The Queen Extravaganza

[ForeverAutumn]

This is the Queen tribute band put together by Roger Taylor. They're touring in January and I'm debating going. Has anyone seen them? Any feedback?

Thanks.

[taliesin]

I saw them earlier this year and quite enjoyed it.

Interesting that they had 4 singers to replace Mercury - it reminded me of what a talent he was.

The singers were all very good, and one of them sounded extraordinarily like Mercury - quite uncanny.

The band were solid, and the selection of material was good - most of the hits and few more obscure songs for the diehards.

Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[JIF]

I saw them earlier this year and quite enjoyed it.

Interesting that they had 4 singers to replace Mercury - it reminded me of what a talent he was.

The singers were all very good, and one of them sounded extraordinarily like Mercury - quite uncanny.

The band were solid, and the selection of material was good - most of the hits and few more obscure songs for the diehards.

Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit.If one of the singers sounded very much like Mercury, why not just tour with him singing? Btw, was it that Marc guy?

[taliesin]

Not sure why they didn't just use the one singer - having four seemed like overkill.

I don't remember his name but it might have been Marc.

[Dan Roth]

The tour earlier this year had two singers that came out of the Queen Extravaganza audition contest (Jennifer Espinoza and Marc Martel). Roger Taylor then added a French Canadian singer (Yvan Pedneault) who had the lead role in the Canadian production of “We Will Rock You”. Jeff Scott Soto (Journey/TSO) was added last after rehearsals had begun - JSS mentioned in interviews that he was brought on to help "mentor the younger singers" and "give the show that rock presence"" (JSS also handled 'Dragon Attack', 'Tie Your Mother Down' and 'Fat Bottomed Girls'). I believe for the upcoming tour they are just going with the two winners from the contest.

[Lo-Fi Resistance]

I actually sent a guitar video in for the audition. A gig is a gig right? The guy who got the gig was a ringer; the We Will Rock You show, Cirque Du Soliel productions, etc. Not exactly the public-submitted band hiring that they promoted. :)

Nonetheless, the guy who got the gig emailed me in shock that they didn't move me to the second round. Very nice of him to do that, and I knew he would get the gig. Sound, look, credentials, etc. Here was mine:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYls-ftbRLw

[Dan Roth]

The guy who got the gig was a ringer; the We Will Rock You show, Cirque Du Soliel productions, etc.


Tristan Avakian?

[Lo-Fi Resistance]

Tristan Avakian?
Yes. He is out with Rock Of Ages now.

[Wilton Said...]

I saw it at the beginning of the year and loved it. I've copied my review below...

Queen Extravaganza.
This review contains spoilers

My wife and I saw the Toronto performance of this Tribute band which was put together by Roger Taylor. It was great. I really do recommend this show, especially to hard core Queen fans.
Handling the vocals were 4 individuals, Jennifer Espinoza, Yvan Pedneault, Marc Martel and Jeff Scott Soto. All 4 did a fantastic job and sang songs that best suited their voice style. Jeff sang many of the rockers, Marc sang many of the more jazzy whimsical songs, Yvan sang a combination of both although he was better at the softer tunes, and Jennifer sang lead the least but did a fantastic job on Who Wants to Live Forever.
The band was also excellent with drummer Tyler Warren also singing much of the backing vocals and also lead on In Love with my Car. While guitarists Brian Gresh and Tristan Avakian maintained the sonic qualities of Mays guitar sound, Brian Gresh who did the majority of the leads, improvised where appropriate (usually the faster solos) and played the more melodic leads as played originally. Bassist Francois-Olivier Doyon was really solid all the way through and got to shine a little bit during Dragon Attack.
Over all it was a great show. Stand outs for me were any time Marc Martel sang lead as he not only sounds like Freddie, he also had some of the physical mannerisms down. Yvan's vocals on Take my Breath Away was probably my favorite moment of the whole show as he sang it spot on and his voice really suited the song. In fact I thought it was Marc singing at 1st. The other stand out thing was the setlist. It was full of hits and also full of more obscure stuff which was a great surprise to me.

Setlist Spoliers below……






Setlist
Prophet Song (Intro from tape) / We Will Rock You (Fast)
Tie Your Mother Down
Now I'm Here
Love Of My Life
I Want It All
Killer Queen / The March Of The Black Queen (excerpt)
Dragon Attack
Bicycle Race
I Want To Break Free
You Take My Breath Away
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon
I'm In Love With My Car
Save Me
Bohemian Rhapsody

Intermission

Rock It (Intro from tape) / One Vision
A Kind Of Magic
Don't Stop Me Now
Under Pressure
Another One Bites The Dust
Who Wants To Live Forever
White Man (intro riff only) / Fat Bottomed Girls
Stone Cold Crazy
Drum Solo / Liar (intro)
You're My Best Friend
Seven Seas Of Rhye
In The Lap Of The Gods
In The Lap Of The Gods...revisited
Radio GaGa
Somebody To Love
Encore
We Will Rock You
We Are The Champions

[Dan Roth]

Yes. He is out with Rock Of Ages now.

He also did the Trans-Siberian Orchestra gig back in 2003 when Alex Skolnick took a year off. He certainly gets around.

[ForeverAutumn]

Roger Taylor then added a French Canadian singer (Yvan Pedneault) who had the lead role in the Canadian production of “We Will Rock You”.

I saw Pedneault in We Will Rock You...twice. :) He was excellent in it.

Thanks for all the comments. I'd really like to see this show, but as it turns out it's only here one night and I have another commitment. I'll have to wait for it to come back.