music of queen tour

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The Music of Queen

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All tickets must be purchased through the Arizona Financial Theater box office.

Martin Herman , conductor MiG Ayesa , vocalist George Cintron, guitar & vocals Justin Avery, keyboard & vocals Dan Clemens, bass & vocals Powell Randolph, drums & vocals

In the history of rock music, few groups have made a bigger splash than Queen. One of the best-selling musical artists of all time, with record sales of nearly 300 million, the British group’s performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert, just two years before the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury, is considered one of the greatest shows ever staged. Relive the magic with “The Music of Queen.” Conductor Martin Herman leads a cast of powerhouse rockers and The Phoenix Symphony in such classic songs as “Another One Bites The Dust,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are The Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

About MiG Ayesa

MiG started his career in Australia in BUDDY. He was then chosen to join the London cast including a ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. MiG’s other West End credits include WE WILL ROCK YOU, RENT, THRILLER LIVE and SEASONS OF LARSON.

His Broadway credits include BURN THE FLOOR and ROCK OF AGES, which he also joined on the 1st US National Tour and in the Philippines. Back in Australia, his credits include GREASE, CINDERELLA, ALADDIN, WEST SIDE STORY, RENT, FAME, THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, and a UK and Australian Tour of THE MUSIC OF QUEEN: ROCK AND SYMPHONIC SPECTACULAR. He reprised the role of ‘Galileo’ for the 10th Anniversary World Arena Tour of WE WILL ROCK YOU and as one of the TENORS OF ROCK at their resident headline show in Las Vegas and on the high seas. MiG also sailed with ROCK RHAPSODY, as well as headlining his own one man show MiG ROCKS THE BOAT.

In the Philippines, MiG played ‘Robert Kincaid’ in the first international production of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY and starred with Lea Salonga and Tanya Manalang for the major concert event CURTAINS UP, as well as his own concert celebrating Shangri-la’s 25th Anniversary, and most recently originated the role of ‘Jamie Crimson’ in the World Premiere Production of ALL OUT OF LOVE.

MiG starred as ‘Joe King’ in the TV series THE FERALS. His other TV credits include FIL IT UP, MISSION: TOP SECRET, HITS AND MEMORIES, THE MIDDAY SHOW, IMT, CAROLS IN THE DOMAIN, IT’S ABOUT TIME, CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT, PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS, VIDIOT, GOOD MORNING AUSTRALIA and HEY HEY IT’S SATURDAY as well as various commercials including a global campaign for RAY BAN.

MiG’s film credits include QUEEN OF THE DAMNED and SUBTERANO. A finalist in the global hit TV show ROCKSTAR:INXS, MiG released his self-titled debut album, through Decca/Universal and was an original cast member of HANDEL’S MESSIAH ROCKS: A JOYFUL NOISE. As well as releasing his 2nd album MORE THAN EVER, MiG has also penned theme songs for various TV shows as well as writing FILL MY CUP for FWD, along with his own fund raising awareness campaign for the victims of Philippine floods with UNITED AS ONE.

About Martin Herman

Conductor, Martin Herman, has served as guest conductor with symphony orchestras world-wide. Known for his clarity, attention to detail, advocacy of new music by living composers, powerful interpretations of the classics as well as comfort with crossover popular concerts, he is one of today’s versatile and promising conductors. He has recently conducted Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the Sydney Opera House, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Ft. Worth Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony. He also served as music director and conductor with Downtown Opera in Long Beach, California, conducting premieres of new operas in the U.S. and the Czech Republic. In the fall of 2009, he was conductor and music director at LaMaMa Theatre in New York City where he led performances of his one-act opera, The Doctor, based on Chekhov short stories. He has served as assistant conductor with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and conductor of the Berkeley Young Musicians Program Orchestra and U.C. Berkeley Summer Orchestra. Additionally Mr. Herman has conducted several orchestra crossover projects in Amsterdam and Berlin. He was assistant to composer Gian Carlo Menotti in the production of his opera, “The Consul” at the Spoleto Festival USA, where he also apprenticed with the conductor Christopher Keene.

Mr. Herman studied conducting and composition at Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of California, Berkeley and spent two years in Paris, France on a Fulbright Grant and U.C. Berkeley Ladd Prix de Paris where he worked as conductor and composer with the “New American Music in Europe” and “American Music Week” festivals. He has received recognition for his work in the promotion of international cultural exchange from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York City.

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The Music of Queen

05 Oct 2022 —

Wed 8:00 pm

Approx. 2 Hour Performance

Get ready to rock! For one night only, experience the music of Queen like never before with the full power of the VSO. Including classic hits like Bohemian Rhapsody, Under Pressure, Somebody to Love, and We Will Rock You – don’t miss this high-energy rock symphony tribute to the legendary Freddie Mercury and one of Brit-rock’s biggest bands.

Brent Havens Conductor

MiG Ayesa Vocals

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The Music of Queen

Friday, September 20—Saturday, September 21, 2024

"We will, we will ROCK YOU!" Bridging the gulf between rock n’ roll and classical music, conductor and arranger Brent Havens takes the podium for a tribute to one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Performed by the DSO and a full rock band, join us for a kaleidoscope of Queen's greatest hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love,” and so much more.

Title Sponsor

Brent Havens

Berklee-trained arranger/conductor Brent Havens has written music for orchestras, feature films , and virtually every kind of television. His TV work includes movies for networks such as ABC, CBS , and ABC Family Channel Network, commercials, sports music for networks such as ESPN , and even cartoons. Havens has also worked with the Doobie Brothers and the Milwaukee Symphony, arranging and conducting the combined group for Harley Davidson’s 100th Anniversary Birthday Party Finale attended by over 150,000 fans. He has worked with some of the world's greatest orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic and the BBC Concert Orchestra in London, the CBSO in Birmingham, England, the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, Orchestra of Opera North in Leeds, England , and countless others. 

Havens recently completed the score for the film Quo Vadis , a Premier Pictures remake of the 1956 gladiator film. In 2013 he worked with the Baltimore Symphony and the NFL's Baltimore Ravens to arrange and produce the music for the Thanksgiving Day halftime show between the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, adapting both classical music and rock songs into a single four-minute show. Havens is the Arranger/Guest Conductor for all of the symphonic rock programs for Windborne Music.

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Queen + Adam Lambert Announce 2023 North American ‘Rhapsody’ Tour Dates

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Queen + Adam Lambert are bringing their Rhapsody Tour back to North America for their first shows on this side of the Atlantic since 2019. The tour kicks off Oct. 4 in Baltimore, Maryland, and wraps up Nov. 11 in Los Angeles, California.

“This tour has lots of new bells and lots of new whistles,” Queen guitarist Brian May tells Rolling Stone . “We’ve evolved as performers, I think. We’ve stepped up our game. We have better chemistry than ever. We understand each other better than ever, and we feel more free in the way that we interpret stuff. We’re very happy with it. There’s lots of new production and stuff we want to excite you with.”

The set will focus on Queen classics like “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Somebody to Love,” and “Radio Ga Ga.” But they sprinkled in deep cuts like “Tear It Up” and “A King of Magic” in Europe last year, and hope to keep doing that.

“This show has evolved since its been in America since we’ve taken it around the world,” adds drummer Roger Taylor. “It’s quite a different show in a way, while retaining all the big hits, which so many people want to hear.”

Ticket sales begin Friday, March 31. In an effort to keep prices low and reduce scalping, the band is going to utilize the Ticketmaster Face Value Exchange, which makes it impossible to sell tickets for more than face value. “It’s an experiment,” says May. “We got sick of seeing our fans get ripped off by scalpers. We’re hoping this works out.”

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Queen + Adam Lambert first played together on the 2009 finale of American Idol. They began gigging together in 2012, and have stayed on the road consistently over the past decade. Filling in for Freddie Mercury was a daunting task at first for Lambert, but he’s grown very comfortable with the job over the years.

“I feel less anxiety now,” he says. “I’ve matured as a performer. I trust myself a bit more. I will say that when the movie [ Bohemian Rhapsody ] came out, we had all these new fans, and many of them were young, I felt this little pang of, ‘Oh, these are new fans that haven’t been to a show yet.’ I needed to prove myself again, which is good. It keeps me on my game.”

The 2018 movie was an enormous success that grossed $911 million and won four Academy Awards, including Best Actor for star Rami Malek. It ends at Live Aid in 1985, and there’s been scattered talk over the past few years of a sequel that would chronicle Mercury’s final years.

“We need a script,” says May. “That’s what it comes down to. It took us 12 years to get the script for Bohemian Rhapsody , and get the right team in place. I’m not anxious. I think if the right thing comes along, it might work. We have our wonderful producer, Graham King, on it. It’s a possibility. If the right planets align, it might happen.”

Watch Queen + Adam Lambert Perform an Emotional 'Is This The World We Created...?' in New York

Freddie mercury’s prized piano sells for record $2.2 million, dolly parton unveils her queen cover 'we are the champions' for 2024 paris olympics.

“He would be welcome,” adds Taylor. “But I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

At the moment, this next leg of the Rhapsody Tour is just 14 shows, but it’s very possible they’ll tack on more. “People are buying tickets,” says Lambert. “And hey, we like performing.”

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Queen + Adam Lambert 2023 North American Tour Dates

Oct. 4 – Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena Oct. 8 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena Oct. 10 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena Oct. 12 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden Oct. 15 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden Oct. 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center Oct. 23 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena Oct. 25 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena Oct. 27 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center Oct. 30 – Chicago, IL @ United Center Nov. 2 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center Nov. 5 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena Nov. 8 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center Nov. 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ BMO Stadium

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The Music of Queen

Performed by the windborne rock symphony orchestra, event information.

To view The Music of Queen giveaway rules, click here . 

At This Time There Are No Health Entry Requirement For This Event.  

Bridging the gulf between rock n’ roll and classical music, an orchestra performs The Music Of Queen at the Taft Theatre on Saturday, October 1 at 7:00 pm. The conductor takes the podium to present Windborne's The Music Of Queen, a program scored to extend the listening experience of Queen’s exceptional tunes. Performed by an orchestra and amplified with a full rock band and vocals, this show captures Queen's distinct sound while presenting some familiar and lots of new musical colors.

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This event occurred on Saturday, October 1, 2022 .

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The Music of Queen

About this concert.

We will, we will ROCK you. Celebrate one of the greatest bands of all time in this high-energy concert, featuring hit after iconic hit! Backed by the sonic power of the full Houston Symphony, incredible vocalist MiG Ayesa channels Freddie Mercury’s signature sound for a kaleidoscope of Queen’s greatest hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody” “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love,” and much more.

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Learn more about seating in Sarofim Hall at The Hobby Center ›

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Berklee-trained arranger/conductor Brent Havens has written music for orchestras, feature films, and virtually every kind of television show. His TV work includes movies for networks such as ABC, CBS, and ABC Family Channel Network; commercials; sports music for ESPN and other networks; and even cartoons.   

Brent has also worked with the Doobie Brothers and the Milwaukee Symphony, arranging music and conducting the combined group for Harley Davidson’s 100 th Anniversary Birthday Party Finale attended by more than 150,000 fans. He has worked with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic and the BBC Concert Orchestra in London, the CBSO in Birmingham, the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, Orchestra of Opera North in Leeds, England, and countless others.  

He recently completed the score for the film, Quo Vadis , a Premier Pictures remake of the 1956 gladiator film. In 2013, he worked with the Baltimore Symphony and the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens to arrange and produce the music for the Thanksgiving Day halftime show between the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, adapting both classical music and rock songs into a single four-minute show. Havens is arranger/guest conductor for all the symphonic rock programs for Windborne Music.  

MiG started his career in Australia in Buddy . He was then chosen to join the London cast of a Royal Variety Performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. West End credits include We Will Rock You , Rent , Thriller Live , and Seasons of Larson .  

His Broadway credits include Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages , which he toured in the United States and Philippines. Back in Australia, his credits include Grease , Cinderella , Aladdin , West Side Story , Rent , Fame , The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber , and a UK and Australian tour of The Music Of Queen: Rock and Symphonic Spectacular . He reprised the role of Galileo for the 10 th Anniversary World Arena tour of We Will Rock You and as one of the Tenors of Rock at the resident headline show in Las Vegas and on the high seas. MiG also sailed with Rock Rhapsody and headlined his own one man show MiG Rocks the Boat .  

In the Philippines, MiG played Robert Kincaid in the first international production of The Bridges of Madison County and starred with Lea Salonga and Tanya Manalang for the major concert event Curtains Up . He presented a concert celebrating Shangri-la’s 25 th anniversary and originated the role of Jamie Crimson in the world premiere of All Out of Love .  

MiG starred as Joe King in the TV series The Ferals . Other TV credits include Fil It Up , Mission: Top Secret , Hits and Memories , The Midday Show , IMT , Carols in The Domain , It’s About Time , Carols by Candlelight , People’s Choice Awards , Vidiot , Good Morning Australia , and Hey Hey It’s Saturday as well as various commercials, including a global campaign for Ray Ban.  

MiG’s film credits include Queen of The Damned and Subterano . A finalist in the global hit TV show Rockstar:INXS , MiG released his self-titled debut album, through Decca/Universal and was an original cast member of Handel’s Messiah Rocks: A Joyful Noise . As well as releasing his second album More Than Ever , MiG has penned theme songs for TV shows and Fill My Cup for FWD. He raises funds for the victims of Philippine floods with United as One .  

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Ellen A. Yarrell

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Houston Symphony: The Music of Queen

What if…you could sing “We Are the Champions” at the top of your lungs with thousands of friends?

The music of queen was the voice of a generation, and is quickly growing to become the voice of another. freddie mercury’s absolutely one-of-a-kind voice and truly iconic personality, paired with some of the greatest ballads and stadium anthems ever written (oh, and some of the most memorable live performances in the history of rock ‘n’ roll) make queen all-time greats in every sense of the word. you know their music is iconic. we don’t need to tell you that – you might have already rocked “we are the champions” with your windows rolled down today. here’s what we do need to tell you: queen’s music gets even better when played by a full symphony. not only do you get to hear queen’s music live, but played by the houston symphony who (trust us) knows how to put on a rock show..

Lawn and Mezzanine: Free - No Ticket Needed Reserved Orchestra Seating: $20

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"A Look Beyond the Playbill"

• Aug 29, 2022

REVIEW: THE MUSIC OF QUEEN — Broadway Knights @ Chance Theater

Updated: Aug 31, 2022

The stage at Chance Theater positively screamed last night as 26 performers took to it, showcasing “The Music of Queen,” a rock and symphonic spectacular. No matter how you have come to know the music of Queen, you know that it involves something legendary and special, which was exactly what Broadway Knights and a three-piece rock band brought to this packed audience.

Queen + Adam Lambert Return For The Rhapsody Tour Across North America

Tickets Onsale Starting Friday, March 31 at 10am Local on LiveNation.com

“visions fine and sound supreme   essence of a fiery queen   doyens of the paradigm   we will rock you one more time.”   brian may  .

Having first launched their universally acclaimed Rhapsody Tour with 25 epic shows across North America in 2019, Queen + Adam Lambert are bringing their highly acclaimed production, now expanded and updated, back to where it first began. After a 4-year long hiatus, Sir Brian May, Roger Taylor and their exceptional frontman Adam Lambert have announced they will set out on a spectacular North America run this fall. Produced by Live Nation, the tour kicks off on October 4 at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena making stops in Toronto, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and more before concluding at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. See full routing below. 

Brian May says, “Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever. So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious. Watch out world.”  

And Adam Lambert says: “I can’t wait to tour North America one more time with the Rhapsody tour alongside the two unbelievably talented legends that are Brian May and Roger Taylor.”  

WATCH THE TOUR TRAILER BELOW  

﷟HYPERLINK “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lkG43askLccMkhPLdxnrCNa7mhSRGKbT/view?usp=sharing”  

Queen + Adam Lambert’s 150-minute career-spanning set list celebrates the band’s extraordinary back catalogue, lining up wall-to-wall immortal anthems like “We Will Rock You”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Radio Ga Ga”, and “Somebody To Love” alongside classic deep cuts and vintage fan favourites. Featuring a dazzling state-of-the-art stage design, incredible special effects and set pieces, this sense-swamping extravaganza has been blowing critics and fans away the world over. 

As with last year’s UK and European dates, the 2023 North American tour will see Queen + Adam Lambert supported on stage by their regular band members, long-serving Queen keyboard player and musical director Spike Edney, bass guitarist Neil Fairclough and percussionist Tyler Warren.  

Having extensively toured over the last few years, the Rhapsody show is forever evolving. But it remains at heart a tribute to Freddie Mercury’s majestic legacy, a confirmation of Brian and Roger’s undimmed musical prowess, plus a magnificent showcase for Adam’s vocal skills and electrifying stage charisma, all of which adds up to a glorious full-blooded celebration of one of the greatest songbooks in rock history. Read more on the story of The Rhapsody Tour so far, including the special performance opening the Platinum Jubilee concert with the late Queen herself tea cup tapping to the beat of “We Will Rock You” HERE . 

TICKETS: Tickets will be available via a general onsale beginning Friday, March 31st at 10AM local time at LiveNation.com .  

MORE ON TICKETS:  

Queen + Adam Lambert appreciate that it is an enormous task to try and stop scalpers from taking advantage of fans wanting to purchase tickets for the tour. In an effort to help minimize resale and keep ticket prices at face value for fans, the band are collaborating with the venues’ ticketing partners to restrict the ability to transfer tickets for The Rhapsody Tour so that they may only be transferred between fans at the original price. 

Fans will still have protection against unforeseen circumstances. Those who purchase tickets and are no longer able to attend their show will be able to sell their tickets at the price they paid using a face value ticket exchange, including the Ticketmaster Face Value Exchange – which is free to use for buyers and sellers. More information on how the Ticketmaster Exchange works is available here . 

Unfortunately, the states of NY, IL, and CO have laws in place which protect ticket scalpers – these laws prohibit artists from being able to restrict the transfer of their tickets to face value exchanges only. For shows in these states, Queen + Adam Lambert strongly encourage fans to only buy or sell tickets to one another on face value exchanges. More information can be found here , with more details to follow in the coming weeks.  

QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT THE RHAPSODY TOUR 2023 DATES:   

Wed Oct 04 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena 

Sun Oct 08 – Toronto, ON — Scotiabank Arena 

Tue Oct 10 — Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena 

Thu Oct 12 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden 

Sun Oct 15 – Boston, MA – TD Garden 

Wed Oct 18 — Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center 

Mon Oct 23 — Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena 

Wed Oct 25 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena 

Fri Oct 27 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center 

Mon Oct 30 — Chicago, IL – United Center 

Thu Nov 02 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center 

Sun Nov 05 — Denver, CO – Ball Arena 

Wed Nov 08 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center 

Sat Nov 11 – Los Angeles, CA – BMO Stadium 

About Live Nation Entertainment  

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com . 

MEDIA CONTACTS:  

Rhapsody Tour  

Cara Hutchison | [email protected]  

Queen  

Phil Symes | [email protected]   

Sharrin Summers – Hollywood Records | [email protected]  

Adam Lambert  

Kristen Foster | [email protected]   

Avery Robinson | [email protected]   

Live Nation Concerts  

Monique Sowinski | [email protected]  

Valeska Thomas | [email protected]   

Maya Sarin | [email protected]   

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The Music of Queen

Friday, June 03 - 7:30 PM

Saturday, June 04 - 7:30 PM

Program Info

Brent Havens, Guest Conductor

MiG Ayesa, Vocalist

“Early on in the Music of Queen concert, the Orpheum Theatre balcony started shaking. It wasn’t due to faulty construction, but enthusiastic audience members rocking out to ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’ By the time the visiting Windborne Music Band got to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ the walls may have been shaking, too.” Be there when Jacoby Symphony Hall starts shaking to the music of one of the greatest rock bands ever.

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Brent Havens

Guest Conductor

Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall

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• The Music of Queen

The Music of Queen Tour Dates

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Pops 1 The Music of Queen

• Ticket Price $40-95
• Duration 2hrs 10min One intermission
• Saturday, October 15, 2022 7:30PM — Des Moines Civic Center

The Music of Queen

The des moines symphony “will rock you” with the classic music of queen..

Back by popular demand! The Des Moines Symphony “will rock you” with the classic music of Queen. Performed by the Des Moines Symphony and a full rock band complete with MiG Ayesa’s soaring vocals, you’ll experience all your favorites from “Somebody to Love” to “Under Pressure,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and more. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind tribute to one of the most iconic bands in history!

• Martin Herman Guest Conductor Bio
• MiG Ayesa Vocalist Bio

Security Notice

Please allow extra time for arrival as each guest will be subject to security screenings and all bags will be checked. Access to the building will be limited to the Ticket Office main doors, Skywalk entrance, and the Prairie Meadows (East) Lobby.

If you have pre-purchased valet parking, please note that you will need to enter through the Ticket Office doors.

Single tickets start at $40 and are available through through Des Moines Performing Arts. Please note all ticket prices are subject to increase.

The Des Moines Symphony welcomes children five years and older to attend performances. Children of any age are welcome to attend youth and family concerts. All children, regardless of age, must have their own ticket to attend performances.

Martin Herman Guest Conductor

Martin Herman has appeared as guest conductor with symphony orchestras in North America, Europe, Australia, and Canada. His most recent engagements include the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Fort Worth Symphony with Windborne’s “Music of the Rolling Stones” and “Music of the Eagles.” He recently guest-conducted Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal and continues as music director and arranger for “Classical Mystery Tour” in recent performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the Sydney Opera House, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Florida Orchestra. Martin also served as music director and conductor with Downtown Opera in Long Beach, California, conducting premieres of new operas in the U.S. and the Czech Republic. In the fall of 2009, he was conductor and music director at LaMaMa Theatre in New York City where he led performances of his one-act opera, The Doctor, based on Chekhov short stories. He has served as assistant conductor with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and conductor of the Berkeley Young Musicians Program Orchestra and U.C. Berkeley Summer Orchestra. Additionally Mr. Herman has conducted several orchestra crossover projects in Amsterdam and Berlin.

Mr. Herman studied conducting and composition at Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of California, Berkeley and spent two years in Paris, France on a Fulbright Grant and U.C. Berkeley Ladd Prix de Paris where he worked as conductor and composer with the “New American Music in Europe” and “American Music Week” festivals. He has received recognition for his work in the promotion of international cultural exchange from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York City.

MiG Ayesa Vocalist

MiG started his career in Australia as Ritchie Valens in "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story." He was then chosen to join the London cast including a royal variety performance for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. MiG's other West End credits include "We Will Rock You," "Rent," "Thriller Live," and "Seasons of Larson." 

His Broadway credits include "Burn the Floor" and "Rock of Ages," which he also joined on the first US National Tour and in the Philippines. Back in Australia, his credits include "Grease," "Cinderella," "Aladdin," "West Side Story," "Rent," "Fame," "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber," and a UK and Australian Tour of "The Music of Queen: Rock and Symphonic Spectacular."  He reprised the role of 'Galileo' for the 10th Anniversary World Arena Tour of "We Will Rock You" and as one of the 'Tenors of Rock' at their resident headline show in Las Vegas and on the high seas. MiG also sailed with ROCK RHAPSODY, as well as headlining his own one man show MiG ROCKS THE BOAT.

In the Philippines, MiG played 'Robert Kincaid' in the first international production of "The Bridges of Madison County" and starred with Lea Salonga and Tanya Manalang for themajor concert event "Curtains Up," as well as his own concert celebrating Shangri-la's 25th Anniversary, and most recently originated the role of 'Jamie Crimson' in the World Premiere Production of "All Out of Love."

MiG starred as 'Joe King' in the TV series "The Ferals." His other TV credits include "Fil it Up," "Mission: Top Secret," "Hits and Memories," "The Midday Show," "IMT," "Carols in the Domain," "It's About Time," "Carols by Candlelight," "People's Choice Awards," "Vidiot," "Good Morning Australia," and "Hey Hey it's Saturday" as well as various commercials including a global campaign for Ray-Ban.

MiG's film credits include "Queen of the Damned" and "Subterano." A finalist in the global hit TV show "Rockstar: INXS," MiG released his self-titled debut album through Decca/Universal and was an original cast member of "Handel's Messiah Rocks: A Joyful Noise." As well as releasing his 2nd album More Than Ever , MiG has also penned theme songs for various TV shows as well as writing Fill My Cup  for FWD, along with his own fund raising awareness campaign for the victims of Philippine floods with United as One.

Meet The Maestro

Get to know Joseph Giunta, one of America’s most distinguished, versatile and dynamic conductors.

Meet Joseph

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The Music of Queen at Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater at Deer Valley Resort

The music of queen tickets, snow park outdoor amphitheater at deer valley resort | park city, utah.

If you want an amazing evening to remember – come to the epic The Music of Queen, on Thursday 3rd August 2023 at Park City. This very talented musician has a history of delivering more than your moneys’ worth in entertainment. They will be here for a limited number of epic performances at Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater. So it is important you bring your family and drag them along to this musical extravaganza. Tickets for the epic The Music of Queen are on sale now and should be grabbed now, before they sell out, to guarantee your spot

Pop performances are are attended by so many thousands of fans, they are obsessed with the euphoria you get from live music and really witnessing their best loved acts in action, there really isn't anything like it. Pop fans were even more excited when tickets were released for the all new summer, 2023 The Music of Queen tour, it's going to be wild and the hottest show of the year we are certain! The Music of Queen will play the outstanding Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater Utah, Park City on Thursday 3rd August 2023. Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater is simply the unrivaled, thousands of fans call it their preferred stadium, they like the location, the food vendors, easy parking and also the outstanding staff, the ratings serve Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater well! If are in need of a Thursday night of live pop music this August this is where its at! You'll see the 'get tickets' button, follow it right now to purchase yours, you cannot miss this!

• | The Music of Queen

Drunken shenanigans. MTV-upsetting videos. Furious Brazilians. Sun City: With The Works, Queen returned to their rock roots, and annoyed a lot of people

The Game dialled down Queen's hard rock, and Hot Space was such a departure that it confused their fan base. It was time for a rethink

“Here’s one for all you heavy metal fans to have a good jerk-off to,” Freddie Mercury said to the audience gathered inside Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium. On cue, Brian May struck up the riff to Hammer To Fall – and hoped the singer would remember the words to it. 

It was April 13, 1985, during the final leg of Queen ’s The Works tour, and Mercury was, in his own words, “fucking pissed”. Pop dandies Spandau Ballet were having a day off on their New Zealand tour, and earlier in the day vocalist Tony Hadley had gatecrashed Queen’s sound-check. Mercury spirited him away for “a little drinkie”. One bottle of Stolichnaya vodka and another of vintage port later, and it was show time. 

Just before going on stage, Mercury was so inebriated he had to lie on the dressing-room sofa while a couple of aides laced up his boxing boots. When he staggered to his feet, he realised they’d put his tights on back-to-front. “Oh you stupid c**ts,” he hissed, as Queen’s intro music began playing over the PA. The minions frantically removed his footwear and leggings, and Mercury bounded on stage just in time. 

Performing drunk was a rare lapse of judgement. Either that, or a cathartic release at the end of a challenging tour. Queen’s eleventh album, The Works , had been a UK No.2 hit, but had flatlined in America; their videos weren’t being shown on MTV; the group had been blacklisted for performing in apartheid South Africa, and were booed in Rio de Janeiro. 

The Works delivered four solid gold hits: Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free, It’s A Hard Life and Hammer To Fall . But before their show-stopping appearance at Live Aid in the summer of 1985, Queen were in disarray. “By the end of The Works we all needed a break,” May admitted. Drummer Roger Taylor insisted: “We hadn’t broken up, but we didn’t know what was coming next.”

Mercury’s remark about “heavy metal fans” was a glimpse into his present mindset. He was about to release his debut solo album, Mr Bad Guy , which was filled with the sort of dance music he heard in the clubs around his adopted home cities of New York and Munich. 

Mercury was no longer swanning around in a satin jumpsuit, singing about ‘ the mighty titan and his troubadours ’. Now sporting the short hair and thick moustache on trend in the gay community, he was also smuggling his nouveau influences into Queen. 

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The group’s 1980 album The Game had dialled down on their usual grandiloquent hard rock, while 1982’s Hot Space was such a departure that it confused their fan base – and some of the band. Brian May struggled to have his guitar heard on the R&B tracks Body Language and Staying Power . And his reduced role in the Queen/David Bowie love-in Under Pressure has niggled him for decades. “One of these days I would like to remix it,” May has said, repeatedly. 

However, Hot Space ’s modest chart placing and the subsequent tour’s weaker ticket sales had knocked Queen’s confidence. “ Hot Space got us out of our comfort zone but was probably a step too far,” admitted May, who took himself off to Los Angeles to make Star Fleet Project , a mini-album, with fellow guitar hero Eddie Van Halen and heavy friends. 

“ Hot Space wasn’t really us, was it?” ventured Taylor, who was soon busy with his second solo album, Strange Frontier . Then Queen received a proposal. Director Tony Richardson was making a film of John Irving’s novel The Hotel New Hampshire, a tale of a dysfunctional family blighted by suicide and incest. Would Queen score the soundtrack?

In July 1983, Mercury and bass guitarist John Deacon met Richardson in Los Angeles, and booked the Record Plant studio for a month’s time. The rest of Queen and producer Reinhold Mack (known simply as ‘Mack’) joined them soon after. The decision to go back to work couldn’t have come quick enough for Deacon, the only Queen member who didn’t have a solo record deal. “I went spare, because we were doing so little,” he admitted. “I got bored and quite depressed.” 

There were business factors involved too. Mercury refused to record for Queen’s US label, Elektra , whom he blamed for Hot Space ’s commercial failure. “Freddie was so depressed about the situation, it was doubtful he would have agreed to make a new Queen album,” said May. 

Queen’s business manager, Jim Beach, paid to release Queen from Elektra before signing them to Capitol in the US. It was enough to persuade Mercury back into the studio. Tasked with recording a soundtrack and a new album, Queen hoped that recording in Los Angeles rather than Munich’s Musicland Studios (where they’d made The Game and Hot Space ) would focus their minds. 

“We’d all become emotionally disconnected in Munich,” May explained; a discreet way of saying the nightlife had impacted on their work, their marriages and even their sanity. However, before long, Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck were dropping by the Record Plant for an all-night jam, while the nearby Coronet Pub and Osko’s, a disco famed for its female mud-wrestling nights, exerted a magnetic pull on band and crew members alike. 

Soon, most of the retinue were tooling around town in rented sports cars. Mercury moved into Elizabeth Taylor’s old residence, a dazzling pink villa in Bel Air, which he filled with hundreds of dollars’ worth of flowers. On one of his many nights out in West Hollywood, Mercury met a biker known as ‘Vince The Barman’, and moved him into the property. Vince became the object of Mercury’s affections and the recipient of many lavish gifts. 

“The accountant was on the phone every day,” recalled Mack. “He’d never seen people burn through as much money as we did. Soon after we arrived in LA he was asking questions like: ‘Why do you have nineteen rental cars when there are only eight of you?’”

For the first time, Queen also invited an outsider into the sessions: Fred Mandel, a Canadian musician who’d previously played keyboards on the US leg of the Hot Space tour. “I was making a record with Alice Cooper [ Flush The Fashion ],” recalled Mandel. “[Queen’s old producer] Roy Thomas Baker was producing, and recommended me to Queen.” 

However, Queen’s working methods had changed since Baker’s day. “You’d have two of them in one studio and two in another working on different songs,” explained Mack. “The last time the four of them were all in the studio at the same time was The Game . Now everyone was on different schedules.” 

Accommodating four writers became a greater challenge with each album. Queen brought around 20 songs to the sessions, and the editing process was brutal. Several of Taylor’s songs were rejected. However, the rejection helped Taylor raise his game. Queen had abandoned their previous ‘No Synthesisers’ policy. Taylor was using both a synth and a drum machine on a new piece of music with May. The guitarist kept his part for another song, Machines (Or Back To Humans) , and Taylor used his for what became Radio Ga Ga . But it was a happy accident: “I couldn’t have written the song on a guitar. I don’t want to know about anything technical – like what the chords are called.” 

It was Mercury who spotted the song’s potential. Before Taylor left for a skiing holiday, he gave Mercury his blessing to do as he wished with Radio Ga Ga . “I felt there were some construction elements that were wrong,” said Mercury, “so I took the song over”. The song’s title was inspired by Taylor and his French partner Dominique Beyrand’s toddler son Felix, who murmured “ ca ca ” (Taylor: “French for something that comes out of your bottom”) while hearing an unnamed song on the radio. 

Mercury changed the words to ‘ ga ga ’, on a song mourning a lost, bygone age of radio. When Capitol Records president Jim Mazza heard it, he sent a telex to Queen’s management, worried that the lyrics would alienate the radio networks. Mazza asked if they could be tweaked to become “a supportive endorsement of radio’s future rather than a prediction of its demise”. Queen never divulged whether they changed the words. But it was an early indication of the group’s difficult relationship with Capitol, and America as a whole. It would only get worse.

Freddie Mercury famously described Queen as “four cocks fighting”. When the conflict became too much, Mack sought refuge in a bar across the road from the Record Plant: “It was somewhere for me and John Deacon to get some peace and quiet.” 

The producer’s Zen-like calm defused some of the tension, and Fred Mandel maintained a Swiss-style neutrality during band arguments. “Queen were rational, intelligent guys,” the keyboard player explained. “When they came together they were like the four musketeers, but there were disagreements. I’m not saying they weren’t rock’n’roll, but they weren’t Guns N’ Roses , arguing about downing a fifth of Jack. They were more likely to be arguing about the wingspan of a butterfly.” 

“Oh, we argued about everything,” May concurred. “But it was usually for the good of the music. We all believed passionately in what we were doing.” 

Unfortunately for May, this meant being sidelined on one of The Works ’ biggest hits. Mack nicknamed John Deacon ‘The Ostrich’, because of his ability to remain silent for long periods of time before “laying the perfect egg”. 

By 1983, Deacon had laid two with the UK and US hits You’re My Best Friend and Another One Bites The Dust and was about to deliver another, I Want To Break Free . However, Deacon, rather than May, played acoustic guitar on the song, and Mandel played the solo on his Roland Jupiter-8 synthesiser. 

“John didn’t want a guitar solo on the song,” Taylor explained. “So he got Fred [Mandel] to improvise something around the main tune.” 

“This was controversial,” Mandel admitted, “as apparently no one did solos apart from Brian. But I didn’t think anything of it, as I’d done the same on Alice Cooper records. It was no big deal, but people thought it was a big deal.” 

Tellingly, May’s guitar was added to the intro in the single mix.

After two months in LA, film director Tony Richardson announced that his budget couldn’t stretch to Queen, and he’d have to use existing music instead. The band repurposed some of their The Hotel New Hampshire material for The Works , but decided it would be more cost effective to finish the album in Munich. 

Not everyone would be joining them, though. Vince The Barman turned down Mercury’s offer to leave LA, bringing their relationship to a sudden end. Mercury drifted into the Record Plant looking downcast. After sitting quietly for a time, he suddenly exploded. “It’s okay for all of you!” he shouted at anyone in earshot. “You all have your wives and families. I can never be happy.” 

Mercury would explore these emotions in another new song, It’s A Hard Life . “It’s one of the most beautiful songs Freddie ever wrote,” suggested May, “and he really opened up during the creation of it.” 

In Munich, though, everybody returned to their old haunts and habits. The proprietor of the Sugar Shack discotheque (immortalised in the Queen song Dragon Attack ) welcomed them back with a bottle of their usual tipple, Moskovskaya vodka, and Mercury wrecked the ligaments in his knee during drunken high jinks in the city’s New York bar. One day, after a bad bout of musical differences, May left Queen and spent a few hours pondering his future in a park in central Munich before deciding to carry on. 

The feeling was contagious. John Deacon quit for an impromptu holiday in Bali, but told only his bass tech that he was going. When Mercury heard the news, he jumped on a studio table and began crooning Bali Ha’i from the musical South Pacific. 

When Deacon returned, the sessions continued as before. The only difference was the bass player’s sunburnt skin flaking off over the mixing desk, prompting Mercury to nickname him ‘Snakeman’. “We were okay about Deaky going to Bali,” recalled May, “because we were all going mad as well.”

The world received its first taste of The Works when Radio Ga Ga was released as a single in January 1984. The song was credited solely to Taylor, giving him his first UK top-five hit since I’m In Love With My Car , the B-side to Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975. 

In typically contrary style, Queen had hired David Mallet to direct a video (which eventually cost £110,000) promoting a song moaning about the dominance of video. But Queen were nothing if not pragmatic. 

Mercury and producer Giorgio Moroder were dabbling with the soundtrack for a new version of Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi movie Metropolis . Lang’s footage of industrial cogs and smoke-belching chimneys was stripped into Mallet’s film, which showed Queen zooming around in a flying car, and conducting 500 extras in a synchronised handclap. This part was supposed to illustrate how modern radio’s meaningless ‘ga ga’ had turned listeners into gormless drones. But some critics compared the scene to a Nazi party rally. “People thought we were really trying to be dictators,” May grumbled. None of this mattered when Radio Ga Ga became a UK No.2 hit. 

But the single tanked in America. At the time, many record labels used independent pluggers to secure radio airplay with clandestine payments. Now an industry-wide investigation was under way, and the labels panicked. 

“So Capitol got rid of all their independent guys,” May explained, “and the reprisal from the networks was aimed at the artists who had records out. Radio Ga Ga was rising, but the week after that it disappeared.” 

However, Queen’s dealings with American radio had become problematic around the time of Hot Space . For years, May refused to name Mercury’s personal manager, Paul Prenter, in interviews, referring to him only as “the guy who looked after Fred”. This was no longer possible after the Bohemian Rhapsody movie. Here, Prenter (played by actor Allen Leach) was reborn as a classic movie villain who drove a wedge between Mercury and Queen. 

“It wasn’t far off the truth,” said May. “He was very dismissive with the radio stations. “I discovered later that he went around saying: ‘No, Freddie doesn’t want to talk to you.’” 

“Prenter was always whispering in Freddie’s ear,” confirmed Mack. “They were both into R&B and disco, so you had Prenter telling Freddie that Queen were old-fashioned and he didn’t need guitars.”

However, The Works (named after another of Mercury’s favourite clubs and his pre-tour rallying cry: “Give ’em the fucking works!”) was unlike Hot Space . Released in February 1984, it was a belting rock album cunningly spliced with pop songs and ballads. 

Mercury’s compositions ranged from the inspired to the throwaway. His courtly ballad It’s A Hard Life lived up to May’s praise, while Man On The Prowl was rockabilly-by-numbers redeemed by Fred Mandel’s honky-tonk piano. Keep Passing The Open Windows (titled after the family’s catchphrase in The Hotel New Hampshire) had a maddening chorus, and lyrics straight out of Mercury’s self-empowerment handbook (‘ You just gotta be strong and believe in yourself… ’). Is This The World We Created…? was written at the last minute to provide a Love Of My Life -type ballad. 

May and Taylor shared the credits on Machines (Or Back To Humans) , a mash-up of synthesiser, Vocoder and howling guitar, with now-dated lyrics about ‘ bytes and megachips ’, and May scored with two blood-and-guts rockers: Tear It Up and Hammer To Fall , the latter using the catchiest of hooks to warn listeners that we were all doomed if Reagan or Chernenko started World War III. 

The Works reached No.2 in the UK and No.23 in the States. The numbers would have been better had Queen toured America. “But Freddie didn’t want to go back and play smaller venues,” said May. “He was like: ‘Let’s just wait and then soon we’ll go out and do stadiums as well.’” 

However, Queen were about to scupper their chances further. A second single, I Want To Break Free , became a UK No.3 hit, accompanied by a hilarious but problematic video. A pastiche of the British soap opera Coronation Street was always going to be a bit parochial, but Queen appearing in drag was too much for MTV. Two decades later, Dave Grohl dressed as several women in the promo for the Foo Fighters ’ Learn To Fly . But when Queen did it 40 years ago, MTV refused to use their video. 

“For the first time in our lives we were taking the mickey out of ourselves,” Mercury protested. “But in America they said: ‘What are our idols doing dressing up in frocks?’” 

“MTV hated it,” said May. “They could not accept a rock group dressing as women, and in America Queen were still seen as a rock group.”

Then again, it was difficult to imagine Eddie Van Halen modelling May’s pink nightdress and hair curlers, nor even Dave Lee Roth wearing fake breasts and pushing a vacuum cleaner, à la Freddie. So convincing was Roger Taylor’s schoolgirl that David Mallet’s fiancée spotted him and Taylor in a huddle and thought they were having an affair. 

“I’m Canadian, so I got it,” recalled Fred Mandel. “I mean, come on, it’s just Benny Hill, typical British humour. I also liked seeing Roger doing the dishes and Freddie doing housework.” 

Capitol pleaded with Queen to make an alternative performance video for MTV, but Mercury refused. There was no persuading him, something May found frustrating while shooting a promotional clip for the next single, It’s A Hard Life . May applauded Mercury’s willingness to address his emotional turmoil in the song: “And then he went and dressed as a giant prawn in the video. I was terribly disappointed.” 

Mercury, in his prawn-like ensemble, roamed a Bacchanalian wonderland populated by cross-dressing ballerinas and extras in ball gowns and insect heads. Partway through, Taylor and Deacon sloped into view wearing tights and Elizabethan ruffs (with the drummer’s late 20th-century baseball boots visible in one shot). 

It’s A Hard Life was another UK Top 10 hit, while the next single, Hammer To Fall , reached No.13. Both cued up Queen’s world tour, albeit minus America. “There were always other places for us to go where we were selling well,” suggested May. Regrettably, these included South Africa, where I Want To Break Free had gone to No.1. 

In October, Queen defied the United Nations’ anti-apartheid boycott to play Sun City, a hotel/ casino complex in Bophuthatswana. They’d been informed that racial segregation didn’t apply there. Which was nonsense. With tickets costing the equivalent of more than £50 each in South African rand, Queen performed to a sea of white faces in a wealthy white person’s playground. 

The band received a Musicians Union fine and were placed on the United Nations blacklist. “Queen are jerks,” declared Daryl Hall, of soft-rock duo Hall And Oates, and one of the Artists United Against Apartheid collective. 

“We thought we could build bridges,” May said.“We are totally and fundamentally opposed to apartheid.” 

“On balance, going there was a mistake,” conceded Taylor. 

Mercury, who was born in Zanzibar, in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, never ventured an opinion. 

A month after their ill-fated trip to South Africa, Queen released a non-album single, Thank God It’s Christmas . The title sounded like a collective sigh of relief. But it was eclipsed by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? , a charity single from which Queen were noticeably absent. “I don’t know if they would have had me on the record,” suggested Mercury. “I’m a bit old.”

In the pre-internet world, it took longer for bands to discover where and why their records were selling. I Want To Break Free had been a hit in South Africa because it resonated with supporters of the anti-apartheid African National Congress movement, whose future president, Nelson Mandela, had already spent more than 20 years in prison. 

By January 1985, the song had been adopted as a protest anthem in Brazil. After two decades of military dictatorship, the country was about to hold its first democratic election since 1964. Mercury’s impassioned ‘ God knows I want to break free! ’ spoke to the country’s oppressed, meaning that this most apolitical of rock groups had accidentally become political. 

That month, Queen arrived in Brazil to play the opening and closing nights of the 10-day Rock In Rio festival at the Barra Da Tijuca stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the biggest rock festival ever held, with a reported attendance of 1.5 million. By now Queen were at the peak of their live powers, and Mercury saw no reason to adapt their show. 

After a victory lap of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody and Radio Ga Ga , Queen returned to encore with I Want To Break Free . Mercury strode in from the wings sporting a wig, and a tight sweater under which he’d jammed a pair of torpedo-shaped plastic breasts. This was his second pair, as previously European audiences had complained that the first ones weren’t visible from the cheap seats: “So I had to get some bigger tits.” 

However, the costume upset the Brazilians, none of whom had seen Queen’s video and couldn’t understand why Mercury would undermine the song’s heartfelt message. Contrary to press reports, they didn’t bombard the stage with bottles, but they booed and jeered, until Mercury removed the offending accessories. 

“There was no place Freddie wouldn’t go,” May marvelled, years later. “Even singing with false breasts in South America.”

The Works , its singles and videos summated Queen’s unique place in 80s rock, but also the inner conflict that defined it. “We always wanted to change,” Taylor explained, “and we never regarded ourselves as a singles band. But I’ve come to realise that a lot of people do think of Queen as just that. Or they think that all we did was flounce around in dresses.” 

By the time Mercury performed drunk at their show in Auckland, Queen had agreed to take a year off after the tour. “I think that we probably all hated each other for a while,” said May.

In April 1985, Freddie Mercury released his first solo single, the dance track I Was Born To Love You , followed by the album, Mr Bad Guy. The rest of Queen wondered if they’d lost him for good. “Freddie had stepped so far away,” said May. “I thought we might not get him back.” 

Then came the request that changed all their lives. Boomtown Rats vocalist Bob Geldof, the brains behind Band Aid, was planning Live Aid, a fundraising concert for famine-stricken Africa. Geldof wanted Queen to play, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

“We definitely hesitated to say yes,” recalled May. “We had to consider whether we were in good enough shape. The chances of making fools of ourselves were so big.” 

They needn’t have worried. During the early evening of July 13, Queen arrived to find 72,000 people inside London’s Wembley Stadium and cameras waiting to broadcast their performance around the world. Mercury trotted on stage like an eager show pony, flashing a knowing grin, like he was about to deliver the punchline to the world’s funniest joke. As he hammered out the opening notes to Bohemian Rhapsody on a grand piano, Queen’s doubts and fears evaporated. For the next 20 minutes they gave the audience ‘the works’ and more. The four musketeers had returned to fight another day. 

Magnifico! The A To Z Of Queen by Mark Blake is published by Nine Eight books .

Mark Blake is a music journalist and author. His work has appeared in The Times and The Daily Telegraph, and the magazines Q, Mojo, Classic Rock, Music Week and Prog. He is the author of Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, Is This the Real Life: The Untold Story of Queen, Magnifico! The A–Z Of Queen, Peter Grant, The Story Of Rock's Greatest Manager and Pretend You're in a War: The Who & The Sixties. 

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2024 california state fair: tone loc, c&c music factory, digital underground, queen nation added.

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Tone Loc, C&C Music Factory and Digital Underground have been added to the 2024 California State Fair’s Toyota Concert Series.

The “90s rewind” featuring the hip-hop and dance music performers will take place on Friday, July 19 at 7 p.m.

The State Fair also announced that the Queen tribute band Queen Nation will perform on Monday, July 15 at 8 p.m.

Free seating is available for the first 700 guests for the fair’s summer concerts series but people can receive a spot closer to the performers for $25 .

Other performers that have been announced include Cole Swindell, Chris Young, Flo Rida, Bush, Lukas Nelson, The Beach Boys and UB40.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app .

Monét X. Change's Life Be Lifin’ Tour Delayed, "But She's Still Coming Mama"

Former portlander kevin bertin says they want to take a step back to focus on writing music..

[ UPDATE: This show has been rescheduled to January 11, 2025, so if you saw Monét in the fall, you officially saw them before they took a break from performing live. "I was so excited to go on the road and see y'all," they wrote in a note shared on social media . "I have a long and (in Jesus name) successful theater/stage/vocal career ahead of me, so for the next few weeks my doctor has ordered I take a pause on live singing." A caption to the post reads: "Delayed, but she’s still coming mama." The Mercury 's editors would like to note this article is still extremely relevant to those with questions like "who is Monét X. Change?," "do they have a new single out?," and "how does this relate to ME, a Portlander?" ]

In the decade since Kevin Bertin called Portland’s Alberta neighborhood their stomping grounds, life has life'd the comedian, singer, and drag artist. Originally from Brooklyn (New York, not Portland), Bertin spent time touring with Opera to Go—a program run by the Portland Opera—performing shows like The Magic Flute around Oregon in 2013-2014.

Even then, Bertin flexed their cabaret muscles as drag queen Monét X. Change on off nights—perfecting stunts that would one day gag Mother Ru, when they entered competition on RuPaul’s Drag Race . Monét didn't win on the first go, but tied for first in the All-Stars series’ fourth season. They went on to support Madonna on tour and—between countless guest star appearances—currently co-host the popular podcast Sibling Rivalry with Bob the Drag Queen.

Now, a new stage show Life Be Lifin’ is the product of Bertin condensing over twenty years of experience into a comedic, dramatic autobiography, told through song, standup, and the art of drag. The show's nationwide tour stops off at Portland's Aladdin Theater on May 1.

And it might be the last time fans can see Monét perform live for a minute.

According to Bertin, they wrote Life Be Lifin’ two months before its debut at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Another note of Pacific Northwest pride: Drag Race alumnus BenDeLaCreme lent a hand by directing the show.

Bertin's coming-of-age story explores details from their younger years, related through anecdotes that are hilarious and embarrassing, yet sometimes sweetly tender too. “I go through some really interesting things and eye-opening experiences," Bertin said, "like jerking off in a basement with my enemy-best friend who I ultimately fell in love with."

To Bertin, every interesting moment unpacked in Life Be Lifin’ flows into the person they are today, even the basement masturbation ones. "I do love edging. Edging is a very fun experience, and I have definitely edged the audience a lot in this show,” they said, wryly.

When it comes to post-tour plans, Bertin says they may disappear from the stage for a while: "I’m taking a break to just put out music. I'm not going out on the road and performing a bunch. I have been doing all the things, and I just need a collective [deep breath] with myself and my brain and my body and my mind to chill for just a little while.” 

Though a classically trained opera singer, Bertin expressed feeling limited about the music they've released thus far. “There are drag queens doing R&B. There are drag queens doing rock. There are drag queens doing pop,” they said. “When it comes to secular music, it feels really confining. They don’t want to see you step out of the box.” 

On April 12, they released a music video for “Body,” the first single from their forthcoming, as-yet-untitled debut LP about “love, life, and the guys who have ever done me wrong.” The soul-baring ballad laments another one night stand; the video depicts Monét onstage at the club, in a bed that slowly fills with men whose faces are pixelated blurs. 

“I have been in these Grindr streets since 2008,” Bertin confessed. “I got the beta testing version, so I have been on Grindr for a very long time... you catch yourself in the mirror, like, Oh my god, why, whyyy?”

Monét X Change performs Life Be Lifin' at Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, Sat Jan 11, 8 pm, $35-45, tickets here , 18+

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Review: Hip-hop star Nicki Minaj turns Target Center pink in overdue return to Minnesota

G ood context for how overdue Nicki Minaj's concert was Saturday night at Target Center: The last time the hip-hop queen performed in the Twin Cities was 13 years ago as the opening act for Britney Spears.

While Spears has endured well-publicized ups and downs since that poorly attended Xcel Energy Center show in 2011, Minaj has mostly had only ups in her career.

She has been one of the top-selling artists in pop music of the past decade, racking up three No. 1 albums (the most ever by a female rapper) and 23 top-10 singles (same). Her success — and her feminine and LGBTQ icon status, too — rocketed further last year via her smash-hit "Barbie World" single with Ice Spice from the "Barbie" movie soundtrack.

Saturday's nearly sold-out crowd of about 16,000 fans came dressed for the occasion in a sea of pink outfits, including many men. It wasn't because of Barbie, though. Minaj has been pinkifying the world since her 2010 breakout album, "Pink Friday," a success she flashed back to in the title of her tour and latest album "Pink Friday 2."

Some of those fans — especially the ones who hired babysitters — may have been seeing red by the time Minaj finally took the stage. She didn't go on until 10:10 p.m., more than two hours after the advertised start time with only a DJ filling the gap.

Her scheduled opener, "The Boy Is Mine" co-vocalist Monica, actually performed in a 15-minute break that abruptly came three-quarters of the way through Minaj's set. Along with a couple long video interludes, Monica's montage made the concert feel unusually disjointed. Her songs, including "Before You Walk Out of My Life," also felt mellow and a tad outdated amid Minaj's recent, fiery hits.

In between those preshow and mid-show lulls, though, Minaj was fully and fiercely present. The Trinidad-born rapper, 41, took the stage in a silvery space-queen outfit to the tune of "I'm the Best," and she seemed intent on living up to that title.

The second in an unprecedented run of three Target Center concerts in six months headlined by female hip-hop stars — after Doja Cat's and Ice Spice's December date , and before Megan Thee Stallion's May 14 booking — Minaj's performance boasted a big, bright visual production on par with Doja's show.

Neon lights were decked out all over the stage (yes, often tinted pink). Dancers and pyro were constantly blowing across the stage. Minaj's numerous outfits were quite a spectacle, too, from a bejeweled purple bodysuit with matching thigh-high boots near the start to an elegant, flowing red dress donned later for the mellower love songs "Save Me" and the new one "Fallin' 4 U."

Minaj wasn't as tied in with the choreography or as physically hyperactive as Doja was. Her most-cheered dance move may have been a stage-hump in "Pink Birthday," which rivaled the one Prince offered across the street at First Avenue for movie cameras in 1983. She genuinely seemed to be pouring most of her energy into her vocals instead, and her talent as a rapper and bawdy, tongue-tying lyricist never got lost in the grand visual scheme.

She came on fast and furious on the microphone right away during "Barbie Dangerous" and "Beep Beep." Kudos to the crowd for keeping up with her rapid delivery and making the latter tune a big singalong. A lot of today's hot young male rappers, including Travis Scott and Lil Uzi Vert, should take note on how Minaj spit forcefully into her mic all night and did not let her backing tracks do any heavy-lifting for her.

Other impressive runs came later when she ripped through "Red Ruby Da Sleaze" and "Chun-Li" back-to-back under a backdrop of Chinese imagery, and again near show's end in abbreviated versions of "Super Freaky Girl" and "Anaconda."

After all the glitz and glamor displayed throughout her show, Minaj made a simpler choice of ripped jeans, white cotton tank top and a (pink) doo-rag on her head when she returned after Monica's mini-set for a run of hits, including "Starships" and "Everybody." She came off more down-to-earth, but her finale look also seemed to emphasize there's a lot more to her stardom than the glitz and glamor.

©2024 StarTribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A ton of big names were added to Cincinnati's concert calendar this week

Cincinnati concert tickets on sale friday, april 26.

June 16: Kota the Friend, Ludlow Garage.

June 20: Robert Glasper, Ludlow Garage.

July 6: LeAnn Rimes, Turfway Park.

July 13: Ginuwine, Turfway Park.

July 19: Tyler Farr, Lori's Road House.

July 28: Etta May & The Southern Fried Chicks, Ludlow Garage.

Aug. 7: Rumours of Fleetwood Mac , PNC Pavilion.

Aug. 14: Taj Farrant, Ludlow Garage.

Sept. 17: Megadeth, Riverbend Music Center. With Mudvayne and All That Remains.

Sept. 19: Pitbull : Party After Dark Tour , Riverbend Music Center. Featuring T-Pain.

Oct. 4: Ray LaMontagne and Gregory Alan Isakov, Andrew J. Brady Music Center.

Oct. 9: Ricky Montgomery - One Rick to Rule Them All Tour, Bogart's.

Oct. 10: Arturo Sandova, Ludlow Garage.

Oct. 17: Micky Dolenz, Ludlow Garage.

Oct. 25: America, Taft Theatre.

Oct. 26: Jo Dee Messina, Lori's Road House.

Oct. 27: Mania - The ABBA Tribute, Taft Theatre.

Nov. 1: Jim Gaffigan: Barely Alive Tour , Taft Theatre. Fifth show added, 9:30 p.m. Nov. 1.

Nov. 7: Hannah Berner   and   Paige Desorbo , Taft Theatre.