Concert detail

Basic information

Memorabilia

ticket stub
(from my own collection)

concert program
(from my own collection)

concert poster
(from my own collection)

setlist

Photos

Photos supplied by: Bart

Fan stories

Written by Paul Johnson

I still remember Queen + Paul Rodgers at Sheffield from the Rock The Cosmos Tour. Every single second of that night is burned into my memory, I have never been able to recall any other night as vividly as that. In the weeks preceding Q+PR at Sheffield, I'd been pleading with my parents to buy a ticket to see them (there were two left), and I even said to get me the ticket instead of any birthday gifts. One day I came home, and my mum and dad were on a seating plan of Sheffield Arena, talking to me about a seat they'd found; C21. Yes, I still remember the seat. They asked if it was okay, I was a bit disappointed there was nothing closer or in the standing area, but then it was my mum who said "Well guess what, we've booked it. You're going". My reaction was a complete stunned silence, then I went totally ballistic with excitement.

On the night, my aunt my grandad and my mum came drove me up to Sheffield; I couldn't sit still for the whole journey. Along the way we listened to my copy of The Cosmos Rocks, and even then there was something unique about the night, just listening to that amazing sound of Queen + Paul Rodgers on the way there. When I got to the arena, I shuffled through the sea of people, and then I went inside. THE STAGE!!!! That's one sight I will never forget, when I saw the drumkit I was like, holy crap thats Roger Taylor's kit!! When I got into the arena, it turned out C21 didnt exist in the arena. So I went to the box office, and they re-assigned my ticket to B16. So I ended up being closer than I originally was going to be! I remember waiting patiently for the introduction, at about 7:45, some of the lights in the Arena went down, and the whole place erupted into a cheer. Then at around 8:00pm, all of the lights went down. The screen burst into life; and then came on the intro from Cosmos Rockin' played over the tannoy. Then, a massive riff from Brian's guitar, Roger smashing at the cymbals on his kit and the concert roared into life, with Hammer To Fall being the intro song.

For the entire duration of the gig, I could not believe what I was seeing. Everytime I looked at one of the band members, I was awestruck and thinking "OH MY GOD THATS ROGER!!!" or "OH MY GOD THATS PAUL!!!". For weeks afterwards, I could not believe I had actually seen the gods of rock live. The feeling and tension throughout every song was a feeling I don't think I will ever forget, or a feeling I can ever describe. Following the acoustic set, we had a nice surprise; Roger Taylor singing A Kind of Magic while on drums! Then we had the big hits, Bad Company was very well performed, however one of the sights I will never forget is during the encore songs. The sight of 13,000 people clapping in unison to Radio Ga Ga was ....... I don't even know how to describe seeing that. Everyone got up, seated or not to All Right Now, and then We Will Rock You came, one hell of a performance. One sight I will never forget. I remember how me and a load of others around us were almost in tears at the sight of Freddie singing Bohemian Rhapsody. He was there in that arena with us! When I came out of the Arena, I remember telling my aunt and everyone else how I felt, and rang my grandma as I had promised, telling her how i felt. I remember how when I got home that night, I went straight on the laptop, uploaded all of the pictures and videos and made 3 - 4 backups of the folder, just incase one was lost.

Queen + Paul Rodgers, 19/11/08, will always hold fantastic memories for me, and I am thoroughly proud to say, Queen + Paul Rodgers was my first ever major concert. Just seeing them live gave me an enormous drive to pursue my own career interests into the music industry, the unbelievable and indescribable feeling I had there will never leave me, when I think back to that night, I still have that feeling, and I almost burst into tears, the emotion from the gig is that strong. After hearing about a possible Queen tour in 2010, I'll make sure I get in early, maybe to even two gigs this time. But I doubt anything will beat that night; the SOUND, the LIGHTS, the STAGE, and just the incredibility of seeing Queen and Paul Rodgers, just unbelievable!