Brian May, Adam Lambert and Roger Taylor of Queen attend a news conference ahead of the Rhapsody Tour at the Conrad Hotel in Seoul, South Korea, January 16, 2020. (REUTERS)
NEW YORK – British rockers Queen and U.S. singer Adam Lambert are heading out on the road again, bringing their updated and expanded Rhapsody Tour back to North America after four years.
Guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and Lambert announced on Friday they would return this autumn to the region where they first launched the tour in 2019.
The 14-date swing begins on Oct. 4 in Baltimore and wraps up in Los Angeles on Nov. 11.
“It’s evolved, is the way I would say it. I was tempted to call this ‘The revved up Rhapsody tour’ because it’s a little different from the way you saw it last time,” May told Reuters in a joint interview with Taylor and Lambert.
“We’ve been all around the world with it. All kinds of stuff has happened. Different songs, different production. We’re always putting new stuff in. So, now you look at it and it’s hardly recognizable from the way it started out.”
The new dates follow a UK and European tour last year, with a 150-minute set list including Queen classics like “We Will Rock You”, “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “Somebody To Love” against a backdrop of dazzling special effects.
“We like to try and introduce different songs, so deeper cuts in amongst the big hits, just to keep ourselves fresh and to (give) the show a little bit more depth. It won’t be the same as people saw before,” Taylor said.
“It’s nice to give a visual context to these songs that people know so well. And…it changes some of the perception of what the song is about or the feeling of the song when you put it next to another one, when the background is a certain environment,” Lambert added.
In October, Queen released rediscovered song “Face It Alone” featuring late frontman Freddie Mercury, which was originally recorded in the late 1980s during sessions for the band’s chart-topping album “The Miracle” but didn’t make the cut.
Asked if might be any future such releases featuring Mercury, May said: “Hard to answer…There are a few little bits and pieces with Freddie on but it’s getting harder and harder to find anything that hasn’t been heard.”
May, 75, was at Buckingham Palace last week to receive his knighthood for services to music and charity from Britain’s King Charles.
“We’ve had quite a bit of contact with King Charles over the years so it was nice to see him, we had a nice little chat,” May said, adding the monarch asked him about his knees when he had to bend down as part of the ceremony.
“It was very intimate, (I) had my family there. He put the sword on both sides and asked me about my knees…We talked about this (knees) because we’re of an age. I’m actually a year older than him.”