Queen tribute touring act The Queen Extravaganza have announced the first leg of their 2013 North American tour.
The Queen Extravaganza is a touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans.
Shows will kick off January 11 in Tarrytown, NY and are currently scheduled to run into early February; more dates will be announced soon.
Two of Queen’s original bandmates and songwriters – guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor – are the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Taylor personally has taken on the role of producer with long time Queen keyboardist Spike Edney as global music director. Together Taylor and Edney have created the ultimate Queen concert experience in an electrifying road show, which celebrates the band’s music and legacy as performed by some of the best new music talent out there today.
"We did the first 10 years of our career with just the four of us, no additions, you know the technology wasn't there," says Taylor. "We were relying on stripped down adrenalized versions of our songs and our own personalities. But with this band, we continue to push all the musical boundaries with technology that was not available to the four of us originally. This band is a powerhouse of talent. To hear our songs performed by them gives fans a chance to hear them (our songs) now as they could have done then and perhaps technically, even better!!"
The Queen Extravaganza touring band includes musicians selected by Taylor after competing in a unique online talent search. The contestants were voted on by the public during several rounds of online auditions. The finalists where then flown to Los Angeles for a final in-person audition for Taylor on December 5th, 2011. The buzz surrounding the public auditions sparked worldwide interest, with video submissions generating more than 10 million views.
The Queen Extravaganza band consists of singers Jennifer Espinoza and Marc Martel, guitarists Tristan Avakian and Brian Gresh, drummer Tyler Warren, bassist Francois-Olivier Doyon and keyboardist & musical director Brandon Ethridge.
In a show that runs 90 minutes, The QE band will perform 22 Queen classics, drawn from a list of the band’s biggest all-time chart hits.
Queen Extravaganza
2013 North American tour
Jan 11 - Tarrytown, NY - Music Hall Theatre
Jan 12 - Wallingford, CT - Toyota Presents the Oakdale Theatre
Jan 13 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount
Jan 15 - Englewood, NJ - Bergen Performing Arts Center
Jan 16 - Hershey, PA - Hershey Theatre
Jan 17 - Verona, NY - Turning Stone Resort Casino
Jan 18 - Hamilton, ON - Hamilton Place Theatre
Jan 20 - Ottawa, ON - National Arts Center
Jan 21 - Toronto, ON - Sony Center for Performing Arts
Jan 22 - Quebec City, QC - Capitole du Quebec
Jan 23 - Quebec City, QC - Capitole du Quebec
Jan 25 - Quebec City, QC - Capitole du Quebec
Jan 26 - Quebec City, QC - Capitole du Quebec
Jan 27 - Quebec City, QC - Capitole du Quebec
Jan 29 - Sherbrooke, QC - Theatre Granada
Jan 30 - Montreal, QC - Bell Center
Feb 01 - St. Johh, NB - Imperial Theatre
Feb 02 - Moncton, NB - Casino Moncton
Feb 03 - Halifax, NS - Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
*More dates to be announced
Queen See also:
Queen drummer Roger Taylor to release solo album
Queen provide update on Freddie Mercury film