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QOL 18th Annual International Queen Fan Club Convention

18th Annual International Queen Fan Club Convention

‘Rock Till You Drop’ – the slogan of this weekend to celebrate our favourite rock band QUEEN – and boy we did! It was that time of year again where nearly 2000 ardent Queen fans converge onto Pontins Holiday Camp in Prestatyn, North Wales. It really is the event to attend if you are a faithful follower and there are those who make the pilgrimage year in, year out and this year was no exception and a few ‘Queenvirgins’ attended too. The weekend is a 65 hour non-stop party and everything Queen. No matter where you go on the camp site its Queen – even in the toilet! The bar had Queen cocktails on sale too! Tasty.

Friday afternoon and registration is quick and efficient. Pontins sensibly opened up their Queen Vic bar so that was the meeting place for the first couple of hours. Once you had checked into your chosen chalet you could switch on the TV and see the first of many exclusive concerts shown throughout the weekend on QTV or in the main function rooms and some on two huge screens which adorn the main stage. To start the ball rolling – Brian May Live In South America.

If you want to see some video onstage live performances this is the place to be whether to bring back those happy memories for those who were there or for others who sadly weren’t to see why Queen became so big and the greatest rock band of all time! A concert history of the band is seen right from their Rainbow show from 74 and who can forget their Christmas Concert from 75 – or how about their record breaking Hyde Park show from the drought summer of 76 – or their 1977 silver jubilee show at Earls Court – pipe band et al – or their live killers performance from Paris in 79 – also their Kampuchea show from Boxing Day the same year – the stadium shows from 81 in Argentina and Brazil are powerful to watch and it shows how Queen conquered the world – two Japanese shows from 82 and 85 respectively are also shown – the list goes on and on!

Adrian Hopkins and his team were on hand to provide Queen merchandise for those wanting to purchase, amongst other things, their annual convention tee shirt – didn’t take long for a queue to build up.

An official welcome was made by fan club president JACKY SMITH to a huge cheer and when she played a message from BRIAN MAY which had been especially recorded for the convention a bigger cheer could be heard!

Jacky then introduced the first live performance of the weekend – fans had waited sometime to see the spectacle that was about to appear – German cover band MAYQUEEN. They rocked and rolled and had their audience singing and swaying to the songs we love so much. Lead singer Mirko Baumer had the audience in the palm of his hand! Following that was a three hour disco – rock till you drop indeed! Parties continued for some in their own private chalets well into the early hours.

Saturday morning arrived with the sun shining brightly with hangovers for some and for those sporting buddies amongst the crowd could register and take part in a number of activites which included snooker, crazy golf, table tennis or tug-of-war. There was even a Queen Aerobics session! For those wanting something more relaxing they could walk round the ‘market place’ and maybe look for that cd you wanted to complete your collection or maybe find an autograph or two! In the same room was an Arts & Craft exhibition by some very talented fans – well done guys!

Time to sit and relax and watch Queen in Amsterdam from last years Queens Day and exclusively the 2002 Walk Of Fame “thank you�? concert from Los Angeles too. Later we had a definite highlight of the weekend and a world premiere of the new exciting forthcoming DVD release of Live At Wembley 86 – this time the concert in its entirety – yes including the rock and roll medley AND “Big Spender�? in this two hour show! Simon Lupton has painstakingly worked on this project since the beginning of the year and presented the showing. It went down a storm! The quality of sound and picture were stunning and is a must purchase on its release! Simon promised more treats the following day when some of the bonus disc would be shown!

Next up was the charity auction. Monies were raised for Phoenix Trust and Winged Fellowship. Some great items in the lots this year – with personal items from the band. The auction was interrupted slightly to help a long term fan, Jacqui Batty celebrate her 40th birthday. Jacqui used to organise and distribute the goody-bags at many of the conventions and when she climbed onto the stage everyone sang “Happy Birthday�? to her – aah (enjoy your 40th year Jacqui).

To start the evening proceedings we had a special Queen Quiz – Gimme The Prize 2 where 2 teams of 4 battled it out to be the champions! A cross between University Challenge and other quiz shows, there were team questions and an individual round which included a mime rendition of “Fairy Fellers Master-Stroke�? – ahem! Amusing or what??!! Jacky was the quizmaster with Jim and the Arena team keeping score.

A re-screening of Brians message and some exclusive messages from the cast of We Will Rock You – The Musical followed to rapturous applause. (Jacky – stop drooling over Tony Vincent ). The fancy dress parade showed how much work and effort goes into the making of the costumes – top marks! There were two themes this year – We Will Rock You – The Musical and Black & White – the crowd choose the winners!

What followed next was a major highlight of the weekend and for many a highlight of all conventions! Another live band curtesy of top American rock singer JEFF SCOTT SOTO and his band with Howie Simon, Gary Schutt and Alex Papa. This was Jeff’s third appearance before a Queen Fan Club audience and it was his best to date! The band peformed a 2 and half hour set and it was a blinder! The set included an acoustic solo performance and songs such as “Jealousy�? – “Nevermore�? and “Lily Of The Valley�? were haunting – and “Dear Friends�? accapella astounding! Really! This was one awesome show – exclusive to the convention! The crowd yelled for more and were treated to an encore. It was obvious why Brian and Roger were impressed with this singer in LA last year!

Everyone then had the energy to dance for another three hours – unbelieveable – rock till you drop is so true! Partying carried on throughout the night and into Sunday morning. Some bright ideas come up when you have been up all night and drinking and this was no exception! Jacky asked Mr Jeff Scott Soto at 6 in the morning would he perform again on the Sunday evening! “What?�? he cried – “Ive had too many martinis and I’ll never be able to sing – and apart from that the equipment has been taken away……�? – solution – “how about an unplugged show�? asked Jacky – and without further ado – he agreed – yes! Why not rock till you drop!

Couple of hours later day three of the convention would be underway with more sporting competitions! How people played football is beyond me – there must have been some hangovers amongst the players! Volleyball, darts, more golf and tug-of-war finals during the day too – very competitive as well!

A non-Queen quiz took place for a bit of fun while in the main ballroom Collectors Corner had fans showing their collection pieces to all – and some having them valued by our resident experts on hand to answer all types of questions.

Jacky and Val brought along costume display of the bands stage gear – which included , amongst many others, Freddies red and white stripe shorts that he wore on tour in 1976! All band members were represented.. This really was an excellent display.

Simon Lupton returned to the stage with colleague Reece to explain what was included on the three hour bonus disc that accompanied the Live At Wembley 86 show. What a treat – never seen before footage of the Friday nights show – and it was so different to the Saturdays was shown to the conventioneers. They explained how you could watch any of the band members individually using special cams! Nice touch. After the showing we had a question and answer session for both of the guys. Hopefully they will be back next year with the second instalment…

Time for lazing on a Sunday afternoon now for the first of two interview sessions. To start with a flash back to Freddies past with two friends from ‘up North’ – Ken Testi and Mike Bersin. A power point presentation accompanied the session, which was ably conducted by James Hogg. Mike was the guitarist in two of Freddies bands Ibex and Wreckage and Ken was Ibexs manager come roadie come general dogsbody and was really Queens first manager, even though he doesn’t like taking the credit for that! Ken instigated Queens first recording sessions. It was very interesting to hear what record companies refused to take Queen on after hearing the De Lane Lea recordings. Fools – all of them! Mike told many amusing stories and anecdotes of his time with Freddie. Both of these guys who were around members of Queen from 1969-1972. They talked of Freddie and the others with such affection. A question and answer session from the floor rounded up the interview. A definite highlight of the weekend and pure joy to listen to.

Without further ado our next interview session, this time hosted by Jim Jenkins was with Tim Staffell and he brought along two other members of his band Richard and John. Tim of course goes further back in the Queen history story than Ken and Mike! They brought along with them recordings of their forthcoming album release and played a couple of tracks. We were informed that Brain May featured on the recordings! Last year Tim and his band actually performed at the convention and he said this gave him inspiration to take into the studio to record new songs and revisit his past. Another question and answer session followed and sadly brought this special feature to a close.

Lights dimmed and then we were treated to another world exclusive premiere! Ive never seen such silence and attention to the screen as this presentation for a long time! All eyes to the screen for the showing of WE WILL ROCK YOU – THE MUSICAL – yes all two hours plus of it – we were treated to the whole show in its entirety! How its evolved since its premiere in 2002 is there to see! The applause in Prestatyn could be heard in the Dominion Theatre!

A prize presentation ceremony kicked Sundays evening into action – congratulations to all concerned as the champions collected their medals and trophies and prizes. The charity raffle helped raise more funds for our chosen charities and the top prize of a Brian May replica guitar brought joy and excitement to a happy punter!

The six finalists in the Talent Competition took to the stage for more live entertainment. They all performed extremely well – it aint easy but they can all take a bow! The winners performance was certainly like a bat out of hell.

The stage was then set with six stools and a bar – complete with barman! The unexpected, unpublicised and only arranged a little over 12 hours earlier – and rehearsed for under 2 hours, when once again JEFF SCOTT SOTO and his band, along with backing singers Richard Mace and Pete Walkinshaw took to the stage for an hours acoustic set. Frivolity and music go hand in hand together and this was a stunning performance and showed how strong a voice Jeff really has! Impromptu appearances are always a high point and this was no exception.

The final disco of the weekend blasted from the magnificent sound system and carried on into the early hours of Monday morning. People danced the night away to Queen tunes we love – remixes – solo songs and promo videos you only see at events like this. Unreleased videos always go down a treat – Rogers “Man On Fire�? and “Strange Frontier�? had the dancefloor packed! “Breakthru�? played and this brought the traditional conga train – a sight to behold! Even the security guards stood back and smiled! Now you know what we mean by rock till you drop!

The atmosphere was electric, friendly, happy and everyone well behaved, there’s nothing quite like it – really! Keith Harris from Arena sadly missed the convention due to illness – a card was made available for everyone to sign. Next year the Queen Fan Club celebrates its 30th anniversary – now that is a feat in itself – and celebrations will begin with the 19th convention – be there – miss it at your peril – lets make it the biggest Queen party of all time – one we will talk about for years to come– remember if you cant beat em – join em and you can rock till you drop!

Jim Jenkins

QOL Features