Come and check out the new unofficial Paul Rodgers forums at http://www.paulrodgers-forums.com

I met Brian May for the first time!! It was about as cold as it is today and it had been snowing in other parts of England. My mum had managed to get us of the 100(?) tickets given to the fan club for this show and afterwards, we went to the Royal Albert Hall and slept outside all night queuing to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets!

http://www.girlonfire.co.uk/photos/thumbnails.php?album=149

Woohoo!!!!!!!

From www.queenworld.com

We want to have a huge “Memory Wall” at this years 21st convention, and so are asking anyone attending, who has been to ANY of the past conventions, to look back at all their old photos! We want to compile a huge display of photots from the very first convention nack in 1986, right up to the one in September. Find your pix, choose ONE OR TWO that feature YOU and your friends having a good time, and send COPIES ONLY, with the date of the pic and your name, to ARENA TRAVEL, hamilton House, Cambridge Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11, makr your envelope CONVENTION MEMORIES.

ALSO - we are having a competition to design a logo specially for this 21st Convention. We want something simple, eyecatching and preferably no more than one or two colours. There are no other rules, and the winning design will be sent a signed item (not sure what yet, but it will be a good one!) and have the pleasure of seeing their design used on loads of stuff!!

Send your entries (good old post OR email!) to the fan club at 16a Barnes High Street, London SW13 9LW or email to qfc@dircon.co.uk with the subject DESIGN COMP. Please if you send email make sure your design is sent as a low res. jpeg!

FINALLY…. we want to hear from ANYONE who has been to ALL 21 Conventions please, with proof!!

Finally got a working UK copy of the DVD so I could make some screencaps!!

The offical word this time- lucky I have got my ticket already!!!!!!

Like the band itself, which returned to live concerts after 20 years and is currently preparing for an extensive USA set of dates, the Queen & Ben Elton musical, “We Will Rock You” is heading out on tour.

Having proved its enormous rapport with the public by achieving the distinction of becoming the longest running musical ever staged at prime West End theatre, the Dominion, the show is set to end its present run this autumn.

The news comes in an announcement from joint producers of the show, Phil McIntyre Entertainment and Queen Productions, of their decision to terminate the London run, in favour of calls for a touring production of “WWRY” in the UK.

After a hugely successful four and a half years on stage, “We Will Rock You” will give its final West End performance on Saturday, 7 October, 2006.

Dating of the UK tour has yet to be confirmed, but it is likely to be one of the heaviest
ever undertaken. “You can expect us to visit every major city over the next couple of years”, said one of the show’s producers.

Departing the Dominion, “We Will Rock You” will leave behind an impressive legacy: by its final performance, the show will have attracted an audience of over 3 million, and broken all house records at the flagship theatre which has been its home since Spring 2002.

Not least of all is the achievement reached in August of last year, when the show overtook Grease to become the longest running musical ever at the theatre. In addition, by the time it reaches closing, We Will Rock You, will have outstayed Disney’s Beauty and the Beast by almost two years.

Since opening at the Dominion in May 2002, We Will Rock You has maintained a towering presence in the West End, perhaps best represented by the 5 metre statue of Freddie Mercury which has dominated the theatre front since shortly after opening and has now become one of London’s most recognised landmarks.

The success of the original London production has been mirrored across the world, turning We Will Rock You into one of only a few of the big shows from recent years which have become a true global brand.

Following London, productions have opened in Australia, Spain, Russia, Las Vegas, USA, Japan, and Germany, where it continues to be one of the highest grossing musicals of all time. To date, more than 5 million people have seen the show worldwide, with box office and merchandise earnings in excess of £200 million.

This year will see the show open in South Africa, Italy, and return for a second run in Japan.

There is also the expectation that having played its UK tour the show will revisit London.

Says producer Phil McIntyre: “We are bursting with excitement; at last provincial audiences will get a true rock extravaganza. We can’t wait to see the first night reactions throughout the country. We Will Rock You will rock the UK; it is the biggest and best rock theatrical!”

Woohoo!! We went to look at a flat today just off the Gloucester Road near the Arches!

It took me 40 mins to walk there from work but I got lost so I reckon it will be a 30 min walk!! Yay for exercise!

The official word……?

FROM WHATSONSTAGE.COM…..

24th January 2006 - What’s on Stage News

Queen’s Rock You Sets Final Performance, 7 Oct

Queen and Ben Elton’s Whatsonstage.com Award-winning musical We Will Rock You has announced its final West End extension. It has added five months to its current schedule, taking it up to 7 October 2006, when it will finish its four-and-a-half year run at the Dominion Theatre ahead of a planned regional tour.

The compilation show - which features 32 of Queen’s greatest hits such as “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “Under Pressure”, “Radio Gaga” and, of course, “We Will Rock You”. - premiered to largely damning reviews in April 2002 but defied the critics to become a sell-out success, going on to win five of that year’s Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards including Best Musical. In August 2005, it became the longest-running show in the history of the Dominion Theatre (See The Goss, 15 Aug 2005).

A show spokesperson told Whatsonstage.com today: “The producers have decided in favour of calls for a touring version. The London show will close in October to ready for a full UK tour which is expected to commence mid-November. A later return to London is certainly on the cards.”

Set in the future, We Will Rock You tells the story of a world in which globalisation has meant the death of real music in favour of computer-produced cyber stars, a status quo which the rebel Bohemians, harking back to the Golden Age of rock (embodied by Queen), are trying to overthrow so that they can write and perform their own music. An unintentional hero ends up saving the kids of Planet Mall from the tyrannical Killer Queen and discovers the place of living rock.

No further productions have yet been announced for the Dominion though the big-budget stage musical version of The Lord of the Rings has previously been tipped for the 2000-seater in late 2006/early 2007 (See The Goss, 29 Jul 2005). The new musical based on JRR Tolkien’s trilogy receives its world premiere in Toronto in March (See News, 15 Mar 2005).

- by Caroline Ansdell & Terri Paddoc

Dan and I went bowling at Megabowl in Aston Gate!! He won the first game but only coz his pin fell down on its own- I think he was about 5 points ahead of me! The second game- I was briliant and even got a strike, managed to get 117 points and Dan finished way behind on about 70 something!! Yay!!

After the car window smashing incident on Dan’s birthday we went over to Swindon, the outlet centre and I got Dan a fantastic coat as his birthday pressie! We then went down to Avebury, went for a quick walk in the cold then went to the pub in the village- Dan had an amazing Wiltshire ham sandwich on some fantastically yummy bread and I had the BEST cheese ploughmans EVER on a wooden plate with amazing pickle, tomato bread and some lovely big blocks of cheese!!! :)

Update on my tour organisation:

-Flights to and from America booked
-Internal flights booked
-Plan on getting bus from Seattle to Vancouver
-All tickets for the shows booked
-Arranged with friends to stay with them hopefully in San Jose and Seatlle

Need to book hotels!!! And that is it!

Also, I finally managed to put my New Jersey write up online!