The Official Queen Tribute Show, The Queen Extravaganza, will be hitting the road this summer. The tour is set to kick off on May 26th in Quebec and will hit major markets across North American before wrapping up on July 3rd in Edmonton.
Hollywood Records sent out these details along with the dates: Behind the show are Queen: legendary guitarist Brian May and iconic drummer Roger Taylor, whose talents as writers and musicians have inspired such legends of modern times as the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Katy Perry, and even Lady Gaga, who took her name from one of Taylor's biggest hit songs.
Taylor's idea was to the create the ultimate Queen concert experience in an electrifying road show that celebrates the band's music and legacy performed by some of the best new music talent out there today. Taylor personally takes the role of producer and music director.
To guarantee the touring show matches the fabled design and excitement of Queen at its live best, Taylor has enlisted a heavyweight production team headed by stage designer Mark Fisher. Fisher has been responsible for some of the most memorable rock concerts ever staged, including The Wall for Pink Floyd, every Rolling Stones show since 1989, and, working with lighting designer Willie Williams, every U2 concert.
The Queen Extravaganza touring band - four vocalists and five musicians (two guitars, bass, drums and keyboards) - were hired after an intensive 12 week online audition search. The buzz surrounding the public auditions sparked worldwide interest with video submissions generating more than 10 million views.Television host Ellen DeGeneres was so impressed with the level of talent, that she invited one hopeful to perform his audition on her show. That contestant, Nashville's Marc Martel, secured himself a place in the final band. The rest of The QE band includes vocalists and QE contestant Jennifer Espinoza along with addition vocalists Yvan Pedneault and Jeff Scott Soto; bassist Francois Olivier Doyon; guitarists Brian Gresh and Tristan Avakian; drummer Tyler Warren and keyboardist & musical director Brandon Ethridge
In a show which will run just over two hours of playing time, The QE band will perform close on 40 true Queen classics drawn from a list of the band's biggest all-time chart hits – "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Another One Bites the Dust," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Under Pressure," "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions," "A Kind of Magic," "Radio Ga Ga," "Somebody to Love," "Killer Queen" - as well as highlighting some of the band's finest heavy-duty rock based anthems which have long been at the core of their live performances, so audiences can also expect a healthy dose of early period Queen with songs such as "I'm In Love With My Car," "Tie Your Mother Down," "Seven Seas of Rye," and "In the Lap Of The Gods" among them.
May 26 Quebec Grand Theatre du Quebec
May 27 Montreal St. Denis
May 29 Toronto QE Theatre
May 31 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
June 1 Chicago, IL House of Blues
June 2 Minneapolis, MN The Brick
June 5 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
June 7 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
June 8 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
June 9 Wallingford, CT Oakdale
June 10 Bethlehem, PA Event Center
June 11 Boston, MA House of Blues
June 12 Huntington, NY Paramount Theatres
June 15 Tampa, FL Louis Lykes Ferguson Hall
June 17 Orlando, FL The Plaza Live
June 19 Dallas, TX Grand Prarie
June 20 Houston, TX House of Blues
June 23 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
June 24 San Diego, CA Humphrey's
June 25 Los Angeles, CA Club Nokia
June 26 San Francisco, CA Regency
June 28 Seattle, WA Showbox
June 30 Vancouver Orpheum
July 2 Calgary Jack Singer
July 3 Edmonton Jubilee