From Todays Toronto sun........
Queen to stop in Toronto
By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun
Queen, with new singer Paul Rodgers, visit the Air Canada Centre on March 16 as part of the British rockers’ first North American tour in 20 years.
Tix, $119.50, $65.50, and $49.50, with a limited number of gold circle tickets available, go on sale one week from today (Dec. 9) at Ticketmaster, the ACC box office (no first-day sales), by phone at 416-870-8000, or on-line at ticketmaster.ca or hob.ca.
Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, who lost orginal singer Freddie Mercury to AIDS in 1991, launched a 32-date sold-out tour of European arenas earlier his year with Rodgers, of Bad Company and Free fame.
They also played two sold-out performances at Meadowlands, NJ, and the Hollywood Bowl in L.A.
“It was more than enough to persuade us that it was the right time to return for a lengthier period of dates,” May and Taylor said in a statement. “And it is going to be great to be back in some of our favourite cities.”
Queen’s 23-date tour of North America, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the band’s classic single, Bohemian Rhapsody, and album, A Night At The Opera, begins March 3 in Miami and wraps up April 13 in Vancouver.
The show is expected to feature Queen songs along with material from Rodgers’ days with Bad Company and Free, including All Right Now, Feel Like Makin’ Love and Can’t Get Enough.
Last year, Rodgers sang with May and Taylor during Queen’s induction into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame and at a concert in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar.
“I was always against the idea of putting someone in there trying to impersonate Freddie in any way,” May said in a statement. “Then suddenly I’m looking at this guy who doesn’t in any sense try to take the place of Freddie. He’s nothing like Freddie because he comes from his own place musically, and we can reinterpret these songs with someone who understands us.”
“There was a natural chemistry between us when we performed together in London,” Rogers added. “The idea took hold for us to do something together after that, and the momentum has taken on a life of its own.”
Joining May, Taylor, and Rodgers on stage in North America are Danny Miranda, ex Blue Oyster Cult, on bass; Jamie Moses, former Brian May band member, on second guitar, and Spike Edney, long-time Queen sideman, on keyboards.
Queen bassist John Deacon has retired from touring.
Queen + Paul Rodgers released a live double CD/DVD from a May U.K. show called Return Of The Champions.
The surviving members of Queen have played together at a few events since Mercury’s death, including a 1992 tribute to Mercury and at the band’s 2001 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.