11 Jun 2021
Rock icon Roger Taylor has made the surprise announcement that he will play a UK solo tour this Autumn, visiting York Barbican on 5 Oct 2021.
As the songwriter of many of Queen’s biggest hits including A Kind of Magic, Radio Ga Ga, I’m In Love With My Car, Sheer Heart Attack and These Are the Days of Our Lives, Taylor promises a enthusiastic foray into Queen and his own classic catalogues, including new songs written in lockdown that feature on the multi-instrumentalist’s new Outsider album.
“For some time now, we’ve all just been trying to get by,” says Taylor. “Now, it’s back to the basics, myself and some great musical pals getting back out there to play some rock.”
“Obviously we’ll include some of the Queen classic catalogue, and some of my earlier solo work, but we’ll also be introducing them to some of the new stuff. So we hope folks are going to come on down.”
The rock legend will perform with a specially assembled band for the tour made up of Queen + Adam Lambert’s keyboardist Spike Edney and supporting drummer Tyler Warren, plus guitarist Jason Falloon and Goldfrapp live players keyboardist Angie Pollock and bassist Charlie Jones.
Outsider is Taylor’s first album of new material since 2013’s Fun On Earth. Over the last decade, the drummer has also released the occasional solo track reflecting on his worldview and observations in songs like Journey’s End, Gangsters Are Running This World. His most recent was Isolation, which was written and recorded in response to the first lockdown last year.
With much of Outsider recorded during lockdown, this new album finds Taylor in reflective mood. Across the record he conveys a palpable sense of seclusion, concerns over the passing of time, and tellingly, dedicates it “to all the outsiders, those who feel left on the sidelines”.
On recording the Outsider album after Isolation Taylor says: “I’ve had a bit of a creative spurt and suddenly found myself with an album, which was lovely. It was a surprise!
“I just found myself in the studio and they came out one after the other. It was a pleasure really.”
A highly personal project, Outsider’s instrumentation is almost entirely performed by Taylor, with his largely restrained vocals matching the album’s contemplative ambience.
But Taylor does cut loose along the way with a foray into some hard-riffing blues-rock as well as an adrenaline-charged BIG surprise retread of a classic 1965 novelty song, which is exactly the fun on earth we need in these challenging times.
Click here to get your tickets for Roger Taylor on 5 Oct 2021