On This Day 11/06/1993 Brian May

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On this day, 11 June 1993, rock guitar legend Brian May played Cardiff Ice Rink on his Back To Light tour.

Brian May Band were an English rock band formed by Queen guitarist Brian May for touring in promotion of his studio albums.

The rhythm section for the band were Cozy Powell and Neil Murray, who had previously worked together in Black Sabbath and Whitesnake. Spike Edney, who was the tour keyboardist for Queen between 1984 and 1986 took the keyboard spot.

The band was originally formed in October 1991 for May's performance at Guitar Legends guitar festival in Seville, Spain. The band soon went on a tour of the United States, Europe and Japan. The tour ended in December 1993, when May returned to the studio with fellow Queen bandmates Roger Taylor and John Deacon for Queen's final studio album, Made In Heaven.

Meanwhile, Cozy Powell and Neil Murray returned to work with Black Sabbath, and both later joined Peter Green's Band.

Line-up

Brian May (lead vocals, lead guitar)

Cozy Powell (drums and percussion)

Jamie Moses (guitar, backing vocals)

Neil Murray (bass)

Spike Edney (keyboards, backing vocals)

Catherine Porter (backing vocals)

Shelley Preston (backing vocals)

Setlist

The Dark

(Brian May song)

Back to the Light

(Brian May song)

Driven by You

(Brian May song)

Tie Your Mother Down

(Queen cover)

Love Token

(Brian May song)

Headlong

(Queen cover)

Love of My Life

(Queen cover)

'39

(Queen cover) (intro)

Let Your Heart Rule Your Head

(Brian May song)

Too Much Love Will Kill You

(Brian May song)

Since You Been Gone

(Russ Ballard cover)

Now I'm Here

(Queen cover)

Guitar Extravagance

Resurrection

(Brian May song)

Last Horizon

(Brian May song)

We Will Rock You

(Queen cover)

God

(John Lennon cover)

Play Video

Hammer to Fall

(Queen cover)

On This Day 19/11/1975 Queen

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On this day, 19 November 1975, rock greats Queen played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on their A Night At The Opera Tour. The were supported by Mr Big.

Formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.

A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 21 November 1975 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and Elektra Records in the United States. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, it was reportedly the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release.

Named after the Marx Brothers' film of the same name, A Night at the Opera was recorded at various studios across a four-month period in 1975. Due to management issues, Queen had received almost none of the money they earned for their previous albums. Subsequently, they ended their contract with Trident Studios and did not use their studios for the album (the sole exception being "God Save the Queen", which had been recorded the previous year).

They employed a complex production that extensively used multitrack recording, and the songs incorporated a wide range of styles, such as ballads, music hall, dixieland, hard rock and progressive rock influences. Aside from their usual equipment, Queen also utilised a diverse range of instruments such as a double bass, harp, ukulele and more.

Upon release, A Night at the Opera topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks. It peaked at number four on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and became the band's first platinum-certified album in the US. It also produced the band's most successful single in the UK, "Bohemian Rhapsody", which became their first number one song in the country. Despite being twice as long as the average length of singles during the 1970s, the song became immensely popular worldwide.

Setlist

Procession

Bohemian Rhapsody

(Rock section)

Ogre Battle

Sweet Lady

White Queen (As It Began)

Flick of the Wrist

Bohemian Rhapsody

Killer Queen

The March of the Black Queen

Bohemian Rhapsody

(Reprise)

Bring Back That Leroy Brown

Son and Daughter

The Prophet's Song

Stone Cold Crazy

Doing All Right

Keep Yourself Alive

Seven Seas of Rhye

Liar

In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited

Encore:

Now I'm Here

Big Spender

(Cy Coleman cover)

Be-Bop-A-Lula

(Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps cover)

Jailhouse Rock

(Elvis Presley cover)

God Save the Queen

([traditional] cover)

On This Day 24/08/1975 Queen

On this day, 24 August 1975 Supergroup Queen started recording 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at Rockfield studio' in Monmouth, South Wales. The song was recorded over three weeks.

Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack of a refraining chorus and consisting of several sections: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. It is one of the few progressive rock songs of the 1970s to achieve widespread commercial success and appeal to a mainstream audience.

Mercury referred to "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a "mock opera" that resulted from the combination of three songs he had written.

Mercury had mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout the sessions. May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.

According to Guitarist Brian May, much of Queen's material was written in the studio, but this song "was all in Freddie's mind" before they started.

On this day 10/09/1976 Queen

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On this day 10 September 1976, legendary British rock band Queen played Cardiff Castle. Also on the bill was Cardiff’s Andy Fairweather-Low, Frankie Miller's Full House and Manfred Mann.

Richie Blackmore & Rainbow were originally part of the package but refused to play Cardiff Castle because they couldn't get onstage their 35-foot high artificial rainbow which they regarded as an "essential part of their act". Probably they weren't allowed to put it up due to upstaging Queen.

Roger Taylor wrote about the show in the autumn '76 fan club magazine, describing the weather as "virtually a monsoon." He adds, "The sight of the rain pouring down through the spotlights on everybody, and of Freddie splashing his way through pools of water at the front of the stage will remain indelibly printed on our memories forever. The fact that people stayed on and enjoyed themselves right to the end made it quite a moving occasion for us. In fact, I was so overcome I just had to wreck me drum kit at the end, which reduced 'Crystal' my roadie to floods of tears rivalling the rain (it was a brand new kit too!). Anyway if you were there thanks for being our bravest audience ever and I hope the pneumonia cleared up."

This is assumingly the final performance of Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon.

In his Queen Live book, Queen archivist Greg Brooks alleges there is a bootleg of this show called "Queen At The Castle," but no such release ever occurred. There are no known recordings of this show.

Setlist

A Day At the Races Intro

Bohemian Rhapsody

(Rock Section)

Ogre Battle

Sweet Lady

White Queen (As It Began)

Flick of the Wrist

You're My Best Friend

Bohemian Rhapsody

Killer Queen

The March of the Black Queen

Bohemian Rhapsody

(Reprise)

Bring Back That Leroy Brown

Brighton Rock

Son and Daughter

'39

You Take My Breath Away

The Prophet's Song

Stone Cold Crazy

Doing All Right

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

Tie Your Mother Down

Keep Yourself Alive

Liar

In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited

Encore:

Now I'm Here

Big Spender

(Cy Coleman cover)

Jailhouse Rock

(Elvis Presley cover)

God Save the Queen

([traditional] cover)