Queen: The Complete Works (135 page)

June 5: Big Mama Club, Rome, Italy

June 9: Le Reservoir, Paris, France

June 11: Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street, London

June 20: Gala Night, Monte Carlo, Monaco

September 12: New World Music Theater, Chicago, Illinois

Brian has stated that touring is his lifeblood, his reason for being a musician, so it came as no surprise that he was itching to get back on the road after the release of
Another World
. But, just prior to the commencement of rehearsals in April 1998, Cozy Powell, who had been a driving force on the new album, died in a car accident, forcing Brian to question going through with the tour.

Instead of launching into a full-scale itinerary, a series of promotional concerts was planned. A semi-acoustic set was filmed for VH1 Europe in May and broadcast on 16 June, while three European-only shows were performed. Both set lists featured a smattering of new (
Another World
), old (
Back To The Light
) and older (a selection of Brian’s highlights from Queen’s back-catalogue) songs, though the most revelatory inclusion was ‘Hammer To Fall’, performed in a slow, stripped-down fashion before erupting into the familiar full-throttle rock arrangement.

After the brief, four-date European promotional tour, Brian and band flew to Chicago to give their one and only North American concert. Evidently, this Chicago date was supposed to make up for the lack of a tour; up to 600 fans from around the country flew or drove in to see the concert, and Brian rewarded them with the most comprehensive repertoire thus far, premiering two new songs: ‘Business’ and ‘China Belle’.

All the live performances prior to the start of the tour featured a new band: Neil Murray, Jamie Moses and Spike Edney were all retained from the previous line-up, while session drummer Steve Ferrone, who had played on ‘Another World’, deputized on drums. The backing vocalists had changed, reportedly because Cathy Porter and Shelley Preston were at loggerheads with each other. Vocal back-up came instead from Suzi Webb and Zoe Nicholas who, in their spare time, were in an ABBA tribute group called FABBA.

ANOTHER WORLD TOUR

15 SEPTEMBER TO 7 NOVEMBER 1998

Musicians:
Brian May
(vocals, guitars)
, Neil Murray
(bass guitar)
, Jamie Moses
(guitars, backing vocals)
, Spike Edney
(piano, keyboards, vocals)
, Eric Singer
(drums)
, Suzi Webb
(backing vocals)
, Zoe Nicholas
(backing vocals)

Repertoire:
‘Dance With The Devil’ (
taped intro
), ‘Only Make Believe’ (
Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’
), ‘C’mon Babe’ (
Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’
), ‘Space’ (
taped intro
), ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, ‘Business’, Keyboard Solo, ‘China Belle’, ‘White Man’
(intro)
/ ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘I Want It All’ / ‘Headlong’ / ‘Tear It Up’ / ‘The Show Must Go On’, Bass Solo, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Driven By You’, ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Hammer To Fall’
(slow/fast)
, Guitar Solo, ‘Resurrection’ / Drum Solo / ‘Resurrection’
(reprise)
, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Another World’, ‘All The Way From Memphis’, ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’, ‘Why Don’t We Try Again’, ‘Otro Lugar’, ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’, ‘Let Your Heart Rule Your Head’, ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’, ‘Slow Down’, ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, ‘Mustapha’
(intro)
, ‘Kalinka’

Itinerary:

September 15: Teatro Jovellanos, Gijon, Spain

September 17: Zeleste, Barcelona, Spain

September 18: Macumba, Madrid, Spain

September 20: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

September 22: La Cigall, Paris, France

September 23: Music Centre, Utrecht, Holland

September 24: E Halle, Groningen, Holland

September 28: Rockefella, Oslo, Norway

September 28: Circus, Stockholm, Sweden

September 30: Stodola, Warsaw, Poland

October 2: Columbiahalle, Berlin, Germany

October 3: Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, Germany

October 5: E-Werk, Cologne, Germany

October 7: Beethovensaal, Stuttgart, Germany

October 8: Zirkus Krone, Munich, Germany

October 10: Rockhaus, Vienna, Austria

October 12: Petofi, Budapest, Hungary

October 13: Posthof, Linz, Austria

October 18: Rolling Stone, Milan, Italy

October 19: Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzerland

October 21: Capitol Theatre, Offenbach, Germany

October 22: Small Sportshall, Prague, Czech Republic

October 24: Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham

October 25: Royal Albert Hall, London

October 27: Colston Hall, Bristol

October 28: NIA Academy, Birmingham

October 30: City Hall, Newcastle

October 31: Apollo Theatre, Manchester

November 2: City Hall, Sheffield

November 3: Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Scotland

November 6: Oktiabrsky Hall, St Petersburg, Russia

November 7: MSA Luzhniki Arena, Moscow, Russia

The 1998
Another World
tour saw many firsts for Brian. Not only did he employ a new backing band, including latterday KISS drummer Eric Singer, he also visited countries which he had never previously toured. Apart from the expected stops in Spain, Belgium, France, Holland, Austria, Switzerland and Germany (not to mention the UK), The Brian May Band made its live debut in Norway, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia.

The set list was shaken up considerably, with eight of the twelve songs from
Another World
performed (though only six with any regularity) and several Queen songs played. ‘White Man’ served as an introduction to ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ (which also featured the guitar/’bagpipe’ solo from ‘Gimme The Prize (Kurgan’s Theme)’), while ‘I Want It All’, ‘Headlong’ (previously played on the
Back To The Light
tour), ‘Tear It Up’ and ‘The Show Must Go On’ formed a mid-set medley. Of course, old standards like ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Hammer To Fall’ (the restructured slow/ fast version first premiered earlier in the year), ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ were still present, while less frequent performances of ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’, ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ and – surprisingly – the vocal introduction of ‘Mustapha’ peppered an already diverse set list.

Concerts opened with a taped introduction of ‘Dance With The Devil’, chosen in memory of Cozy Powell, followed by an announcement that Brian would be late and that his cousin, T. E. Conway, would perform a short set. The T. E. moniker is a clever and light-hearted parody of Conway Twitty and originated from a December 1994 guest appearance with the SAS Band, where Brian performed rousing renditions of ‘Only Make Believe’ and a countrified ‘Tie Your Mother Down’. As T E during the 1998 tour, he again reprised ‘Only Make Believe’, which then segued into ‘C’mon Babe’ (essentially an instrumental version of ‘Slow Down’), allowing Brian to switch out of character and into ‘Brian mode’: he appeared bent over in the same position as on the
Another World
cover while ‘Space’ played over the PA. At that song’s conclusion, Brian would address the crowd as the band launched into Rainbow’s ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, chosen as set opener as a tribute to Cozy.

The tour commenced on 15 September 1998 in Gijon, including a Spanish rendition of ‘Another World’, titled ‘Otro Lugar’, and ‘Why Don’t We Try Again’. ‘Otro
Lugar’ would be performed on the other two Spanish gigs, while it would be translated into French for the Paris show on 22 September. While in Madrid, the audience was apparently desperate for ‘Mustapha’ to be played so, before the Queen medley, Brian sang the vocal introduction, which, predictably, went down a storm. ‘Sleeping On The Sidewalk’ was performed only twice on the tour – once in Groningen and again in Newcastle – while ‘Dancing Queen’ was given a rare one-off rendition in Stockholm, sung by backing vocalists Suzi Webb and Zoe Nicholas, whom Brian introduced under their professional name of FABBA.

Unfortunately, two shows had to be cancelled – one in Grenoble on 15 October and another in Modena the following day – due to Brian coming down with the flu, affecting his voice considerably. The tour moved on to the United Kingdom for eight nights; the concert at the Royal Albert Hall, in which Brian returned to the venue for the first time in nearly thirty years, was recorded and filmed for a live album and video that never saw release. Surprisingly, ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ was introduced midway through the UK tours, with Brian explaining in Manchester that he’d “had a look on the website yesterday and this was the most-requested song there.” The band also performed a rare version of ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ that night, which would only later be introduced in Australia.

A set of proposed South American dates never came to pass, but a couple of Russian ones did. The band arrived in St Petersburg on 5 November and performed a blistering set the following night. The tour then moved on to Moscow, where Brian introduced a traditional Russian folk song, ‘Kalinka’, into his guitar solo and also changed the words of ‘All The Way From Memphis’ to ‘All The Way From Moscow’.

ANOTHER WORLD JAPANESE TOUR

10 TO 14 NOVEMBER 1998

Musicians:
Brian May
(vocals, guitars)
, Neil Murray
(bass guitar)
, Jamie Moses
(guitars, backing vocals)
, Spike Edney
(piano, keyboards, vocals)
, Eric Singer
(drums)
, Suzi Webb
(backing vocals)
, Zoe Nicholas
(backing vocals)

Repertoire:
‘Dance With The Devil’ (
taped intro
), ‘Only Make Believe’ (
Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’
), ‘C’mon Babe’ (
Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’
), ‘Space’ (
taped intro
), ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, Keyboard Solo, ‘China Belle’, ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’, ‘White Man’
(intro)
/ ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘I Want It All’ / ‘Headlong’ / ‘Tear It Up’ / ‘The Show Must Go On’, Bass Solo, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Driven By You’, ‘’39’ / ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Hammer To Fall’
(slow/fast)
, Guitar Solo, ‘Resurrection’ / Drum Solo / ‘Resurrection’
(reprise)
, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Another World’, ‘All The Way From Memphis’, ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’

Itinerary:

November 10: Sun Plaza, Tokyo

November 11: Shibuya Kokaido, Tokyo

November 13: Bottom Line, Nagoya

November 14: IMP Hall, Osaka

The lengthy
Another World
tour wasn’t yet over: though Brian had played thirty-two dates in fifteen different countries, both Japan and Australia were still calling. First up was a trip to far-flung Tokyo on 10 November, where a slightly altered set list was introduced. ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ was now a permanent fixture, while ‘’39’ also served as an introduction to ‘On My Way Up’. Not surprisingly, ‘Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)’ was also part of the set list, introduced as a second encore in lieu of ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’. The first night in Tokyo saw Nuno Bettencourt joining the band on stage for additional guitar on ‘Tie Your Mother Down’. On the 15th, The Brian May Band flew to Perth to fulfil the last six dates of their tour in Australia, the first time Brian had been there since 1985.

ANOTHER WORLD AUSTRALIAN TOUR

20 TO 28 NOVEMBER 1998

Musicians:
Brian May
(vocals, guitars)
, Neil Murray
(bass guitar)
, Jamie Moses
(guitars, backing vocals)
, Spike Edney
(piano, keyboards, vocals)
, Eric Singer
(drums)
, Suzi Webb
(backing vocals)
, Zoe Nicholas
(backing vocals)

Repertoire:
‘Dance With The Devil’ (taped intro), ‘Only Make Believe’ (
Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’
), ‘C’mon Babe’ (
Brian as ‘T. E. Conway’
), ‘Space’ (
taped intro
), ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, Keyboard Solo, ‘China Belle’, ‘White Man’
(intro)
/ ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘I Want It All’ / ‘Headlong’ / ‘Tear It Up’ / ‘The Show Must Go On’, Bass Solo, ‘Last Horizon’, ‘Love Of My Life’, ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’, ‘Driven By You’, ‘’39’ / ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Hammer To Fall’
(slow/fast)
, Guitar Solo / ‘Waltzing Matilda’, ‘Resurrection’ / Drum Solo / ‘Resurrection’
(reprise)
, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Tie Your
Mother Down’, ‘Another World’, ‘All The Way From Memphis’

Itinerary:

November 20: Metropolis Concert, Perth

November 22: Heaven Nightclub, Adelaide

November 23: Palais Theatre, Melbourne

November 25: Capital Theatre, Sydney

November 26: Workers Club, Newcastle

November 28: Alexandra Hills Hotel, Brisbane

The six-date, six-city Australian tour started on 20 November, five days after the band had arrived in Perth; Brian was heard to forlornly mention at the soundcheck in Adelaide that he wasn’t used to playing such small venues. His attitude changed for the better, however, and the tour was well received. Brian even incorporated ‘Waltzing Matilda’ (and, in Sydney, ‘I Still Call Australia Home’) into his guitar solo.

The set list remained generally the same, with the rare exception of ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ being performed during the acoustic set. The final number of the shows was either ‘Another World’ or ‘All The Way From Memphis’ – ‘No-One But You (Only The Good Die Young)’ was omitted from this leg – depending on the night. On 26 November, Suzi Webb received a warm birthday greeting from both band and audience, while her on-stage present was a birthday cake presented by two firemen in G-strings, undoubtedly reminding Brian of ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ at Madison Square Garden back in 1978.

Brian’s 1998 campaign finished in Brisbane on the 28th. Apart from several one-offs over the next few years, it eventually transpired that the
Another World
tour would be his final solo venture. He became enveloped instead in other projects, namely the
We Will Rock You
musical, the 46664 concerts and Queen + Paul Rodgers, leaving little time to focus on a solo career.