Latest news with #JohnDeacon
Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Gig review: Qween reign supreme as they roll out a tribute to Freddie and co
Qween and The Dublin Gospel Choir, Olympia Theatre, Dublin, ★★★☆☆ Queen rule and those who claim to disagree are only fooling themselves. Sadly and for obvious reasons we won't see them again, although what remains of the band played a great Marlay Park gig in 2018, so their beloved music is perfect tribute band material. As the Bootleg Beatles, mop topping for forty-something years, and others have proven, there's plenty of interest in this sort of thing if it's done right. Enter, then, Qween who've deservedly sold out several large venues across the country, including Limerick's King John's Castle. There wasn't much wiggle room in the Olympia last Saturday either, and with good reason as Qween put on a proper show. Right from the opening extended One Vision freak out, John Deacon (Eoghan O'Neill, in appropriate O'Neill's GAA short shorts), Roger Taylor (Graham Sheridan), and James McGeehan on keys are tight as a recession budget. To be honest I look more like Brian May than Thomas Brunkard, but that doesn't matter because his guitar is on fire. Tapping the neck one minute, pulling out a slide the next, he gets that sound right on everything from a stately Who Wants To Live Forever to a fierce Hammer To Fall. Qween performing I Want To Break Free. It all centres on Freddie, though, and the marvellous Brian Keville is equal to the task. The moustache he claims is real deserves its own dressing room and he suggestively employs the trademark half mic stand when appropriate (ie all the time). He parades about in drag with Hoover for I Want To Break Free, sports a jacket possibly pinched off Carmen Miranda, and even does the Mercury mouth wriggle. On top of all that, his voice is spectacular, whether he's commanding the histrionics of The Show Must Go On, leading the crowd through Mercury's call-and-response of 'Aaaa-OH!', or making us all weep during These Are The Days Of Our Lives. The appearance of two scantily clad females with suitably ample posteriors for Fat Bottomed Girls is one thing, and they unquestionably do make the rocking world go round, but the addition of the Dublin Gospel Choir is inspired. Providing vocal support throughout, although Keville hardly needs it, they come into their own for an absolutely superb Somebody To Love and the gloriously over-the-top operatics of Bohemian Rhapsody. As it should be, it's a celebration of those immortal hits from soup to nuts, delivered with skill that surpasses mere imitation. Go see them.
Forbes
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Queen Hits No. 1 Again In America As The Band's Newest Bestseller Disappears
Greatest Hits by Queen jumps to No. 1 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart and rises on several other ... More Billboard rankings, including the Billboard 200. UNSPECIFIED - JANUARY 01: Photo of QUEEN; Posed group portrait L-R Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Freddie Mercury and Brian May (Photo by John Rodgers/Redferns) Yet again, the band Queen is on the rise on the Billboard charts. The group scored a new win last week thanks to a Record Store Day release with an EP of very early demos. That set is no longer available, as it appears to have sold out its limited run. It was issued exclusively on physical formats and sold only in brick-and-mortar locations, as is the case with most titles shared for the music industry initiative. As that title disappears, Queen's Greatest Hits becomes a bestseller again and climbs on multiple rankings, even returning to the throne on one Billboard tally. After collecting a new bestselling album title last week, Greatest Hits returns to two purchase-focused Billboard rankings. The compilation blasts back onto the Top Album Sales chart at No. 41. It arrives in that position and returns to the tally with a little more than 2,200 copies sold. That sum is actually down slightly, by just over 3%, from the previous period, but the list is not as competitive this time around, so even a dip in sales can aide a project in a comeback. The band's beloved collection is also back on the Vinyl Albums chart, which is similarly centered around purchases but only includes that specific format. Queen reenters that tally at No. 21. This frame, Greatest Hits also appears on four other rosters. It ranks highest on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart, where it lifts one space and returns to No. 1. In doing so, it replaces Nickelback's The Best of Nickelback: Volume 1, which steps down to the runner-up slot. The record has now spent 194 frames at the summit of the list of the most popular hard rock collections in the U.S., which is one of the most impressive accumulations of weeks at No. 1 on any Billboard roster. Greatest Hits also returns to the top 10 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums ranking, bolting from No. 11 to No. 8. It climbs one spot higher on the Top Rock Albums chart as well, after sitting down at No. 10 last frame. The singles-packed compilation also finds room once again on the Billboard 200, where it returns to the uppermost quarter of that fiercely competitive tally, stepping up from No. 55 to No. 50. The British rock outfit's Greatest Hits has earned hundreds of weeks on each U.S. chart on which it currently appears. At the moment, it has spent the least amount of time on the Vinyl Albums tally, though even there it has racked up 217 frames, which is still a large enough sum to make it one of the most successful titles on that list. On the Billboard 200, the project has now amassed 644 stays. It also passed a decade on the Top Album Sales chart several months ago.
