accompanied later by Roger's drumming, filled the auditorium. It was simply amazing.
Then Roger came to the mike, saying it was like a family reunion! Black and white footage of the 1975 tour to Japan provided the backdrop for his first vocal on 'These are the Days of our Lives'. There were cheers when the first pictures showed 'Deaky' and then Freddie. Towards the end of the song, Roger ended the line 'I look, and I find no change' with a chuckle while his left arm was extended to present Brian.
We joined in 'Radio Ga Ga' in the usual hand-clapping way – the vocals were taken over at the end by Paul - then rocked along to 'Can't Get Enough of Your Love'. The next thing that happened: Roger drummed up the introduction to 'I'm In Love with my Car' - then he started singing along to his drumming,
"I wrote the damn thing", Brian stated to introduce his own vocals for 'I Want It All', which was followed by Paul singing 'A Kind Of Magic' – both songs sounded great. Then Brian asked "Ready, Roger?" – I didn't hear the reply, but it was taken as a "yes", and footage of Freddie singing Bohemian Rhapsody appeared on the screen, Roger drumming in front of it – an amazing sight and sound. After the 'opera' section, when pictures of Freddie, interspersed with some of Deaky, were shown, Paul appeared on the stage singing the last bit, which was now completely live with Brian on guitar, and as the song built up towards its close, I remember Paul standing on the edge of the drum stand, microphone held high in one hand. This was a triumph on behalf of Freddie – and, after the gong at the finish, I could freeze-frame that moment in my head with the three of them there – Paul on the left, Roger centre behind the drum kit with sticks extended aloft in his right hand in front of him, and Brian to the right, guitar lowered, acknowledging the adulation of the crowd. I believe it was also at this point that my neighbour remarked that Spike was "grinning like a Cheshire cat" – I was grateful for the commentary as I wasn't quite tall enough to see that far over to the left of the stage!
Fittingly, the next song was 'The Show Must Go On', which was followed by the two encores – one with songs from 'Paul's side' – 'Feel Like Makin' Love' and 'All Right Now' (it definitely was!) and the well-seasoned Queen finale of 'We Will Rock You' and 'We are the Champions'. Years ago, Brian had admitted, as young men, they'd fallen about laughing when Freddie first presented this song. Who would have thought then what it would come to mean? The last four songs all lived up to the excellent quality of the concert.
So it ended – the six of them lined up – to the background of the National Anthem, a moment like the ones I'd witnessed on footage of the finish of concerts with Freddie. Most of the time I had my eyes on Roger at this point – he just kept smiling. It wasn't a moment for a crown or royal regalia - but Queen, the live band, were back again.
(Referring to the Eminem track at the start...) After these introductory words, at exactly 20.45 it was underway. Music history was being written at Brixton Academy – Paul Rodgers appeared alone in front of the curtain and sang a solo acoustic version of 'Reaching Out'. Paul Rodgers, together with Brian May and other musicians, released this song in 1996 as a charity single for the Nordoff Robbins Foundation under the name 'Rock Therapy'. An unusual but successful start to the show. Brian May appeared in front of the curtain beside Paul Rodgers and played the first riffs of 'Tie Your Mother Down'. The curtain fell to give a clear view across the stage. Nineteen years of waiting for Queen's live comeback were off-loaded in one single second. The audience didn't hold back anymore. The crowd bounced up and down, clapped and sang as if there were no tomorrow. Paul Rodger's singing was submerged in the elation of the fans. You almost couldn't hear Paul – The swirling crowd sang along to every word. What happened in those first minutes is indescribable. Queen is back! Queen rocks!
Although Brixton Academy is too small for a complete stage production and therefore the catwalk, a small second stage and some of the light installations will only come into use in the big halls or even the stadiums, the stage was more than impressive....the light construction above the stage was mobile and conjured up for the respective song the suitable atmosphere and lighting. The sound was loud, impressive and crystal clear. Queen were definitely still forerunners with regard to the stage show. Spike Edney on keyboards, Jamie Moses on guitar, and the new bass player Danny Miranda shared once side of the stage, while Brian and Paul, as main protagonists, swept across the whole stage.....
Then it went rocking with full power – 'Fat Bottomed Girls' with crystal clear acapella intro boomed through the speakers. As the next surprise, 'Crazy Little Thing Called Loved' was on the setlist, on which Brian and Paul let rip on newly constructed 'Invisible Red Specials'. These new guitars consisted only of a red guitar neck and the edge of a guitar body. Paul did his job as a singer very well. The song was shorter here than in the familiar long live versions.
Queen surprised us once again by not holding the acoustic/unplugged part of the show near the end, as was the case in previous tours, but after the fifth song. All musicians left the stage apart from Paul Rodgers. Paul accompanied himself on the Bad Company classic 'Seagull' . In the middle of the wonderfully sung ballad, Roger came on to the stage to provide backing on bongos....
The acoustic section was rounded off by 'Hammer To Fall' which was performed in the slow/fast version. Brian played the song on the original Red Special and sang the slow version himself. On the fast version Paul took over the vocals once more and Queen rocked. Roger pounded the drums so that the rhythm vibrated inside the stomach. That's how rock music has to be played!
Later on...
Queen and Paul Rodgers, having changed clothing for the first set of encores, which was devoted to Bad Company and Free. On 'Feel Like Makin' Love', Brian played the 'Invisible Red Special' again. In interviews before the tour, Brian had stated repeatedly how much he would like to sing this song live. So here we were. It was nice to see the joy and ambition with which Brian and Roger performed the song live...
The crowning finish was 'We Are the Champions'. The audience was a surging sea of hands. People who were total strangers were in each other's arms with tears in their eyes. Paul Rodgers threw his microphone stand in the air for the last time and caught it again skilfully. Brian May sent a last riff into the raving crowd. Roger Taylor whirled again on the drums. Then it was over and done with – Queen had passed the live test before the most critical public of the world, their fans. Queen were celebrating a triumphant live comeback.
All the musicians came to the edge of the stage to the traditional tones of 'God Save The Queen'. Roger Taylor gave his drumsticks away to the loyal fans in the first rows. You could see how happy Brian, Roger, Paul, Spike, Jamie and Danny were over the successful start of the tour. One last bow to the uproarious fans and then Queen and Paul Rodgers left the stage after 122 minutes of total live power at exactly 22.47.
The article starts off by mentioning the internet debate over the use of the name Queen and the fact that Brian and Roger both emphasised in a previous interview that nobody will replace Freddie but that a tour was not out of the question, quoting Roger as saying that 'it would be better than just fading away'.
It points out that it was no coincidence that the start of the tour fell on an Easter Monday - 'after all this is a holy day for them', as it was on Easter Monday 1992 that the three remaining band members played in the Tribute Concert at Wembley in aid of the Mercury Phoenix Trust Aids Charity. Some details about that concert follow.
There is some coverage of previous brief collaborations with other singers. Then the current tour line-up is listed, thereby mentioning a little of the background of bass player Danny Miranda (recruited from the Las Vegas 'We Will Rock You' show) and Spike Edney (who played alongside the group during Mercury's lifetime). Moving on to the Brixton concert itself, Roger's comment that it felt like a 'family reunion' is quoted. Krebs states that 'These Are The Days of Our Lives', 'The Show Must Go On' and 'I Want It All' were the only songs in the concert that were not performed by the group live during the seventies/eighties. The emphasis was therefore on tried and trusted material rather than rarities but he suggests that perhaps that might change in the course of the tour. The setlist is described as 'soaked in nostalgia'.
The article mentions the lead vocals taken on by Roger and Brian on their own compositions, eg '39 and 'I'm In Love With My Car'. Krebs is more complimentary about Brian's 'bewitching' guitar-playing than Roger's drumming, suggesting that it was no longer up to that of 'his best days'.
Krebs remarks that Paul sounded more comfortable about singing his own hits 'All Right Now' or 'Feel Like Making Love' than some of the Queen songs like 'A Kind Of Magic' or 'I Want To Break Free'. It was not surprising, he states, that Paul wasn't able to join the same league when it came to Freddie's vocal range and tone quality because 'Queen's King' set standards which have scarcely been touched in rock music since.
Some positive feedback after the show from Pablo Amieva, 27, who had come over from Argentina especially for this concert: "Of course, I missed Freddie, but it was a strong, respectful show". John Murphy, 32, from Ireland: "It was completely worth the trip" - he had seen Freddie in 1986 at one of his last concerts and said of Paul – "he has done an excellent job, which doesn't surprise me, because they wouldn't all have got together on this otherwise".
The article finishes by mentioning the sold-out gig in Basel on April 10th.