Hey everyone! Just came by to tell you that I went to the Paul Rodgers concert near Atlanta, GA on Friday, the 13th. First off, Paul looks great. He was wearing the same pants from ROTC with a tight white t-shirt. Looked like he'd been seriously working out. The concert was wonderful and Paul sounded fantastic, vocally. Really hit some high, high notes. Solid. Ok, anyway, this venue was really jazzy. Very nice. There was an open-air lounge/bar to the left of the seating and there I ran into a guy wearing a backstage pass. So I approached him...
...Turns out he's Paul's lighting engineer. The same lighting engineer for the Q+PR tours. Very chatty guy. I asked him if he'd be returning for their next tour. He told me that yes, he would. Naturally my next question was "when does the tour start?" His answer was this:
"THE NEXT QUEEN AND PAUL TOUR? THE BEGINNING OF NEXT YEAR. THEY DON'T WANT TO GET BURNED OUT ON TOURING, SO THEY'LL BE BACK ON THE ROAD IN EARLY 2008."
The guy went on to tell me that he is working for Paul on his current US tour, has three weeks off and is then working with LL Cool J on his upcoming tour. He'll then again have time off, after which he'll resume work with Queen + Paul Rodgers. So, I guess if we keep up with the LL Cool J tour, we can sort of from the last date when the next Q+PR tour might kick off. Can't wait!
If you want to see a few pictures of the Paul concert, check my myspace at link
I dont want to be rude saying this... but:
What kind of authority a "light engineer" have to confirm that Q+PR gonna tour again... and when...and how???
I mean... they are now in the middle of an album production... with no approximately dates to deliver the "product" and... knowing that... I think NOBODY can confirm a tour... also nobody (even Bri, Rog and Paul itself) can say WHEN is going to start :S
P.
It's likely that if PR uses the same lighting guy over and over, then he'll need to tell this (freelance) guy when he'll be needed a long time in advance. So it's entirely possible that he's been booked up for a period next year.
Having said that, it's EQUALLY likely that this arrangement is entirely contingent on an album being ready, and it's absolutely certain that QPR are under no contractual pressure to finish anything.
In short, this guy may well be telling you "his" truth, but it may turn out, through no fault of his, to be inaccurate.
Glad this thread got some people excited! I can't wait! In regards to the posts as to what access this lighting engineer may or may not have in regards to information on a new Q+PR tour, he was on the up and up. The man knew his stuff. I'm sure that Paul and Q+PR are consistant with their on-road staff and inform them of upcoming events. This man was obviously speaking from experience and his personal knowledge of the tour. He certainly had no reason to make up information.
Can't wait. Its amazing how long ago the Brixton gig is now. I must be getting old !
If Take Love is anything to go by the new material will be teriffic on stage. Bring it on !
Chrirons wrote: you've just cost this bloke his job... ;-)
Indeed I'm sure he didn't want his identity plastered all over forums after giving out inside info. I met this guy too in Portland '06 after the show, nice bloke from Sydney, offered to get us into the end of tour party in Vancouver since we'd travelled all the way from Oz but Portland was out last show unfortunately.