4.1.20 Radio.com Interview, QAL Rescheduled Dates
Mar 31, 2020 22:46:22 GMT -5
Post by tinafea on Mar 31, 2020 22:46:22 GMT -5
Radio.com Interview
QAL Postponed to 2021
Press Release: European Tour Postponed / Rescheduled Dates for 2021
QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT POSTPONE UPCOMING RHAPSODY EUROPE TOUR OVER CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC CONCERNS.
ANNOUNCE RESCHEDULED 2021 DATES.
Queen + Adam Lambert regretfully announced today that their upcoming 27-date UK & European Rhapsody tour is being postponed due to the on-going global coronavirus outbreak.
The 2020 tour was due to start in Italy on May 24, with the itinerary also including a massive run of 10 London O2 concerts as well as a pair of shows each in Manchester and Birmingham, before further mainland Europe dates were set to conclude with two Madrid shows on July 7 & 8.
The decision has been made with the safety of our audiences, band, crew and venue staff in mind and with close on 400,000 tickets sold across the tour, was not a decision taken lightly.
The good news for fans is that the band has worked swiftly to reschedule the dates and are now able to confirm that the shows are now set for matching or similar dates in 2021
All tickets will be valid for the rescheduled show dates. Ticket holders are advised to contact their point of purchase for information on ticket exchanges for the 2021 dates.
The postponement comes as a major disappointment for the band having only recently enjoyed performing one of their biggest ever tours with their massively successful six-week stadium tour of South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, playing to audiences reaching up to 60,000 a night. The trek also included a special appearance at the Sydney Fire Fight Australia benefit concert for bushfire relief, for which the band reprised their iconic 22-minute Live Aid set, helping raise $9.5 million to help those affected by Australia’s massive bushfires.
Addressing fans, Brian May said: “We’re very sad to announce the postponement of our summer shows in Europe, although, in the present crazy state of the world, it cannot be a surprise to our fans. Those incredible scenes at our concerts just over a month ago now seem like an impossibly distant dream. We were so lucky to be able to complete that tour, running just ahead of the wave that was about to break on us. I know many of our fans are having similar moments of disbelief and bewilderment out there. Of course, we would have gone ahead with the dates had it been humanly possible. The good news is that we do NOW have a PLAN B ready to roll. If you hold on to your tickets they will be valid for the rescheduled shows. God willing, we will be there with bells on!”
Drummer Roger Taylor responded to the postponement saying: “We’re all in this together. Devastating! Boringly frustrating! Scary and upsetting! But...pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down...start all over again!!! Be well....take care...coming right back at you as soon as we possibly can!!!"
Much love...Roger T xxx
Singer Adam Lambert added: “I am very disappointed that we won’t be touring Europe as planned, but we have to look after each other and put everyone’s health first. Look forward to getting out there when it’s safe.”
#DontStopUsNow
At the same time as making this announcement, the band also highlighted its recently launched #DontStopUsNow initiative which is aimed at encouraging fan interaction, saying: “Finally, a thank you from us! Our hearts have been warmed by the growing influx of Queen inspired videos from fans and supporters from all over the world in recent days. Keep them coming and we will highlight as many as we can across our social channels!"
#DontStopUsNow.
“We would like to bring the Queen family around the world even CLOSER together”.
QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT “Rhapsody Tour” UK & EUROPE
2021 RESCHEDULED DATES
Sun 23 May - Bologna, Italy - Unipol Arena
Wed 26 May - Paris, France - AccorHotels Arena
Thu 27 May - Antwerp Belgium - Sportspalais
Sat 29 May - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome
Sun 30 May - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome
Tue 1 June - London, UK - The O2
Wed 2 June - London, UK - The O2
Fri 4 June - London, UK - The O2
Sat 5 June - London, UK - The O2
Mon 7 June - London, UK - The O2
Tue 8 June - London, UK - The O2
Thu 10 June - Manchester, UK - Manchester Arena
Fri 11 June - Manchester UK - Manchester Arena
Sun 13 June - Birmingham, UK - Utlita Arena
Mon 14 June - Birmingham, UK - Utlita Arena
Wed 16 June - London, UK - The O2
Thu 17 June - London, UK - The O2
Sat 19 June - London, UK - The O2
Sun 20 June - London, UK - The O2
Thu 24 June - Berlin, German - Mercedes-Benz Arena
Sat 26 June - Cologne, Germany - Lanxess Arena
Mon 28 June - Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion
Tue 29 June - Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle
Thu 1 July - Copenhagen, Denmark - Royal Arena
Fri 2 July - Copenhagen, Denmark - Royal Arena
Tue 6 July - Madrid, Spain - Wiznik Centre
Wed 7 July - Madrid, Spain - Wiznik Centre
BILLBOARD
Adam Lambert Wants Funky New Album 'Velvet' to Feel Like a 'Warm Velvety Hug' in Uneasy Times
NEW Billboard Podcast interview embedded in article..
"Hopefully it's cathartic for people," Lambert says of his new album to Billboard's Pop Shop Podcast.
Like every other musician releasing new music at the moment, Adam Lambert is having to get creative with how to promote his new album, Velvet. The set, which was released on March 20, arrived just as coronavirus-spurred social distancing was taking hold across the United States.
“I think there's lots of artists that are looking at their cancelled tours, myself included, and kind of going, ‘OK, what can we do to sort of make it to people? And to fill that space that's missing now?’”
Lambert acknowledges that the live concert experience can’t be recreated on a phone, but “it’s the best we have right now.”
Ultimately, “safety and health comes way first, that is the priority,” Lambert tells the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen to his interview, below). “But in the meantime, let’s entertain each other. Let’s connect the best way we know how. We have to close the doors to our house? Fine, but pick up your phone. We have all this technology, it's amazing.”
Velvet is Lambert’s first full-length studio album since 2015’s The Original High. The “funky” new project features a collaboration with Nile Rodgers (“Roses”) along with tunes co-written by Lambert with the likes of MNEK, Sam Sparro and the late Busbee, among others.
< Podcast with Adam -- starts 17:00 >
Below are some highlights from Lambert chat with the Pop Shop Podcast, including if he thought about delaying the album’s release due to coronavirus concerns, how he wanted to stick to his guns on the album and not make something “trendy,” and how he hopes the album wraps up fans like “warm velvety hug.”
On if he thought about delaying the album’s release due coronavirus concerns, like a number of other artists have with their own projects:
I think I asked the question. I'm like, 'should we just postpone this?' But all the wheels were already in motion. It didn't seem like … it was too late, you know what I mean? And also, I think… the conclusion I came to with my team is: people are home, they're gonna be bored, they're gonna be restless, they're looking for something to do. And I think Velvet as an album … provides a great escape. It's its own world, it's its own sound, and hopefully people take a second to check out the whole album. You can actually sit down and listen to it from beginning to end.
On the concept and direction of Velvet, and not getting “sucked into the hustle” of making a trendy album:
I knew that I wanted to do something that wasn't necessarily overly reflective of what everyone else was doing at the time. I didn't want to just be trendy. I didn't want to follow. I wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to do music that I loved, that I wanted to get on stage and perform. And, that sounds very simple and kind of obvious for an artist, but it's really easy in this business to get sort of like, sucked into the hustle of it all. You know? And being commercial, and being marketable, and, you know, what's cool right now. It's really easy to get sidetracked. And so with this project, I really forced myself to insulate my creativity and sort of tune out all the outside forces, and just think about what I love about music. And also, on my personal journey, what do I want to say to my fans. And that's really what came out in these songs.
On writing the album's title track and working with the late producer/songwriter Busbee, who Lambert calls “brilliant.”
I was sitting in the room writing with these co-writers, and I was telling them about the project, and I played a lot of the songs that I had for it already. And then I said, 'you know, I don't have a title track.' I had already come up with Velvet as the name of the album, but we didn't have a title track. And so, actually, the gentleman that produced this song, "Velvet," his name's Busbee, and he unfortunately, and tragically, passed away last year from brain tumors. And it was a very sudden passing. I think he had finished the song just a few months before his diagnosis. I just wanted to mention that because it was a real treat to be able to work with him, and he was very good at what he did, a lovely guy. It's just an example of somebody whose taken too soon, and this song is a measure of his artistry. I mean, he was brilliant. He actually was the one that said, 'you need to do a title track.' And I said, 'oh, ok! I will do that! Good idea!' … The minute he suggested it, I said, 'Ah, brilliant, yeah, you're right, I should do that.'
More.. www.billboard.com/articles/news/9348090/adam-lambert-velvet-pop-shop-podcast