Reviews QFN-23
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Queen & Elton John Perform - The Show Must Go On
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Theatre National de Chaillot, Paris - 17 January 1997

Review by Mikhail Belokopytov (via the Internet)
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I arrived there some 30 minutes before the start, at the
entrance I was 'checked' by the security, and they were not
allowing cameras - fortunately my  camera is quite small so
I managed to hide it and passed by other 'security man'  who
didn't notice it. Cool !! In one of the Theatre's halls they
put some of the photos  from 'Freddie Mercury Photographic
Exhibition' - I really liked some of the  pictures, there
were already some familiar faces at the hall Jacky
Smith/Gunn,  Spike Edney, etc... At 20:30 I moved to the
concert hall, as the performance was  going to start, I was
not very far from the stage (9th row), but was a little bit
on the  left - anyway it's better than nothing. Well, I'm
not a big fan of the ballet, but despite  this I really
liked this, not only because there was Queen music, but the
ballet itself  really was not bad. The music was as follows:

It's a Beautiful Day, Time, Let Me Live, Brighton Rock,
Heaven For Everyone, I Was Born To Love You, Cosi Fan Tutte
(quintette) Mozart, A Kind Of Magic, Thamos - Mozart, Get
Down Make Love, Concerto Pur Piano, Seaside Rendezvous, You
Take My Breath Away, Musique Funebre Macinnique, Radio Ga
Ga, A Winter's Tale, Interlude, The Millionaire Walltz, Love
Of My Life, Brighton Rock, Bohemian Rhapsody, I Want To
Break Free.

During the last song, they put up a screen, so the stage
become smaller, I  think you all can guess what they started
to prepare on the hidden part of the stage.  The dancers
continued the show under the images and the music of I Want
To Break  Free and It's A Beautiful Day and, and....the
screen started going up and THEY  APPEARED ! The public went
mad ! Apparently there were many more fans of Queen than of
ballet. As planned they played 'The Show Must Go On' with
Elton  John on vocals. Well they really played well, for me
it was the first time (and  apparently the last) that I
heard QUEEN live. So I was really impressed. During the  4
minutes performance I took something like 15-20 pictures of
them. Well the curtain  goes down, but no one wanted to let
them go, so they re-appeared, but unfortunately  didn't sing
anything else. Attending was the French minister of culture,
who made a  small speech. He also presented an award to
Brian, John, Roger and Elton for  everything they have done
in the fight against AIDS. Then Maurice Bejart talked a 
little bit about Queen and Freddie's music. Brian, Roger or
John didn't say anything  except 'thank yous',
unfortunately. Well, this time the curtain fell definitely -
the  show was over.

Just after the performance I went to the 'sortie d'artiste',
(Stage Door). There were  really a lot of fans, waiting for
them. First Elton John came out with some  bodygards and
disappeared quite quickly, I was really surprised that the
were not a  lot of Elton's fans there, most (if not all) of
the people around were holding queen  records/pictures... We
waited something like 40 minutes and during this 40 minutes 
many familiar faces passed: Jim Beach, Gerry Stickells,
Maurice Bejart (of course),  Jacques Chirac's wife, Anita
Dobson, and some French personalities, then they  came out,
all at the same time - Brian, John and Roger. Well as there
were quite a  lot of fans there, I have to say that they
were almost overwhelmed by the fans, I think  the problem
was the theatre security - I think they'd seen too many
police films, and  took their roles quite seriously - they
didn't let anyone approach them, so the fans  started to
pass by them. I somehow managed to get Roger's autograph,
but I was  unable to approach Brian & John as they all came
out at the same time - they all  moved quite fast onto the
bus (there were some other 40 peoples with them) and then 
were gone .

All in all it was a great day, it's pity that they sang only
one song, but even with this it was a great day - a day to
remember.
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                                                                             HAPPY BIRTHDAY FREDDIE! Review by Joy and Tony Whitelock 
-------------------------------------------------------

On the 5th September 1996, our great hero Freddie Mercury
would have been 50 years old and this would have been an
event I am sure he would have celebrated in his own unique
manner. Therefore the Official Queen Fan Club decided to
hold a Birthday Party for Freddie on Saturday 21 September
at the Westex, the Bath and West Showground in Shepton
Mallet.

Tickets were priced at 10 each (5 for children) and it was
even possible to bring a tent or caravan and hire a pitch
for just 3. As you would imagine the tickets were all sold
out before the day of the event, and everything was set to
give Freddie a great birthday party!!

Fans came from all over England and many other countries
throughout the world including Japan, USA, Russia,
Switzerland, Holland, France and Germany. As so many fans
had to travel another Queen fan called Avril form
Glastonbury decided to organise another Queen party on the
night before (Friday) so that many fans could make a weekend
of it! This event was held at The Fun Pub, Glastonbury, and
started at 7.00pm when entry was free (2 each after 8.00pm)
and ended about 1.00am. The night was well supported with
between 150-200 fans present from all parts of the country
(and one from Holland too!) with non-stop Queen music and
videos all night. It was also possible to obtain a hot snack
at the venue and we only heard good comments about the night
and it seemed that everyone present had a great time. A
special thank you must be given to Avril and her helpers for
organising such a great night, and there was still the main
party to come.

We arrived at the Westex at approximately 11.00am and
discovered that many fans had already arrived and Queen
music could be heard coming from many cars and tents
already. The theme for the party was 'Black and White' and
most fans had taken the time to dress accordingly. The doors
opened just after midday and the hall which had a stage at
one end, had been laid out with dealers stalls and tables
along the two sides with more tables filling the rear half
of the hall and a bar was also situated along one side. The
tables had been decorated with black and white tablecloths
in keeping with the theme and many tables had large bunches
of black and white balloons suspended from large black music
notes which really made the hall look great.

Outside the hall there was a bouncy castle for the younger
fans (and some older ones!) and a 'Bronco Bull' ride for the
more adventurous!

As soon as the doors were opened people rushed in to grab a
table, and then started looking over the dealers stalls. A
queue quickly formed to purchase the event T-shirt (10) and
enamel badge (3) which had been made especially to
commemorate the day. The first few people who purchased
their T-shirts were also given a free Queen crest fridge
magnet while stocks lasted, which was a nice gesture.

The afternoon consisted of plenty of Queen music, a fancy
dress competition for both children and adults with each
getting a good number of entries, a Queen quiz, and a
charity auction. Included in the auction was a really great
Gold Disc which had been presented to Freddie in Tokyo,
Japan, which fetched over 1,700. During the day raffle
tickets were on sale and this raffle was drawn in the early
evening with some great prizes as usual.

There were also two live bands during the evening. These
were 'The Cross' or sort of because Roger and Josh were
missing and "Magic" who are a Queen cover band. The Cross
were first on stage and consisted of Spike Edney, Clayton
Moss, and Peter Noone from the original band and were joined
by Jamie Moses (from the Brian May Band), John Marter (who
played drums), and Steve Stroud (who played bass guitar).
Spike introduced the band (called 'The Unready Freddies'
according to their set list!) and they opened their show
with "Tie Your Mother Down", and then "I Want to Break Free"
with Jamie singing vocals.

After these two songs they sang a selection of Cross songs
with Spike, Clayton, and Peter taking turns to sing the
vocals. These included "Dirty Mind", "Ain't Put Nothin
Down", "Sister Blue", "Baby It's Alright" and finally "Top
of the World Ma". Next came two more Queen songs "Crazy
Little Thing Called Love" and "Hammer to Fall" again with
Jamie singing vocals. They finished their show with "Tutti
Fruiti" and "Birthday" (Beatles) and after a great deal of
applause left the stage.

The show had lasted approximately an hour and was very well
received by everyone. During the show Spike announced that a
new SAS Band album would be released early in the new year
which received a very loud cheer!  

Next it was the turn of "Magic" a five piece Queen cover
band who included all the great Queen songs. The dance floor
was crowded during the whole of their show with fans joining
in with the appropriate songs such as "Radio Ga Ga". Magic
were doing another concert at Swindon on the following night
and several fans were planning to see them again.

After the bands had finished the party continued with a
Queen disco which lasted until after 1.00am. The bar was due
to stay open until 12.30am but closed a little early. This
was explained by Jacky near the end who said that, they had
run out of beer and had to close; which only goes to show
what a boozy time everyone was having! The atmosphere during
the day (and in fact the night before at the party in
Glastonbury) had been great with everyone having a good
time. Many people chose to stay in caravans or tents
overnight to save travelling home the same night.

It had been a really good day and nice to see all our Queen
friends again. Special thanks must go to Jacky and Val for
organising the event together with their helpers, and also
to Spike and the boys, (hope to see you again at next year's
Convention!) and to Magic for the live music. The last words
however must be "Happy Birthday Freddie, We Still Love
You!".
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The 1997 Convention
-------------------

What happened in the best weekend of the year?

FRIDAY 18 April, the 1st day: Arrival of nearly 2000 Queen
Fans at Pontin's Holiday Park in Prestatyn Sands. At 2pm the
weekend starts with the showing of the 'Live In Rio' concert
on 3 huge videoscreen hanging above a very wide stage in the
main hall.

At 3pm the Games and Sports start with 'Tug O' War' and
'Crazy Golf'. The games, sports and showing of concerts &
documentaries on videoscreens in 2 halls and on a TV channel
(which could be watched from the TV's in every
Chalet/Appartment) continues and around 7pm all Queen fans
(from dozens of countries around the World including USA,
Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Argentina and many
European countries...) had arrived.

Most of them at that time already had been visiting the
Queen Merchandise room and bought their goodies including a
Convention T-shirt. By the time I and almost 100 other fans
from Holland and Germany arrived (at 3:15pm) all 700
Convention t-shirts were sold out!!! So I didn't get a
t-shirt from the Convention. (After the Convention I sent an
order form for a t-shirt and I hope that it'll be sent to me
soon.

At 7pm Keith Harris took the stage in the ballroom where
almost 2000 fans had gathered. Keith is one of the members
of the Arena Travel Organization that helps the Queen
Fanclub organizing the event. After he'd explained all the
rules of the Holiday Park and the Convention, Jacky was
called on stage. She opened officially the Queen Weekend and
showed us a video she had made with her videocamera. The
Video contained a Convention Message by Brian May. Brian
told us what he had been doing over the last few months
(like watching a comet and solar eclipses). He was/is still
busy making his new album! Brian is anxious to get on the
road. He hopes to finish the album soon (release is planned
in autumn) and also he hopes to start playing concerts at
the end of this year!

After this all Jacky played us a track from Brian's
forthcoming album! The track is called 'Hard Business' (the
theme tune from the UK TV series 'Frank Stubbs Promotes). It
is a rythmic rock song with heavy guitar chords. I like it
very much! Brian's vocals were quite good on this track.

After Jacky's speech the Charity Auction took place. Signed
photo's and clothing of band members were sold. The highest
bid was a 1950 British pound note for Freddie's Red Tie from
the Crazy Tour 1979! (1950 pounds=3300 US Dollar!). 

A Gold Record was sold for over 1000 pounds, thousands were
raised with lots of other stuff like a pair of clogs from
Brian and a poster signed by many people including Freddie's
parents and sister and Brian's Mother (who died recently).

After some videos the Irish Band 'Flash Harry' took the
stage. They did a 90 minutes performance of Queen songs. The
band played on a very wide stage with a big lighting-rig
hanging above the audience and lots of lights on stage. The
perfect gig for Queen Cover Bands! The audience received the
band quite well, they sang along with all the songs like
Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free, Love Of My Live, We Will
Rock You etc. Camera's filmed the band and did close-up
shots so that the people in the back of the hall also could
see the band close watching the videoscreens. After the
cover band it was time for the Queen Disco. Eight huge arms
from the lightning rig came down forming a huge roof above
the fans. The lights started to shine, light-beams in all
colours moving around and the sound-system of 20 large
speakers threw Queen Music over the fans that started to
dance and sweat until 2am in the morning!

After the Disco ended it was not over yet. Queen Fans
visited each other in their Chalets and stayed up until 5am
before going to sleep.....

SATURDAY 19 April, the 2nd day: AT 8.30am QTV (yep, that's
what the channel got called!) started playing Real Magic,
the Wembley concert of 1986. The Football competition
starts, Talent Competition auditions start and in the
Ballroom a hundred Queen Fans began sweatting during Aerobic
exercises, of course to Queen music.

At 10:30am the Market Place opened in the second hall.
During the market the auditions for the Talent Competition
take place in the same hall. At the Queen Market many
records changed hands, I myself bought about 15 singles and
3 maxi-singles. Also lots of other Queen goodies like
photo's, posters, paintings and calendars were for sale. The
whole day more sports and games are held. The 5k Fun Run,
Crazy Golf Team Competition, Netball, Snooker, Darts,
Swimming, Question of Queen Quiz and It's A Knockout
competition etc.

On QTV and in 2 halls videos are played the whole day. QTV
even stayed on the air for 20 hours a day! A big surprise
was the announcement of Jacky that "The real Red Special
guitar of Brian's had arrived at the Convention! In a small
hall fans could ask the studio and guitar engineer Peter
Malandrone questions about the guitar (like at a
press-conference) and for 2 fans could let friends take
photo's of them and the guitar. All gathered money was
donated to the Bone Marrow Fund in England. Some fans were
quite exited, yelling: I touched Brian's Guitar! 

At 7.30pm the raffle started. Many tickets were sold, money
(again, as always) going to charity. Because of a delay the
raffle proceeded quickly. The Saturday night disco is not an
ordinary Queen Disco, fans are asked to dress for the night
using a theme which this year was Country & Western (or you
could go as a band member or whatever you can imagine). So,
by the time the raffle ended the ballroom was filled with
hundreds of fans dressed as Indians, Cowboys, even a walking
Cactus! Then it was time for some more Competitions: Fancy
Dress (Queen and None-Queen) and the Mime Competition.

This year I myself was dressed as a Cowboy, that was a big
change for me because I was dressed as a Freddie Mercury
Look-a-like for 4 years in a row, getting into Finals of
Competitions! This Year I sat to the side of the hall
watching many Freddie's miming, missing it a lot! The winner
of this years miming contest was a Roger look-alike, a John
was second, and a Freddie was third. After the contests the
second Queen Disco started and didn't end until 2.30am in
the morning! Imagine dancing to Queen Music wachting the
videos on the 3 huge screens - a great sight!
  The whole time fans danced, chatted at the tables in the
ballroom. Photo's were taken all over the place, watching
all those fans being dressed was already a pleasure! The
huge lightshow still amazed the people in the ballroom, even
if it was the second night. This years lightshow was twice
as big as in the years before and if you were standing near
the end of one of those lightarms that came down, then you
could feel the heat of the lamps burning your skin!

After the disco ended (of course using songs like We Are The
Champions, Friends will be Friends and We Will Rock You)
many fans visited each other again in their Chalets until
the early hours again.

Sunday 20 April, 3rd day: Now some Fans were really lacking
sleep! After getting up (more videos on QTV and in the 2
halls) it was time to pack up for the journey home. After
the packing many fans went to the restaurant for breakfast
and then it was time for the Sunday morning disco
accompanied by videos. In a small Hall Brian May's Guitar
was still on display (watched over by Peter Malandrone and a
security Man). This time Jacky took photo's of the Fans and
for 40 pounds each fans could wear the guitar around
his/her neck. After the development, the photo's are to be
signed by Brian May himself and then sent to the person on
the photo!

At 11:30 the Farewell Disco started. The Winner of the
Talent Competition on Saturday (2 guys playing bass and
guitar singing :Too Much Love Will Kill You) were given the
opportunity to sing their song again. They were real
talented guys and received a huge applause.

At 1.45pm Jacky took to the stage and said farewell to
everyone. The organization of the Prestatyn Holiday Park was
VERY satisfied, they never had a group of people that were
so friendly (Queen Fans)!

At 2pm the Disco ended with 'Champions', 'Radio Ga Ga', 'We
Will Rock You', 'Friends Will Be Friends'. By this time
myself and almost 100 Dutch and Germans Fans climbed aboard
their coaches for a 7 hour drive to Harwich and a 7 hour
ferry journey mainland Europe. For us the Convention was
also ended but we could enjoy a bit more of the atmosphere
during the disco on the boat when we asked the DJ to play
many Queen songs!

Of course there will be another Queen Convention next Year!
Also to be held in Prestatyn (North-Wales). 

By the way: the country/landscapes in Wales is beautiful,
travelling to the Convention is thus also a pleasure, and of
course I will be there again next year, but first in October
the Dutch Fanclub will organize it's annual Dutch Queen
Meeting for 600-800 Queen fans. So, 5 months to wait
patiently for the next great event of the year.

I hope you enjoyed this story about the Convention. If you
weren't there. Well, this report might convince you to go
next time.

Friends will be Friends.
Freddie van ter Beek, 23 April1997.                                          ___________________________________________________________

END
