Queen Extravaganza Auditions

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[b]Brian Maybe wrote: [/b] [QUOTE]

[b]Your Fairy King wrote: [/b] [b][/b] great job,Hope you make the semi finals! [/QUOTE]
Thanks for that, I really appreciate it!![/QUOTE]
Steve, last Saturday night I got totally sucked in to videos of you performing as Jimmy Page in LedZepagain on YouTube. If I had been a little drunk and squinting with one eye I would have believed I was seeing Led Zeppelin. Your solos on Trampled Underfoot were actually better (more precise and well defined) than Page's. Please take Led Zepagain on a national tour. Cincinnati has always been a huge Led Zeppelin town and we would love to see you here...though I'm sure we will see you when Queen Extravaganza rolls through in 2012.

And ... Steve has made the second round.  Congrats !

Thanks Wizard!  Yeah, made the second round, and very humbled by it!  Despite what anyone might think about the idea of Roger doing this, I gotta tell you, the thought of actually being part of an official Queen sponsored touring band is quite daunting.  I immediately took off to FL with Led Zepagain right after it was announced, and barely got my 2nd video done in time and submitted for the round 2 voting.  So... I'd really appreciate everyone going over to check it out & vote for me if you like it... [img=/images/smiley/msn/wink_smile.gif][/img] 

Your Fairy King, thanks for that, really appreciate it!  We actually did play out in Cinci earlier this year, at Bogarts.  You're right, it's definitely a Zep loving town!  It was packed, and off the hook, lots of fun for us.  There's talk of trying to get back out there again next year, so we'll see.  As for the QE, that's gonna be tough, I don't think I've got that gig wrapped up by any means!  Lots of good players made the semi-finals.

Cheers,
Steve Z

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[b]Brian Maybe wrote: [/b] Thanks Wizard!  Yeah, made the second round, and very humbled by it!  Despite what anyone might think about the idea of Roger doing this, I gotta tell you, the thought of actually being part ofan official Queen sponsored touring band is quite daunting.  I immediately took off to FL with Led Zepagain right after it was announced, and barely got my 2nd video done in time and submitted for the round 2 voting.  So... I'd really appreciate everyone going over to check it out & vote for me if you like it... [img=/images/smiley/msn/wink_smile.gif][/img] 

Your Fairy King, thanks for that, really appreciate it!  We actually did play out in Cinci earlier this year, at Bogarts.  You're right, it's definitely a Zep loving town!  It was packed, and off the hook, lots of fun for us.  There's talk of trying to get back out there again next year, so we'll see.  As for the QE, that's gonna be tough, I don't think I've got that gig wrapped up by any means!  Lots of good players made the semi-finals.

Cheers,
Steve Z [/QUOTE]

Bogarts! Been there MANY times.

Gz Steve, you made the finals. I voted for you and hope you win! You play with so much ease and fun, I really enjoyed you auditions.

Also voted for David Martel, because he was better than his brother. Don't care about drummers, bass or keyboard.

"David Martel, because he was better than his brother"

No offense to the guy, but he really wasn't.  Not remotely in the same league - although having seen a lot of Marc now, it's very clear that 'that' video was a bit of luck.  His other Queen stuff hasn't sounded nearly as spot on.  But as actual singing chops go, the other entrants haven't got anything on him.  They certainly aren't going to be knocking out Nessun Dorma as well as he does.

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[b]eYe wrote: [/b] Gz Steve, you made the finals. I voted for you and hope you win! You play with so much ease and fun, I really enjoyed you auditions. Also voted for DavidMartel, because he was better than his brother. Don't care about drummers, bass or keyboard.[/QUOTE] Thank you!!  To say I'm shocked & thrilled is an understatement!  I've had friends emailing me all day yesterday, "You're gonna audition for Roger f'ing Taylor!" :-)

I know I can do the job right, but even if they don't go with me, this is shaping up to be one very good band.  I think they've got the candidates there to, with a little work rehearsing, really make it shine.  Looking forward to Monday!

Cheers,
SZ

Sadly I am wondering if this will ever get off the ground......
Good for you for getting through but looking at the options for this Queen band to go on tour?? Hmm.... If people could have 'put it together' then surely they would have done this at their audition/interview/first look stage and not waiting to shine once preparing to go on tour as this IS the time to show what you can do? Doing it once a band has been put together seems to be kinda cutting it a little fine imo.
I will be quite surprised if this does actually make it to the tour....lest being lucrative?

Anybody watch?  Anybody have any guesses?  Are there any clues in the fact that some musicians were slated to appear more than once, and others just once?  Was it random, or does it indicate a desire for whatever reason to see them in action a greater number of times?  On one hand having someone appear only once could indicate a degree of confidence in the musician's skill, experience and ability to find chemistry with any potential bandmates, and on the other hand if you were keenly interested in someone you might make them something closer to a constant that other people are arranged around.  It might be worth noting that Marc Martel,  the only shoe in - if only because there would be a howl of protest otherwise - only appeared once.  I wonder also if they're serious about considering a female singer, or if that was a political correctness thing? I'd guess they're serious as females made up a third of the singers in the finals.

Let me first state that I'm a girl and I don't think they should have let any girl's audition for this.  It just doesn't seem right to have a girl filling in for any member of Queen, especially for vocals.  I don't care about equality or that's it's 2011, they just don't belong.

They really didn't need to look any further once they heard Marc Martel as vocalist for the Queen Extravaganza, and I don't see the need for more than one, maybe a fill in, just in case.  No one else who has auditioned has come close to his ability, so what's the point?  If anyone is going to see this band, they certainly won't want to see it with anyone else singing lead vocals.

I think the 3 singer idea was pretty brilliant.  Freddie's voice evolved a lot over the years with at least three pretty distinct periods, and it would be difficult to have one singer excel at each at a single point in his or her life.  They may want a woman to reproduce some of Roger's parts in the harmonies and just for visual appreciation.   I do think on talent alone you'd get through at least three of those male vocalists before you got to one of the women, but that's maybe not the only consideration in a show like this.   It's one aspect I really can't at all predict - I'm really interested to see what they do there.   Also, all these people aren't seasoned performers with experience protecting their voices on demanding rock and roll tours.  Three people was probably necessary just to ensure a good shot at keeping their voices in decent shape.  People may think they just want to see Martel, but there are vocalists there who will do better justice to specific things from the catalog better than him.

So, willing to embarrass myself and be completely wrong, here are some guesses:

Vocals: Marc (because he's just really good), Sean  (for the edgier rock sound) and either Jennifer (if they want a woman) or Selcuk.  I'm kind of afraid they're going to go with Cody Bond for his particular vibe, but he's dull and Bon Jovi-ish.  So I hope not.

Guitar:  Guess is they might want one solid, mature, professional who can reliably capture the spirit of Brian May's playing and one of the more experimental guitar heroes.  So Steve or John for that first requirement and one of Roy/Brian/Tristan for the second.  They may like Tristan for the experience.  I kind of like Roy.  If they go with just people from the first group, or just people from the second group, I think that will be a major clue as to how they view this show in terms of it either being a faithful reproduction or something more creative and reinvented. Again my guess is they'll want a little of both.

Bass:  Guess is that they'll want a bass man that doesn't rock the boat too much.  Doesn't everybody. Ha ha.  Francois or Brian with the edge to Brian.  Edge might be to Francois and his french accent if Roger still thinks fondly of Dominque. Ha ha.

Keyboards:  No idea really except to say that Roger might think that Mac is slightly better looking, which is clearly a thing with Roger. Edge to Mac.  But Brandon is kind of cooler, so, who knows.

Drums:  No idea.  Really.

Watch me be wildly, thoroughly wrong.  Ha ha.  I can live with that. :)

Honesly if Freddie was alive I don't think Roger would be doing this.  I believe he and Brian are trying to fill some kind of void without him.  I think if Freddie were still here they'd be creating and playing together still.  I'm not knocking Roger, I believe he's just trying to give some continuity to what he cherishes or trying to evolve it.  I feel that they were cut short of their ongoing creativity as Queen, who knows what they would have come up with.  As sad as it is and as only John Deacon seems to have faced it, there is no Queen anymore without Freddie, nor would there be without any one of them, but more so since Freddie was the face, voice and oil of the machine.  Thank God we have their music which will live forever.

God has told me to kill every person who purports to know what Freddie would or would not think, say, or do if he were still alive.

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[b]Your Fairy King wrote: [/b] God has told me to kill every person who purports to know what Freddie would or would not think, say, or do if he were still alive.[/QUOTE]
If Freddie were still alive, he would agree with you on that... [img=/images/smiley/msn/wink_smile.gif][/img]