Sonisphere organiser Stuart Galbraith has warned fans not to expect a ‘Freddie Mercury show’ when Queen headline the festival this summer, but is still predicting one of its best ever performances from the legendary British band.
“If people are looking for a Freddie Mercury show, then they aren’t going to get it, but I think the Queen songs are huge, I think they fit perfectly with the Knebworth environment and perfectly with Sonisphere,” Galbraith told NME.
“I think it’ll be one of the best performances we’ve seen from a headliner, it’s the only show in the world they’re doing. It’s a huge coup for us.”
On booking the band, Galbraith revealed he made the call shortly after seeing surviving active members Brian May and Roger Taylor collaborating with Adam Lambert onstage.
“I rang them the day after the MTV EMAs,” he continued. “I thought their performance with Adam that night was stunning and I literally rang them the following day. They weren’t hesitant at all. It was one of those calls that was at the right time. It was surprisingly straightforward.”
“Knebworth has a very dear place in their hearts; it was the last place that Freddie ever sang with the band. It’s been 26 years since then and the idea of playing there again instantly struck a chord with them. They were into the idea right from the start.”
Faith No More and Kiss will join Queen as headliners when the festival is held in Knebworth Park between July 6th-8th this year.
PLEASE find a way to livestream this for those of us that cannot make it!
I hope someone is making a DVD of the Queen + Adam performance for those of us around the world that would love to be there, but can’t possibly make it. This will be one of the best of forever.
I hope there will be CDs & DVDs of this EPIC Performance for all the people who will be unable to see it LIVE!! I watched the EMAs on TV & they were MAGNIFICENT … QUEEN + ADAM = A Match Made in Music Heaven!!