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QOL 22nd Annual International Queen Fan Club Convention

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Brean Sands, Friday 23rd – Monday 26th March 2007

XXII – SOLD OUT – That was the slogan emblazoned across the events T-Shirt and this greeted all arrivals at the Annual International Queen Fan Club Convention bash. It was held during the first weekend of Spring 2007, in this the Queen Fan Clubs 33rd year! This time we were near Weston Super Mare at the Pontins Holiday Camp in Brean Sands.We were there to celebrate the 21st centuries happening band – QUEEN and celebrate we did, in style of course! There was another celebration too but that comes later….

The party kicked off the minute you arrived at the camp site. Once checked in by the super efficient Arena staff, you could dump your bags in your chosen chalet, decorate your windows (and lots did and there is a prize for the Best Dressed Chalet Window. This years honour was chalet 213 – well done to those occupants!) Then head over to the Queen Vic Pub for the start of the gathering of the clan. The beer starts to flow….

For those who prefer to chill and stay in their chalet there is entertainment on your very own QTV and to start the ball rolling was Champions Of The World and more including Highlander, Greatest Flix I, the memorable Queen Live In Venezuela 81 and be brought right up-to-date with Live In Sheffield 2005. The ballroom had been all set-up ready for our arrival with an extra sized stage and lots of lights and amplification. (I feel a song coming on but this event REALLY does entertain you!). To gain entrance you had to wear your guitar shaped wristband and the security staff ensured we did.

The evening commenced with Waynes World Of Karaoke and lots of fans joined in the fun that karaoke is – what a start to the weekend! Many thanks to WAYNE PLANT for being the master of karaoke ceremonies and organising and ensuing the session went off with everyone having a good time!

KEITH HARRIS, he of Arena Travel fame came onto the stage to big applause! He had to run through Health & Safety checks and a fire drill too this year! (When the fire alarm bell rang everybody cheered – crazy bunch of people!). Once Keith had finished the necessary information he introduced the head of the worlds longest fan club JACKY SMITH to the stage to a roar of applause and cheers! Jacky welcomed everybody to the 22nd weekend convention and thanked everyone for supporting the Fan Club. A specially filmed message from BRIAN MAY brought louder cheers! Then followed a FIVE hour disco while people danced to the sounds of the seventies, eighties, nineties and noughties! There were many videos on the two huge screens which adorned the side of the stage. We were treated to lots of un-released videos such as Rogers solo videos, The Cross videos and Queens first appearance on Top Of The Pops with Seven Seas Of Rhye.. Many thanks to our very own DJ PAUL “PJ�? JOYNER who ensured he pleased the crowd. This is the time to catch up on your old friends, make new friends and soak up the atmosphere!

Saturday morning brought the obligatory hangover and the fantastic Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert to QTV while over in the Lunar Bar the Arts & Crafts Exhibition was underway. Also on display were the items for this years Charity Auction. There were also many stalls displaying lots of Queen related memorabilia. Theres a bargain or two to be had here! More QTV and Freddie- Lover Of Life and Greatest Flix II. A Snooker Competition was on in the Leisure Zone. In the ballroom where there is always something going on was this years Tug-Of-War, then for all the knowledgeable Queen fans they found themselves entering the Queen Quiz Competition elimination rounds. (Anyone see Jacky jump out of her skin when the first clip of Rogers Drum Section blasted out the speakers? She nearly choked on her drink – but boy did we laugh!). More laughter from Jacky while she was reading out Promo Cryptic Clues – this quiz is fun! We did find the two teams for the final!

Crazy Golf was started whilst some fans were ready to take part in a new idea for the convention The Q Factor. Those who registered early managed to perform before the crowd and a panel of judges which consisted of JACKY SMITH, PETER FREESTONE, JO BURT and JIM JENKINS. The open auditionees did SO well and Keith held it altogether doing a Kate Thornton impression! There was good criticism and constructive comments and advice given from the panel who were all surprised just how good they were! We picked our 4 finalists and a 12 year old to take part in a final with a special surprise twist the following day.

One of the highlights of recent conventions is the interview panels which include people from Queens past and they are extremely popular and well attended. You never know what stories you are going to hear and Jacky introduced the first guest panel of CHRIS “CRYSTAL�? TAYLOR, TERRY GIDDINGS, JOHN BROUGH, JO BURT and also MIKE MORAN. Some of these guys hadn’t met up for years so you can imagine the banter on the stage! Jim conducted the interview opening their memory banks! Terry told a funny story about Freddies one and only driving lesson – you had to be there! Jo told how he recorded with Freddie on Man Made Paradise, Crystal always has plenty of stories of his life as Rogers PA and going skiing with him, John explained his job as an engineer while Mike told us all about Barcelona in the making and The Great Pretender too. Mike recollected his musical history including his time representing UK at the Eurovision Song contest and producing Elaine Paiges Queen album.. They all recalled games of trivial pursuit with Freddie which Mr Mercury used to take extremely serious and would only except answers printed on the card! One night the final question, asked to Freddie was “who is the lead singer of Queen?�?. He jumped up in his usual flare and shouted “ME MY DEARS�? but they wouldn’t except his answer – well it said Freddie Mercury on the card and they were playing by his rules! You can picture the scene eh! Lots of laughter from the audience and panel for that one! See what you’re missing if you don’t attend the convention? Jacky did her Anneka Rice impersonation and took questions from the floor. The panel finished with a song! Jo played guitar, brought on a couple of backing singers and we were treated to Crazy Little Thing Called Love and the audience joined in. Excellent!

The Charity Auction followed and lots of money was raised for our chosen charities. This year we also raised funds to assist the Fan Club. JIM STEPHENSON, long term Queen Fan donated some framed items for a special lot. A BIG thank you to Jim for doing this, much appreciated. Thanks to all the lucky bidders as there were a couple of bargains to be had!

The past to the present was on the programme! Queen at Wembley graced the QTV screen and in the main ballroom you could brings yourselves right up-to-date and watch Queen + Paul Rodgers Live In Japan which goes to show there’s life in the old dog yet!!

The long evening proceedings began with the Queen Quiz final. Song clips, lyrics and some slightly mad questions were some of the questions asked to the two competing teams. Well done to the winners. If you know your Queen – take part – it’s fun! Prizes were presented to the winning team captained by ANDY FERGUSON.

The Fancy Dress competition was up next and so many fans made their own costumes and display their efforts! Well done to all as they paraded round the ballroom. The winners were chosen by the audience. Young RACHEL DAVIES received a big cheer as Jacky presented her with her medal and certificate.

We interrupted the event with a special announcement as Keith introduced Jim Jenkins. Jim announced that Jacky had been running the best fan club in the world for the last 25 years and this year was her very own Silver Jubilee. Jim read out a message from Brian May thanking her for what she has done in her “25 glorious years�?. Brian also sent her one of the statues of Freddie and Jim presented this to Jacky on his behalf. The crowd applauded and cheered and Jacky was taken aback by the surprise! Special thanks to Brian for recognising this achievement. This was the other celebration at this years convention! Congratulations to Jacky in this her Silver Jubilee year.

Back to the convention and the Easter bonnet parade was next. There were some terrific “bonnets�? on display and once again the audience chose the winning hat! Many thanks to everyone who made an effort and took part.

A BIG thank you to our official photographer STEPHEN CARTLEDGE who snapped away all weekend to capture the special moments and all the winners of the various competitions. . These pictures were then shown throughout the weekend on the big screen. Did you recognise yourselves? A great reminder of the weekend of fun.

Time for some live music which is always a highlight of these weekend conventions. This year we were treated to an exceptionally brilliant performance by the USA’s QUEEN FOR A DAY. A name more apt though is ‘Queen For A Night’ as GREGORY FINSLEY, the bands lead singer who performs a-la Freddie style, was the only member of the band who managed to travel over to the UK, where he received an extremely welcoming enthusiastic applause! Special mention must go to the other musicians who joined him. Many thanks to TOM TUNNEY, who thundered away on the drums and provided some excellent backing vocals. Tom is a force to be reckoned with as he is a first class drummer! ANTHONY STILLYANO was a most excellent guitarist who received many cheers from the crowd as did ALAN LONG on the bass. Competent musicians in their own right they should be more than pleased with themselves. What a memorable show.

Those watching QTV could see Furia, Live Aid, Rare Live and Brazil Queen Live was aired on QTV to keep the chalets rockin. In the main ballroom everyone was ready for another disco. Once again PJ the DJ played the music on the decks and more videos were shown on the screen. The inevitable Breakthru conga train wound its way around the ballroom and arcade outside. The Brean Sands staff looked and smiled as did the rest of us who watched and didn’t take part! What a sight – did you join “the train�? as it went past you? The big screen announced the clocks had to go forward an hour but the disco continued for more time yet as we danced ourselves silly into the early hours of Sunday morning. The bar seemed to stay busy too, what more could you ask for?

Queen Rocks was what you could wake up to on QTV and then the more delicate Bejart – Ballet For Life but over in the ballroom you could take part in Freddies Silly Games. A new idea conceived by AMEY SHERLOCK, for which BIG thanks goes to. You could take part in a giant Connect 4, Scrabble or Jenga to name but three! Everybody had fun who took part. 5-A-Side Soccer competition took place and more Crazy Golf too!

There was a treat instore for the conventioneers this year! Ice cream makers Ben & Jerry sent a load of free ice cream for everybody to try out their new product – the ice cream is called Bohemian Raspberry – and very tasty it was too! Thanks to B & J for sending it along. Oh I do like to be beside the seaside…

Lots of people took part in the non Queen Quiz Team 4 Challenge Fun Quiz – general knowledge questions abound from Keith as questionmaster – and what fun there was to be had entering that! Well done to the winners. Too challenging and exerting for you? Well you could watch Brian Live In Brixton, Greatest Flix III, Budapest 86 concert and The Making Of A Night At The Opera on QTV in your chalet! Another new idea was unfurling in the ballroom though, Scavenger Hunt devised by DAN DURRANS for which a massive thank you must go to as this was lots of fun and laughter! You had to go off and look for silly objects and more! They searched and found!

Collecters Corner was a bit different this year. We were treated to some very early recordings on one Roger Taylor and his acoustic guitar playing with The Three Jays was heard, as well as his lead vocals and drumming for The Reaction. A piece of history for the convention. Jim, ANDREAS VOIGTS and PAUL BIRD were all on hand to evaluate your collection pieces. Once again autographs were a big topic. Freddie NEVER signed his name with a Y – beware! Jim brought along the key chain puzzles which Brian used to play with as a child which were kindly given to him by Brians mum. RICHARD GRAY joined and brought along with him lots of goodies. Richard as Queens designer is involved in all merchandise and licensing and he explained how this all comes about, it was extremely interesting. He had lots of T Shirts with him and Jacky took to the skimpy pink one! A planned Question and Answer time with Jacky and Jim didn’t take place but both were always available to answer any questions and they do throughout the weekend!

The first interview panel of the day, hosted by Jim was with Richard Gray who talked about his work with the band in designing album covers and ran through the procedure of this grand task! Some work was planned in advance but also the task of designing items in a very short space of time as with Hollywoods Stone Cold Classic album cover prior to Brian and Roger appearing on the hit USA TV Show American Idol. He also talked us through his involvement in the Freddie Mercury Photo Exhibition. Jacky had the roving microphone to take questions from the floor. Thanks to Richard for once again coming along to the convention.

The Scavenger Hunt adjudication took place to riotous applause. Some conventioneers had used lots of imagination and initiative to gain the items for the hunt, this caused lots of laughter. Some even built the Wembley stage! You had to be there! Well done to everybody and hope this game is on again at next years convention!

More interview panels followed. Jim hosted EDWIN SHIRLEY, he famed for Edwin Shirley Trucking! He told some terrific stories of life on the road with Queen and the parties he had attended. Once the memory banks opened and he started to remember various things it was a most enjoyable time. Queen were once on tour in Europe and one of their trucks was stuck under a bridge. Edwin provided replacement trucks back in 1974 and worked with them up to and including the Magic Tour. A very funny story he told was when the band first bought mobile phones. They were all out having a meal and Roger complained nobody was phoning him while sitting at the table and to his delight the phone rings! It was only Freddie at the bottom of the table asking Roger to pass him the salt! This caused lots of laughter. Once again Jacky had the roving mic and Edwin happily answered questions from the floor. How kind of him to take time out to come to Brean Sands. Cheers Edwin.

More history in the next interview panel as two members of Brians first group took to the stage. DAVE DILLOWAY and RICHARD THOMPSON was introduced by Jim. They both reminisced about their time in the group. Dave talked about how Brian built his own guitar. He also remembered Brian writing songs such as Earth and Step On Me. Richard also remembered stories and when he first met Freddie. Richard became the drummer of Ibex and Wreckage so there were more stories from him. Dave told an amusing story about Brian leaving his Red Special guitar on Hammersmith Bridge one day. Good job it was still there when he went back for it! It was a trip down memory lane. There were some excellent questions from the floor Thank you to Dave and Richard for joining us.

The Q Factor Final followed and there was excitement in the ballroom! Jacky welcomed to the stage REDSOX. In the band were JAMIE MOSES, SPIKE EDNEY, NEIL MURRAY and JOHN MARTER who made a guest appearance. They were all very kind and courteous in allowing our Q Factor finalists to join them on stage and sing and play with the group! Wow! They did a fabulous job and I’m sure it will be an experience they are unlikely to forget. It was magical! You had to be there! A young 12yo TAMARA also joined them on stage and all contestants joined Redsox for a rendition of We Are The Champions. The crowd joining in and swaying their arms! This really was a convention highlight!

The band who had travelled from Holland to join us took a break whilst the audience voted for their favourite contestant. When the band came on we had in store a treat for Queen Fan Jim Stephenson who joined the band onstage for a great rendition of Crazy Little Thing Called Love. It certainly was crazy! Don’t think Jim knew what hit him – a memory HE will never forget I’m sure!

It was then time for what we had been waiting for. The winner of The Q Factor 2007 – DEBBIE ATWOOD. Congratulations to her but to all the finalists as well! Who’s for the Q Factor 2008? Redsox then gave an impromptu show themselves to the delight of all. A MASSIVE thank you to Jamie, Spike, Neil and John for coming along – hope you enjoyed it as much as the crowd did!

The final interview panel of the weekend started the evening off. Last but by no means least, PETER “PHOEBIE�? FREESTONE joined Jacky onstage to a huge convention welcome. There were some heart wrenching questions asked to him which he answered honestly. Lots of emotion showed through and you could hear a pin drop in the hall as people listened intensely to his every word. There were so many questions from the floor and Jim had the roving mic this time! There is probably still more questions to be asked to Peter and we hope he will come back again to be put under the spotlight. The applause was deafening which goes to show how much he was enjoyed. A massive thank you to Peter for travelling from Czech Republic to join us. He complemented the fans and said Freddie would be proud! These interview panels have become a major highlight of the conventions. There will be more at next years convention so make sure you’re in attendance. Maybe you will have a question to ask the guests?

More QTV available Freddie Tribute 10th Anniversary Edition, The Cross Live In Geneva and Queen On Fire in Milton Keynes. Whilst in the ballroom, the Prize Presentation for all the Champion Queen Fans. Jacky decorated them with their badge of honour! Our very own VAL MOSS helped with the three raffle prizes, the Fan Clubs, Trevor Horswells and the Mercury Phoenix Trust. Congrats to the lucky winners, they received some fantastic prizes.

RHAPSODY took to the stage for the final live gig of the weekend and they rocked Sunday night away. Opera singer 18yo AMY FULLER joined the band for Barcelona. The crowd showed their appreciation.

The final disco gave us more music, more videos and more entertainment. Who could believe this was the THIRD night? Everybody was having such a fantastic time quite a few thought it was only the 2nd night! The sheer joy and happiness on peoples faces said it all! There is a mixture of all ages at the convention which gives a good balance and the youngsters playing with their toy guitars to grand parents dancing with them is a sight to behold!

Keith thanked all those people involved in making the convention such a success. The roar of agreement from the floor spoke thousands of words! Jacky came on stage and thanked Keith for everything he does – more cheers! Into the finale and the atmosphere is like at a concert. The dance floor full of fans singing and swaying – Friends will be friends indeed!

Let’s make next years XXIII sold out too – make sure you are there to join in the party – this show definitely goes on and we wouldn’t want it any other way. See you all in 2008 – whos going to be there?

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