{"id":16829,"date":"2021-10-14T05:00:35","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T05:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=16829"},"modified":"2021-10-09T18:42:48","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T18:42:48","slug":"roger-taylor-st-davids-hall-cardiff-6th-october-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=16829","title":{"rendered":"Roger Taylor \u2013 St David\u2019s Hall, Cardiff \u2013 6th October 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last time I saw Roger Taylor play live was 37 years ago (it was with Queen at Wembley Arena on The Works tour) and he was 35 years old! The fourteen date England and Wales tour he announced in support of his \u2018Outsider\u2019 album is also his first solo outing in twenty plus years, and that last time around I still greatly regret not going to see him in Cardiff\u2019s now long-lost Coal Exchange venue.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a result, when it was announced that Roger would be playing St David\u2019s Hall as part of this intimate (well by Queen\u2019s standards anyway) run of dates, I didn\u2019t really have to think too hard before snapping up my very reasonably priced ticket mid lockdown, not really knowing if tonight would ever really happen. Covid protocols aside though by the time Roger takes to the stage with his band tonight you could almost imagine the last eighteen months hadn\u2019t happened at all. Such are the restorative qualities of live music as the band ease themselves into their two hour set with the title track from Roger\u2019s 1985 album \u2018Strange Frontier\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Promising to play a mix of solo and Queen songs it\u2019s not long before I get to hear my favourite singer in Queen play one of my all-time favourite Queen songs in the shape of \u2018Tenement Funster\u2019, a song which unveils Roger\u2019s gravelly vocals in all their glory. Granted he may not have the full range he once possessed but with the band\u2019s secret weapon (Tyler Warren) tucked away behind the drum stool if you close your eyes, you can almost believe it\u2019s 1974 Queen giving us all an early set (sheer) heart attack.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As it stands Roger\u2019s touring band is actually a lot closer to the 2021 Queen (with added Adam Lambert) lineup than you might first think, as the aforementioned Tyler Warren on drums, bassist Neil Fairclough and long term Queen keyboardist Spike Edney are all very much a part of both bands. Add in the unbelievable talents of multi-instrumentalist Tina Hizon and guitarist Christian Mendoza (who at times reminds me of the hugely underrated Robbie Blunt) and you really do have a very special musical unit indeed. The understated tunes from the new album like \u2018We\u2019re All Just Trying To Get By\u2019 and \u2018Gangsters Are Running This World\u2019 in particular sounding truly wonderful with added Hizon and Mendoza.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s of course the prospect of hearing some Queen songs which will have lured many out tonight, and it\u2019s a delight to hear \u2018A Kind Of Magic\u2019, \u2018Under Pressure\u2019 and \u2018These Are The Days Of Our Lives\u2019 all resonating with the audience. However, having glanced at the setlist beforehand (naughty boy) it was the prospect of a mid-set run-through of \u2018Rock It (Prime Jive)\u2019 from \u2018The Game\u2019 that had really piqued my interest. Pity then that the version aired tonight is the one Warren and Fairclough put together to celebrate Roger\u2019s recent 72nd<\/sup> birthday and is performed minus Taylor and Edney. It\u2019s still a mighty fine version though especially with Warren doing a bang on Freddie Mercury on the vocal intro, plus they more than makeup for any initial disappointment I might have felt with an immense \u2018I\u2019m In Love With My Car\u2019 complete with Roger on vocals later on in the set.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of Roger\u2019s solo tracks \u2018Up\u2019 from 2013\u2019s \u2018Fun On Earth\u2019, \u2018Surrender\u2019 from 1998\u2019s \u2018Electric Fire\u2019 and \u2018Man On Fire\u2019 from \u2018Strange Frontier\u2019 are all given a 2021 makeover and sound astounding as a result, whilst the likes of \u2018Absolutely Anything\u2019, \u2018Foreign Sands\u2019 and \u2018Outsider\u2019 (but oddly no \u2018Tides\u2019) all from the new album can\u2019t help me but draw comparisons to latter day David Bowie, each one being a delicate work of art very close to Roger Taylor\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018More Kicks\u2019 is one of Outsider\u2019s rare rocking moments and tonight it sounds positively Zeppelin-esque as Taylor takes his place behind the vacant drum kit set up next to Warren for what is a most welcome drum battle, and for once at a gig it\u2019s a drum solo that sees not a single person leaving for a quick comfort break.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There can only be one song to end tonight (no not \u2018Drowse\u2019, \u2018Fun It\u2019 or \u2018Action this Day\u2019 that would have just been too surreal), which is of course \u2018Radio Ga Ga\u2019, easily Queen\u2019s most famous Taylor penned song and this track is finally enough to get everyone up out of their seats to partake in the mandatory clap-a-long and thus making the foundations of St David\u2019s Hall shudder for the first time in a wee while.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Encore time gives us a fantastic take on Led Zeppelin\u2019s \u2018Rock n Roll\u2019 that has Roger sounding vocally just like a twenty something Robert Plant whilst the version of David Bowie\u2019s \u2018Heroes\u2019 which sends us out into the night owes (not unlike \u2018Outsider\u2019 itself) a lot to the Thin White Duke\u2019s latter day take on his Berlin period anthem.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I left tonight totally thrilled by what I had just witnessed, and whilst I would have perhaps liked to have heard a track or two from \u2018Fun In Space\u2019 or by Roger\u2019s \u201890s side project The Cross this is only a very small gripe during what turned out to be one of the most cathartic gig experiences I\u2019ve had post lockdown. Fantastic stuff!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author:Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last time I saw Roger Taylor play live was 37 years ago (it was with Queen at Wembley Arena on The Works tour) and he was 35 years old! The fourteen date England and Wales tour he announced in support of his \u2018Outsider\u2019 album is also his first solo outing in twenty plus years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-review","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16834,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16829\/revisions\/16834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}