Tour itinerary [41 concerts]

03.09.2008  London, UK 16.10.2008  Birmingham, UK
12.09.2008  Kharkiv, Ukraine 18.10.2008  Liverpool, UK
15.09.2008  Moscow, Russia 19.10.2008  Sheffield, UK
16.09.2008  Moscow, Russia 22.10.2008  Barcelona, Spain
19.09.2008  Riga, Latvia 24.10.2008  Murcia, Spain
21.09.2008  Berlin, Germany 25.10.2008  Madrid, Spain
23.09.2008  Antwerp, Belgium 28.10.2008  Budapest, Hungary
24.09.2008  Paris, France 29.10.2008  Belgrade, Serbia
26.09.2008  Rome, Italy 31.10.2008  Prague, Czech Republic
28.09.2008  Milan, Italy 01.11.2008  Vienna, Austria
29.09.2008  Zurich, Switzerland 04.11.2008  Newcastle, UK
01.10.2008  Munich, Germany 05.11.2008  Manchester, UK
02.10.2008  Mannheim, Germany 07.11.2008  London, UK
04.10.2008  Hanover, Germany 08.11.2008  London, UK
05.10.2008  Hamburg, Germany 14.11.2008  Dubai, UAE
07.10.2008  Rotterdam, The Netherlands 19.11.2008  Santiago De Chile, Chile
08.10.2008  Luxembourg, Luxembourg 21.11.2008  Buenos Aires, Argentina
10.10.2008  Nottingham, UK 26.11.2008  Sao Paulo, Brazil
11.10.2008  Glasgow, UK 27.11.2008  Sao Paulo, Brazil
13.10.2008  London, UK 29.11.2008  Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
14.10.2008  Cardiff, UK  

This tour had one big hero - Roger Taylor. Not only he seemed to be happy to meet the fans and give autographs (what a difference compared to the 2005 tour!) but he was also in TOP form, drumming like a GOD!

The setlist was changing A LOT at the early gigs which was great, we got some very nice surprises (for example Time To Shine or The Stealer) but in the end it became boring and predictive as always. But we have forgiven them - after all, we were entertained for 140 minutes in average! The biggest mistake of this tour was the intro. Surf's Up... School's Out which has become the favourite track of most fans, was used as the intro track at 10 gigs and it worked great. It's a great pity Brian didn't like it and the band decided for Hammer To Fall instead.

So let's get to the tracks themselves. Surf's Up was almost always played as the intro (until the scream) - and was followed either by a shortened version of the same song or by also shortened version of Hammer To Fall. Fat Bottomed Girls had a short White Man intro. I Want It All was played as the single version (without the instrumental middle part). Surf's Up was later moved before Seagull and got longer and longer... by the end of the tour the whole song was played. '39 became as a duet of Brian (guitar + vocals) and Roger (bass drum + tambourine) but Brian always stopped and invited the rest of the band (minus Paul) for a full version of the song. The bass solo was performed by Roger who was playing bass with his drumstick. A great drum solo followed while Nigel (the drum technicial) was building the kit around Roger on the B-stage. I'm In Love With My Car followed and in Zurich Roger surprised us with a brilliant version of A Kind Of Magic (which was a boring song when sung by Paul but became really popular with Roger on vocals and drums). Say It's Not True followed - Roger in the first verse, Brian in the second verse and finally Paul in the finale.

Now the concert was in its second half and it was time for big hits. First something from Paul's career - mostly Bad Company and Feel Like Makin' Love which was however later replaced by We Believe. From time to time we got some surprises, for example Time To Shine or Shootin' Star but only scarcely. The guitar solo often included some interesting bits, depending on the country, and always was followed by Bijou with Freddie's studio vocals and live guitar. Now we all knew what to expect when the end of the gig was approaching. Radio Ga Ga (Paul kept forgetting the words so in the end the song had to be shortened!), Crazy Little Thing Called Love (which had a great guitar solo by Jamie at some gigs but apparently Jamie himself decided he didn't want to be in the spotlight and the song was shortened), Show Must Go On and BoRhap (once again with Paul and Freddie sharing the vocals; this time they used the live track from Montreal 1981).

Encore - an incredibly rockin' Cosmos Rockin' :-) The final line was always changed in respect to the city where the band played, for example "We got Rotterdam rockin'". And then the usual ending... All Right Now (a much shorter version compared to 2005), WWRY and WATC. Then the band saying goodbye and Roger throwing his drumsticks to the audience...

Typical setlist

01. Intro: Cosmos Rockin' [tape] 17. A Kind Of Magic
02. Surf's Up... School's Out [intro tape only] 18. Say It's Not True
03. Hammer To Fall 19. Bad Company
04. Tie Your Mother Down 20. We Believe
05. Fat Bottomed Girls 21. Guitar Solo
06. Another One Bites The Dust 22. Bijou
07. I Want It All 23. Last Horizon
08. I Want To Break Free 24. Radio Ga Ga
09. C-lebrity 25. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
10. Surf's Up... School's Out 26. The Show Must Go On
11. Seagull 27. Bohemian Rhapsody
12. Love Of My Life 28. Cosmos Rockin'
13. '39 (Brian on vocals) 29. All Right Now
14. Bass solo 30. We Will Rock You
15. Drum Solo 31. We Are The Champions
16. I'm In Love With My Car 32. God Save The Queen

Tracks played only scarcely

Shooting Star (Kharkov and first night in Moscow only)
One Vision (Kharkov, 2x Moscow and Riga only)
Wishing Well (Kharkov and 2x Moscow only)
Warboys (second night in Moscow, Riga and Berlin only)
Feel Like Makin' Love (approx. half of the gigs)
Time To Shine (Antwerp only)
The Stealer (Zurich only)
Keep Yourself Alive (in the guitar solo, last gigs of the tour)
Barcelona (in the guitar solo, Barcelona only)
Las Palabras De Amor (Madrid, Santiago De Chile, Buenos Aires)
Concierto de Aranjuez (in the guitar solo, Madrid only)
Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt (before the acoustic set, Budapest only)
Blue Danube Waltz (before the acoustic set, Vienna only)
Fog On The Tyne (in the guitar solo, Newcastle only)
Voodoo (6 concerts towards the end of the tour)
Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner (before the acoustic set, London 07.11.2008 only)
Under Pressure (last 4 gigs)

A concert photo from this tour

Concert photo