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JANUARY 2008 |
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| **Wed 30 Jan 08** EDITOR:
Various interviewers posed questions to Brian after the Premiere of WWRY in Vienna, 24 January 2008 FIRST INTERVIEWER : In an interview at a Radio station [indistinct] in November and you said to them you think Vienna is a Queen town. So is it a Queen town? BRIAN MAY: What do you think after tonight? ANS: I think so. BM: I think so, yes. It's very friendly. You know, gala nights are the most difficult because generally people don't pay. [laughs] So it's a very different kind of feel, like I know that last night was a riot because it was a different feel, so generally the gala night is the hardest show to pull off and they pulled it off. They made it happen. I was very proud of the company. Fantastic. ANOTHER INTERVIEWER: But also the VIP's thought of the dress code. Were they dressed properly with like rock and roll outfits and things like that? BM: Yes. (?) Q: Were you content? BM: I'm happy. Q: And did the chorus warm up with Nirvana hits before? BM: With what!!? Q: Nirvana hits like "Teen Spirit". BM: Ah - I wasn't here for that. Are you going to ask anything important? THIRD INTERVIWER: Was this the first occasion you played live at the premiere? What was the feeling for you? BM: Yeah - usually I don't play at the premiere because I don't like to take it away from the Company, because it it the moment, but thse Company has, in the main, done a lot of shows. You know, they've come from Zurich, and so they kind of invited me to come and it was a thrill. I loved doing it. It's a great feeling ot be a part of the Company. So yeah, this was unusual. I've never done it on a first night before. A little more hair-raising than normal. Q: Were you nervous about it? BM: Yeah, I always get a little nervous. It's good. It's a good nervous feeling. You know, it's - I think it's part of why we do it. You get this kind of rush, you know, and you almost want to go "Why am I doing this?" but then the other side of that hill it's like "Yes. I need to do this." 2ND INTERVIEWER: Q: Ben Elton just mentioned that he would like to send you to a very nice guitar school here in maybe one year. BM: And get a little better. Yeah. I think I need to. Q: That's what he just mentioned. Were you happy with the crowd here in Vienna? BM: Yes very good. This is the hardest crowd that we'll ever get in Vienna because it's the VIP's, you know, the people who don't pay their money, so it's always harder than the regular public, who go crazy, and to see THIS crowd go crazy was great. So it's a very good feeling, you know, and it takes a great cast to do that, because it's a different feeling on these first nights. Everybody's kind of keyed up and atmosphere and ... That was a good one. Q: So it was worth it to interrupt the recording for the new album? BM: Ah.... We do them off and on. Yes, no interruption really. (laughs) Q: How far has it gone? BM: We have, we have almost an album's worth of tracks. It's just a question of working on a few more things`and a bit more polishing, you know. A Queen album is a big thing, you know, if you could call it a Queen album - a Queen and Paul Rodgers album. It's a big thing you know, and we have to live with it for the rest of our lives, so we will be taking care, you know. We'll be making sure everything is covered really. But I'm very excited really. There's some good stuff. Q: So we'll se eyou again in the autumn here? BM: I hope - hope so. Very good chance I think. (laughs) Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you Vienna. Thank you for coming here and playing here. BM: Such a wonderful town for music. It's an honour to be accepted here. ANOTHER INTERVIEWER: What did you see anything this time round? You just came? BM: No, no. But I know this town a little, you know, from the past. I will see a little tomorrow. I have time. Thank you. BM: Great. NEW INTERVIEWER: Hi. Pleasure to meet you. How come you didn't play the Red Special when you went on stage? BM: My Red Special wasn't very well . . . normally always do. Very observant. Yeah, we had a pickup with a problem and I didn't want to take the risk so we uesd a spare, and just before, at the end of the bows when I'm about to get ready, it wasn't working. Had to make a snap decision. Q: We were waiting for you at the Red Carpet. What happened? BM: Well - I was here to rehearse and the rehearsals went quite late and then I went back to the hotel and I had to get some food, and so. And that's my excuse. (laughs) Actually I don't like Red Carpets because I prefer this. I prefer to work, prefer to play. You know, that's what it's about. I don't really like standing around on Red Carpets to be honest with you, but I needed to . . . (indistinct) Q: In a recent interview you said that Vienna was a Queen town. How? BM: It was very big-headed of me, wasn't it? Well, it's a great place for us. It always has been. It's always been a great town to play the Stadthalle. We've spent quite a bit of time here and it's always been wonderful. I feel like this audience understands us. It's a very musical city and I feel kind of honoured that Vienna does accept us. I'm very constantly. Austria is one of the most constant audiences. . . . Q: There are rumours that you will be going on tour late this year. BM: We are planning to. We're planning to tour in the autumn. QUESTION: So it's going to be with a concert in Vienna as well? BM: I think so. I think we have a date. It's not inked in yet, but I think we do. Q: Thank you very much. It's great. BM: It's great to be here. QUESTION: It was a great show. . . . here in Austria. BM: I love it. It's been a bit of a lightning visit this time, but I like Vienna very much. Some very unforgettable times in Vienna, so it's great to come back and the audience is magnificent. It's a magnificent . . . (indistinct) I thought there is just something about it. They understand music. They understand rock and they understand us... It's a great . . . Q: And how did you like the show because some lyrics are in German and some in English? BM: I like it. You know this show has had a while to grow up because this show has been in, not exactly this show, the language thing in Cologne and Zurich and so this is the third time we've done it this way and I think is rather smart. Ben is very clever, you know, and he's managed to put like half in German and half in English and the story benefits from this. I think the story is better done in the German language, so I like ti a lot. Q: What is the secret of the success of the show? BM: Well, the music ain't bad (chuckle) and it's a good team. You know, I really think that Ben's script, although to some people it might seem quite easy, I think it's a very clever script and puts people at their ease and also sets them off their guard so that they just respond at the right moment, you know, and they become part of the show, and I think it's a brilliant idea. Yeah. We are also very fortunate. We have great people. A fantastic team here, you know. The cast it brilliant. The band is wonderful... guitarists... and we have a team that we're very proud of. Everything comes down to interacting. There's a good seed. There's a good idea there, and the songs - people know the songs, which is great. Such a plus.... strike up a couple of bars ... and "I know this" and you know, it's a wonderful thing to have, but the fact that it actually works as a story and a kind of journey, which involves people, is what I think makes people want to come back because they think - "Ooh, that felt good. We were up - at the end we were up", and they want to see that again - feel that again. Q: Yeah, everybody was rocking... BM: This show has survived because of repeats. People come back and they bring their friends and "Hey it was a really good time, you know, we had a good feeling and we came out punching the air and singing and you know, happy." People want to be happy. Q: Last question. What are your plans for the future? BM: Ah well, we're finishing an album at the moment with Paul Rodgers. We plan to tour later in the year and that's about as far as I can see at the moment. I keep busy. I do lots of other things too. I've become a Chancellor of a University. I don't know if you know that, and a Doctor, and I don't sleep. (laughs) Q: Never? BM: I'm really only 25. That's why I look like this. (laughing) Very nice. Q: Brian. How proud, how lucky are you after the premiere in Vienna.? BM: I feel very proud. I think it's the right word. I think it's a wonderful company, and I feel proud of the whole journey that we've been on. Ben, Roger and I have become very close because of this We Will Rock You experience and the people that we have around us are all magnificent and in Vienna we have a great team and the principals, you probably know, mainly come from Zurich, and they know their stuff and they are SO polished and SO confident. Just totally on the mark. I was enthralled. It's a great version of our show. Very proud, very proud. Q: What did you like more - to watch the cast, or the playing in the last number? BM: Well - to play is something different. I love it and i don't know if I can explain this, but as a producer and director, this is our baby, you know, but you watch the baby go out and do it's stuff and you want to be with the baby, you know, and for me it's the greatest feeling to be a part of the company and bond with them and actually physically be part of the team. Physiclally I'm here with them and I know it gives them a special energy and gives me a special energy so it makes me nervous, because it's always a one-off. Everything. It's always different. But I love it. It's one of my favourite things to do. Never done it in a premiere before. Usually done it on a re-visit, but this time there were special reasons. Q: Did you get an appetite to get back on the stage? BM: Yeah. Always have it. Not desperate. You know I like my life, being at home, and I like to have such a variety in my life, but there's nothing quite like being on the stage. No nothing with an audience like that. It's great. Very honoured. Very priviledged. Q: Last question. You have mentioned some Austrian musicians in the Viennese show - Mike Falco. What did you get in mind if you remember him? BM: I do remember Falco, yeah. A one-off - complete one-off.... people that you would never see again. Yeah. There's a show of Falco also, becauer they ... yet to see that. I'd like to see what they make of him, yeah. Yeah, people disappear so quickly, you know, you just look around and . . .. and I feel like Freddie almost hasn't gone. I've got so used to Freddie being gone, but if I dream, he's always alive, so... Life is so transitory. You know, we'll all be gone tomorrow. But if we have a good time and there's music and there's dancing it ain't so bad. (laughs) Thank you very much. It was a pleasure talking to you. Q: Can you give us confirmation about the.... BM: No - not really Q: A time frame? BM: No. Thank you Brian. (laughing) BM: Sorry. Q: Would you think that the Musical that rather they Queen fans would enjoy, or that musical fans will enjoy? BM: I hope both. We hope that we're going to new territory. And I know that the musical in other parts of the world attracts people who wouldn't normally go to musicals. A lot of people hate musicals, love this. But that doesn't mean I don't have respect for musicals. Sorry, that doesn't mean that I don't have a respect for musicals. . . . making a big study of 'Wicked' at the moment. I think it's a great piece of work and I'm working on a couple of tracks with Kerry Ellis, who's singing the Green Witch so I've become fascinated with Sondheim, and I'm fascinated with Bernstein. I think, you know, a musical is a very silly medium on the face of it. People are acting in a story and suddenly they burst into song. It's kind of silly, but, there is an amazing power to it. You see people laugh, and get up like they do here. You see people cry, and it's wonderful medium. It may be silly, but it's very human and personally I'm fascinated. We are working - I guess the big news which I didn't tell anyone else, it that we're now working very hard on the sequel. Ben has now finished the first draft of his script called We Will Rock You 2 and so will be the continuing adventures of Scaramouche and Galileo and that's a great challenge, you know. To achieve this once is incredible and we feel lucky, but if we could do it twice, then, you know, and with some new surprises, good fun. Q: OK. Perfect. Thank you. Transcript by brianmay.com © brianmay.com |
| **Mon 28 Jan 08** PLEASE NOTE - BRIAN MAY QUOTES NOT VERBATIM - translated and retranslated back to English VERBATIM REPORT FOLLOWS ---- In an exclusive ÖSTERREICH interview the Queen legend reveals sensational plans: a sequel to the musical and a Vienna concert in the autumn. ÖSTERREICH exklusive Thursday, 22.47: In an exclusive ÖSTERREICH interview, the legend explains the background to this and reveals sensational plans for the future. Donnerstag, 22.47 Uhr: Das Wiener We Will Rock You war ohnedies schon ein Triumph – und dann kam er: Brian May! Erstmals spielte der Queen-Gitarrist bei einer Musical-Premiere live mit. Im exklusiven ÖSTERREICH-Interview erklärt die Legende die Hintergründe dazu und verrät sensationelle Zukunftspläne: ÖSTERREICH: How was your 'We Will Rock You' in Vienna? ÖSTERREICH: Ihr Wiener „We Will Rock You“-Resümee ? ÖSTERREICH: In Vienna you even played live for the first time. May: Normally I don't do that at a premiere because I don't want to steal the show from the cast. But, just in Vienna, I wanted to do something special. I was very nervous beforehand. Most of all because I could not play with my beloved 'Red Special' guitar. It is slightly broken and so I had to change to a replacement guitar barely 30 seconds before my solo. Sheer stress! ÖSTERREICH: In Wien spielten Sie sogar erstmals live mit ... ÖSTERREICH: Your impressions of the Vienna show? ÖSTERREICH: Ihr Eindruck von der Wiener Show? ÖSTERREICH: In the musical there are references to many Austrian pop stars. Do you know about any of them at all? ÖSTERREICH: Im Musical kommen viele Austropopper vor. Kennen Sie die überhaupt? ÖSTERREICH: What are your plans? ÖSTERREICH: Ihre Pläne? ÖSTERREICH: When are Queen coming back to the Vienna Stadthalle? ÖSTERREICH: Wann kommen Queen wieder in die Wiener Stadthalle? by Thomas Zeidler / transcript by Alison (many thanks) © brianmay.com |
**Thu 24 Jan 08**
Brian May recorded on some tracks for this album, though it remains to be seen what will end up on the CD if it ever sees light of day. © brianmay.com |
**Wed 23 Jan 08** At the start of a brand new year, a brand new model, Brian May guitars is proud to announce the arrival of The Super. PHOTO GALLERY
The Super is a meticulously crafted version of the orignal Red Special, hand crafted in Japan. This guitar cames complete with a certificate of authentification, numbered and signed by Brian May personally. Limited to production of no more than 100 instruments per year worldwide, the guitar is available exclusively through Brian May Guitars at House Music for a retail price of £2,495.00 including VAT. Call HOUSE MUSIC on +44 (0)20 7377 9300 or email sales@brianmayguitars.co.uk for more details. © brianmay.com |
England’s Classic Rock magazine spoke with Axl Rose’s manager, Beta Lebeis, who revealed that Guns N’ Roses’ long awaited Chinese Democracy album was “finished before Christmas.” She even added, “Everybody knows that.” According to Lebeis, Rose is just negotiating with unspecified parties when the disc will be released. According to the magazine, GN’R might go the way of Radiohead and have fans pay what they want to download tracks, as opposed to having the album hit store shelves, though that has not been confirmed. They also report that Chinese Democracy could come out in late summer. In December of 2006, Rose had said the CD would be out in March of 2007. We’ll see what happens this year. [VH1 CLASSIC RADIO]