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Where notre helden vadis?
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Queen - well, sans John Deacon, only two members, Brian May and Roger Taylor - fronted by Paul Rodgers make the Euro-rounds... And it is - something else.
In may be Free Queen but not a Bad Queen; it may be butch Queen but it simply ain’t so: it’s a show of covers played by, ironically, original members. Public don’t see it past the songs they sing-along happily whilst recollecting memories. With all the gigs sold out in a matter of hours shows that Queen’s commercial acumen is intact, the effect on their reputation remains to be seen. It may suffer less, one suspects, if this Queen edition keeps it to one-off tour.
Alas, it is not a rare occurrence that bands continue after the Grim Reaper called for a vital member: AC/DC [Bon Scott replaced by Brian Johnson], The Pretenders [despite two men expiring], Genesis [Peter Gabriel vacated the mic for Phil Collins], Pink Floyd… This legendary band lost two members even, Syd Barrett and Roger Waters, a turn of events their manager Peter Janner described “like the Stones losing Mick Jagger, twice”.
Van Halen, Motley Crue and Judas Priest had to re-hire their famous frontmen to survive, Kiss were a joke without the original personnel as are The 21st Century Doors. INXS continue their tragicomedy of trying to replace Michael Hutchence via a 13-part Reality-TV series ‘Rock Star’… It’s like Nirvana without Kurt Cobain.
Joy Division wisely became something else, New Order… Thank the Supreme Brother that ‘Pop Idol’/manufactured acts can’t survive a goner: The Spice Girls [after Geri legged it], Take That [following Robbie’s exit], Hear’Say folded without the sexy Kym Marsh...
Texa Pussley
2-6-2005