Massively late Christmas post!

You guys! Wow! So sorry yet again for the delay in posting! Life continues to be busy!

This past December, Gunpowder Gelatine reached out to me and my friend George and asked if... are you sitting down for this? They asked if we could JOIN THEM ONSTAGE FOR TWO PERFORMANCES!!1!!1111!!! December 10th was a benefit to an organization that is very near and dear to my heart - The Somerville Homeless Coalition, and the following night they'd be opening for El Vez. Before anyone gets more excited than is reasonable, George and I were only needed for two songs: Billy Squier's "Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You", and Queen's own "Thank God It's Christmas".

Neither track is what I could honestly call a favorite, but I was ready to take a couple hits for an organization that helped me get my shit together, and also sing on the stage at Johnny D's while it was still possible with a band I adore, and a friend I don't otherwise get to spend much time with more than once a week. So the good definitely outweighed the surprisingly terribly-written B-side!

Plus I don't often get to tell bouncers, "I'm with the band" to gain access!

The benefit on the 10th was really quite something! The Boston area is a vast wealth of talent and artistry, so that really shouldn't be a shock to anyone who spends more than five seconds here. I didn't even mind the marching jazz band (brass instruments in an in-person live setting give me a headache, even if the player is really good) Gunpowder Gelatine had told us to arrive by maybe 10:00 or so, and that we'd be getting on by 11:00... I can't remember at this point so you'll have to forgive me if I don't have the exact times right. Either way, I think we actually finally got on at 11:30. This was not a typical, "everyone get hammered and rock out to good tunes" kind of deal. It was more, "buy some booze, but also buy raffle tickets and stuff because being homeless sucks, especially at Christmas", so there was no particular concern about the audience response to TGIC. I was more worried about nailing the harmony on the chorus! And I was super nervous about the Billy Squier song! I don't think I did as well as I'd like on either track, but I also didn't spend a whole lot of time rehearsing them on my own, so...

The next night was Gunpowder Gelatine in "opening band" mode, so the overall crowd feel was a little more familiar to me. George spent a bit of time trying to find someone in the audience to take pictures when it would be time for the both of us to get on stage for the sake of this blog and also bragging rights, and I think he picked the right person. He had his eye on someone else, initially, but when Gunpowder Gelatine got up on stage she kept trying to get either of us to dance with her. At one point, she stuck herself between us and kept bumping each of our hips! Thank G-d I was still holding onto my crutches, because she would have knocked me over! By the time I was ready to call for an adult to rescue me and George from the non-consensual touching and hip checks, she seemed to have gotten the hint that we weren't interested (we couldn't not talk about it later, and we found out we were both on the exact same page). Thankfully, there was no serious harm done for anybody!

Onto some pictures that I'm going to credit to George all the way through because I apparently didn't get that stranger's info! (Oh, right. Gunpowder Gelatine had a very Christmas-y dress code that I, of course, didn't follow because I guess I'm not a team player)

I'd like to take this time to attribute some of my awkward posture to the fact that that stage is SMALL, and there wasn't much room to move without accidentally knocking into someone.

Oh! And then a friend of Bethany's from high school(..???) joined the band to sing Under Pressure! It was AWESOME!

George and I hung out with the band for a bit during El Vez's set, but neither of us was really feeling it, so we wound up leaving to get a late dinner. Any other time, though! I'm sure I would have had a lot of fun seeing him!

I should take this time to really thank Johnny D's for being such an awesome place. I obviously haven't been attending since its beginnings, but it will always hold a very special place in my heart!

It was a worthwhile experience!

HalloQueen with Gunpowder Gelatine and Da Rods

Usually when I apologize for lack of posts due to being busy, I'm not typically as busy as I've been this time around! But thankfully I had a minute to breathe and rock out last night with Gunpowder Gelatine and Faces tribute band, Da Rods with my friend George (hi, George!)!

I was worried I wouldn't be able to make it to the gig at all because The Milky Way is a pain to get to from my area on public transportation. Unlike New York City, Boston's public transportation is not 24/7. Like, they only expanded their hours to 2am this past year or so..? I don't go out often enough to give exact dates. But anyway! It was a huge help and extra motivator to get to hang out with George. Even though I hate him a little bit because he saw Queen in Germany in 1986.

Anyway! Again! Da Rods kicked things off and killed it! I must confess that my Rod Stewart/Faces listening has been horrifically confined to one or two songs I hear on the radio sometimes. So they've done me a great service because now I'm looking up Faces on Spotify. And yes, they played Stay With Me, and it was glorious!

I've mentioned it in the past, but I feel compelled to note the difference in crowd energy compared to at Johnny D's. Not that it's bad at Johnny D's! It's just different at The Milky Way and I kind of wish that difference - whatever it is - was the standard in Greater Boston. (Seriously, Johnny D's, I love you and I'm in complete denial that you'll be closing next year)

Gunpowder Gelatine came on stage dressed up like the Radio Ga Ga video, and they've said that they never actually performed Radio Ga Ga before, but I'm really sure that they did the first time I saw them. I distinctly remember being excited to do the synchronized clapping... although I might have been only one of a few in the audience complying.

Their set was, as always, excellent, and their sound was super tight. Their unofficial cinematographer was in the audience, so hopefully he got some really great video that I can post here eventually. I'm always really excited when they perform I Want It All because the audience always responds even though it's a really obscure song in the US and not usually known by more casual Queen fans. They've also recently added Bicycle Race to their set. I'm not sure if I've noted that before because I've seen them a number of times and then never wind up writing about it. For instance, I saw them last time at Johnny D's on September 25th, and Queen played on Saturday Night Live on that day in 1982, so I thought that was really cool :-)

George has given me permission to post the pictures he took, because I've since given up trying to take pictures because they always look shitty - even with a digital camera.

You may have noticed that I keep my hair closely shaved these days. I'm starting to go bald and I'm leaning into it because a) I'm not bothered by it, and b) I don't think any other hairstyle will work without it looking like I'm in denial a la John Travolta.

Some creative title

Well! A lot's been happening! I got to see Gunpowder Gelatine twice in under six months, which is awesome! I'm still waiting for a hat that I ordered from the QOL store at the end of July (apparently issues with the manufacturers?), which is decidedly not awesome I finally decided to ask for a refund because that's way too long to wait for something. But my collection is being slowly built and re-built! For reasons I won't get into, I'm trying to come to terms with the very real possibility that I'll never get my stuff back from IL. In some ways, it's been... maybe a bit cathartic? For instance, I got a cassette copy of the US Greatest Hits off of ebay! I don't have a tape player anymore, but I'm still excited about it because I feel a lot less guilty for having to throw out my old copy when I was a kid. And that one didn't even have a case to it, which definitely did not help keep the tape itself protected. I also suspect that this reclaimed copy doesn't have a bit of Under Pressure recorded over because someone's brother was being a fucking asshole and wanted to prove that music tapes could be recorded over and didn't want to use literally any of the other dozens of tapes their parents never listened to anymore.

... Yeah.

But anyway! It sits on my shelf now, lovingly protected from harm. Maybe I'll start trying to collect all the cassette copies of albums...

I also got some VHS tapes! I've reclaimed Classic Queen, Champions Of The World, and Magic Years vol. 2 so far. I guess I could technically say the same for We Will Rock You, but this copy is the 1992 re-release. It feels nice to have all three "proper" tapes of the Magic Years series -which is not to say that I'm not appreciative of my taped copies of vols. 1 and 3 that my friend Jen made for me! And for the first time, I have a VHS copy of Live In Budapest, which is really exciting. It's been my dream for many years to own all their VHS releases.

And then in early September, I bought a red military belt and an inexpensive microphone stand so I could dress like Freddie on his birthday. Hopefully I'll eventually find the Adidas with the red stripes (has anyone else noticed that Adidas' shoes are fucking ugly as sin these days?)

You'll notice that my Magic Tour box set is on top of my shelf and blocking one of my posters. My cat kept trying to scratch off the stickers and I'm waiting to re-purpose my current TV stand as a cat-proof display.

I had time to kill yesterday before going to my friend's house for lunch, so I stopped in Newbury Comics in Harvard Square to poke around. As soon as I walked in, I heard Jailhouse Rock and it was very clearly Queen. I talked to who I'm presuming was the floor manager and said that that was a badass pick, and we chatted about Queen for a couple minutes. Then I went to look through their music stuff just to see what was there, and found that Freddie had his own CD section!

This kind of thing never happens in the US, so it's kind of huge for me. Anyway, I looked through Queen's CD section, and found the two-disc set of Live At The Rainbow '74. It took everything I had not to buy it because I'm going to order the Super Deluxe box set. Because if I can make that work, why not?

But Newbury Comics having the CD set marked down from $19.99 did not help matters. I had to remind myself that the Deluxe box set comes with other goodies that I want. And the small bit I heard over the stereo sounded amazing!

I'm also looking so intensely forward to Queen Forever that it's probably a bit concerning to others!

Gunpowder Gelatine with Bikini Whale and Pretendica

I went to a really fun show at Johnny D's last night. Boston finally got more reasonable with their late-night public transportation, so I was able to stick around for the whole thing instead of having to leave after Gunpowder Gelatine's set.

I put myself in my usual spot right in front of the stage, which is always risky because it's on the dance floor, I can't always balance so well, and drunk people who want to dance are notorious for having zero spacial awareness. I get knocked into at least once every gig. But this time - I don't know if there was some sort of conference or written agreement or something - not only did I not get knocked into, I also got a small personal bubble!

What was also really nice was Gunpowder Gelatine's Queen medley. It was put together really well and kept me on my toes :-) I didn't even try to get pictures of them because I always manage to suck at it, but I'm counting on my acquaintance John (hi, John!) to upload some of the videos he took to make up for that.

I also ran into this dude again! I didn't recognize him without the fake mustache! Maybe someday I'll be able to remember his name!

I asked him if he wanted me to take a better picture, but he said this one was fine.

I also had the pleasure of meeting someone who's sure they're a bigger Queen fan than me and Allison (bass player for Gunpowder Gelatine, for those just tuning in). I showed them that picture of me and Brian May (I downloaded it to my phone) to indicate that I accept their challenge! It's their move now!

Also playing last night was Pretendica - a Pretenders/Elastica tribute - and Bikini Whale - a B-52s tribute. Both were a lot of fun and amazing, but my disdain for the song Love Shack hasn't wavered (retail-related incident involving a broken CD system playing that song over 10 times in my six-hour shift... which was spent at the register directly under one of the ceiling speakers). And it was amusing watching people on the dance floor from a booth in the corner. Some of them were legit dancing, and others... probably should have been cut off about two beers ago...

The only downside to the evening was having to pay $6 for a rum and Coke. I don't tend to drink at bars, so maybe that's a reasonable price, but still! If there was going to be a damper in my evening, I'm glad that was it!

OCTOBER IS AWESOME!!!

Things to do tomorrow(!!!!):

11am - take the bus from Boston to NYC.
3:30pm - arrive in NYC and meet my counterpart/Queen soulmate/fellow Mercury Guru, Audrey, for the first time (she's, uh, kind of a badass), try not to cry.
7pm - meet Brian May, get his autograph, buy his book, try not to cry.
11pm - take the bus from NYC back to Boston.
3:30am - take a cab home because Boston's public transportation does not run 24/7. Count my blessings that I'll be missing Red Sox traffic (Go, Sox!)
4am - either stay up due to the excitement of the day, or pass out in my bed. Still haven't decided.

I can make no promises, but I'll be bringing a Gunpowder Gelatine flier that I'm hoping Brian will sign, and a button-down shirt my friend Toni gave me, so it will be like they're experiencing this magical day with me. And a hand-written letter for Brian, in case I won't be able to actually speak to him due to crying or whatever. I'm also still trying to figure out how to work Taylor's Fred-A-Thon smoothly into our conversation, per his request!

And then...

Halloween night, I'll be back at Johnny D's to see Gunpowder Gelatine! WAY too much to look forward to this month!

Gunpowder Gelatine and Bikini Whale

I went to Johnny D's in Davis Square to see the ever-awesome Gunpowder Gelatine on April 6th. The opening band was a B-52s cover called Bikini Whale. I'm not, by any stretch, a B-52s fan due to a retail-related, emotionally-scarring incident, but they were pretty excellent.

(Note, this is a different performance.)

Before that, though, I got to see the band walk in, give hugs, etc. and geek out with Allison and a friend (employer?) of hers. We discussed other tribute bands, Queen's Boston show in 1982, the Freddie Mercury biopic, etc. Usually they're really busy setting up so I can't say more than a few words to them, so it was really nice to have an entire conversation with at least one of them :-) Also, a REALLY hot (seriously, damn!) bartender didn't charge me for my soda (I'm not a big drinker)! I originally wanted to take pictures, and I brought my camera, but for some reason I always take embarrassingly bad pictures of their performances. But thankfully, Amanda Johnston, Allison's spouse, takes fantastic ones and gave me permission to use them :-) (thank you!)

When the show was posted on Facebook in March, I asked the band if I could put in a request for Spread Your Wings. The concert date was April 6, but April 5th is a significant anniversary for me. I figured they would play it and that would be the end of it, but they really went all out making me feel really appreciated and special. And John Doherty filmed the glorious moment (as well as many other songs)!!!

Yep, that's my shoulder and head :-)

Amanda tried her best to get this shot with her iPhone. I love it even if it is misleading about my body shape :-)

Yours truly with the shoulder bag :-)

So yeah! I had an excellent time even if I had to miss out on the company of my friend Katie. Next time!

Misc awesome

I get fan mail once in a blue moon. It's always wonderful, but I definitely needed it this week!

You are consistently and thoroughly one of the best blogs on here. Just wanted to voice my appreciation. May the clogs and frilly shirts be with you always.

Thank you, dungeonpeaches, for the kind words :-)

How I felt after I read it. Freddie laughing, his hand on his chest

Also, a friend and I were wandering Davis Square in search of coffee (coffee itself isn't hard to find there, but seating is a different matter altogether), and we decided to check Diesel first. Not surprisingly, there were no seats available on that Friday afternoon, but I noticed something that made me yell, "OMG!!" and scare the shit out of my friend (sorry, Bailey!)...

Painting of Freddie circa 1981 on a painted, brick background

I don't know who made it, but I do know that I wouldn't be able to afford it. And that sucks, because I have plenty of wall space to hang that... if a Diesel employee should be reading this... No? Okay, then!

Speaking of Davis Square, Gunpowder Gelatine are performing at Johnny D's on April 6th! And! Because April 5th is a significant date in my life, I asked if they could perform Spread Your Wings. They said yes! That thing pressing you closer and closer to your screen is my ego continuing to inflate.

And We Will Rock You is going to tour North America! I'm tempted to grab all of my Queen fan friends and watch the shit out of it when it comes to Boston (it fucking well better. I'm still not over Queen Extravaganza not coming back)!

Pre Queen Extravaganza show

Tonight I'm going to see Queen Extravaganza at the House of Blues in Boston. I'm so excited but also terrified for two reasons: this and this.

In the first video, it's highlighted bits from the band's rehearsal in the studio and Jennifer Espinoza is shoved to backing vocals. I like Marc Martel, but I really hope Jennifer gets as much time in the spotlight as him since she's a (damn good) vocalist as well.

I'm rooting for you, Jennifer! Even if I am so RIDICULOUSLY jealous of you in that picture!

The second video is QE's performance on American Idol. Please, if someone knows for sure, confirm that that video shouldn't have me the least bit worried!! I don't know if Brian and Roger emerging on stage was for that particular audience, but if that's going to happen now and again for this tour, I'm really concerned. Roger started his search for the best tribute band because supposedly the rest aren't quite up to snuff. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some that I'm not too fond of, but then there are those who are fucking amazing (see my links). If Queen Extravaganza is carefully hand-selected to be the best, then why the hell are Queen getting on stage with them?

What I like about tribute bands - specifically the idea of them - is that the good ones are good on their own merit and their audiences already know the songs that they're playing. Yes, they're influenced by the bands that they're performing, but they gain popularity and sell tickets and booze (if they perform in a bar) because they're talented. My worry is the possibility that Brian and/or Roger could pop on stage at anytime. On one hand, that would be AWESOME, but on the other - you guys, this is supposed to be the tribute band that puts every other to shame, and the possibility of the original band showing up is a slap in the face. Other tribute bands, even the damn good ones, didn't have the luxury of Brian and Roger holding on to the backs of their bicycles, they had to peddle and hope they didn't fall over and scrape their knees. If Brian and Roger think that their band can't sell tickets on their own, that's a huge problem for me. I hope I'm wrong, and the American Idol thing was just specifically for the show - even if Brian and Roger performing right in front of me in person would be a massive dream come true! I honestly do have high hopes for tonight, I promise!

Anxiety aside, I'm really excited about tonight! The last time I was at a big-deal concert venue was ten years ago (my uncle had an extra ticket to see Korn. I don't actually like them, but it was something teenagers do and I wanted to seem normal)! And this time I'm going to enjoy the music, dammit! And be surrounded (hopefully) by other Queen fans, dammit! I'll report back after the concert and hopefully have decent pictures!

Days Of Our Lives DVD and other stuff

I now own it!

I'm still saving up for a Blu-ray player, though.

I also want to try starting the process of rebuilding my shrine in March. This will eventually involve traveling out to IL to get my stuff from my dad's house (all the more exciting because I don't own a car or drive). My closet is not a proper place for what cool shit I do have in my apartment! But my shrine will probably not be anywhere near as fucking badass as Andy's Queen Room.

I'm also planning on seeing Gunpowder Gelatine again on March 31st. I invited my girlfriend's roommate this time because I just recently learned that he's a Queen fan, and he's a cool guy in general. I really do love having local fans in my life! Well... I love having local fans who aren't really fucking annoying in my life.

More pictures from Queen For A Day

OMG YOU GUYS!! Gunpowder Gelatine are mentioned on the FFAD site! AND!! There are pictures of me in the gallery!





My heart is so broken that I can't make their next gig on the 29th (both because I don't have a car and can't get to Worcester and I have plans that have nothing to do with Queen). But! I should get in touch with them the next time they want to do a Freddie tribute to see if I can be involved in some way that wouldn't be just answering the shit out of trivia questions :-P

Queen For A Day recap

So last night I went with a friend to Queen For A Day at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain.

Opening was the Ukelele Union of Boston with renditions of Fat Bottomed Girls and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Sadly they weren't totally together on their sound, but they more than made up for it because they were clearly just having fun. Overall I was pretty happy. My friend that came with whispered in my ear after their set that they had no idea that those were Queen songs, and seemed amazed that I knew all the words. This would not be the first time I'd hear that.





I think this was where the MC asked us all trivia questions, and I got all but one of them right. Every time I got one, the MC would look at me bewildered and say, "Jesus! You really like Queen!"

Following that was Miss Madison West dancing with a blow-up doll to Body Language. It ended with her pointing her strap-on at the audience and shooting a can of silly string at us.




Then came Aquanette Jones (sorry, no link) dancing to I Want To Break Free. I didn't enjoy that one nearly as much, which is pretty sad. I think it might be because I've seen something similar done by Johnny Blazes.



Next, Alhena (again, no link) did a phenomenal belly dance to Mustapha! There were no words, only pure enjoyment!



Miss Madison West came back on stage to dance to Fat Bottomed Girls while wearing a prosthetic ass. When she had finished, she came up to me and apologized for "eye-fucking" me during her first number. But it wasn't often that she saw someone in the audience who would sing along to every single word. I'm about half-sure she was cruising me.



Someone in the audience was dressed as Freddie in the I Want To Break Free video came up to me and we shot the shit over the recorded music. She asked if I'd seen Queen + Paul Rodgers play in Worcester a while back and I told her that I hadn't. She then proceeded to tell me that I simply must go to London someday and check out all the Queen stuff there! It really bugs me when it doesn't occur to people that other people may not be able to afford that kind of trip.

Finally, Gunpowder Gelatine came on! While they set up, the bass player, Allison, claimed to know everything about Queen, but then the band looked down at me and were like, "Well, obviously not as much as this guy!" They then rocked so fucking hard that I was beside myself! During Now I'm Here, Bethany held the mic out to me so I could sing "Down in the dungeon just Peaches and me." I probably sounded terrible, but it was one of many kickass moments.





My friend decided to leave after their first set and come get me later. I had to crash at their place for the night because public transportation in Boston stops running by 12:30 and that's when the night would be over.

I think my absolute favorite moment was when Bethany came off the stage to dance with me during the ending of Spread Your Wings. I really hope to G-d somebody got a picture of that, because I sure as hell didn't!

It wasn't even that the singer's pretty and gave me the time of day, but Spread Your Wings is one of my all-time favorite Queen songs and for years my enthusiasm and excitement for Freddie and Queen has been amusing at best to people I've interacted with over the years. I've not been to any North American conventions (yet) or seen any other tribute bands (yet), so to be surrounded by people who Get It and to have this moment during what happens to be one of my favorite tracks was so fucking huge for me.






This is probably one of the most fun nights of my life. There was great music, fantastic performances, cupcakes. I hope Freddie felt the love. And The Mercury Phoenix Trust got a good chunk of money!



Gunpowder Gelatine are:

Bethany Hanley - vocals
Julie Perron - guitar
Allison Sigrist - bass
Nancy Galluzzo - drums
Kate Dobroth - keys

*ETA: photos of me taken by Amanda Johnston*