The soaring success of the film Bohemian Rhapsody, the highest grossing music biopic of all time, has proven that the love for Queen remains as strong as ever. Lifelong New Zealand fans and new converts will be thrilled with the news that Queen original band members Brian May and Roger Taylor are teaming up once more with long-time front-man Adam Lambert on lead vocals and returning to New Zealand in February 2020 for 3 giant stadium shows with a brand-new, spectacular production.
“A beautifully executed tribute to the music that has impacted so many.” – Eventfinda.co.nz
Produced in New Zealand by TEG Dainty, the epic 3 date Rhapsody Tour is set to run from February 5 to February 10, 2020 with an all-new stadium concert experience, including their first ever concerts in Wellington and Dunedin and a return to Auckland. The tour dates are:
Wednesday 5 February Wellington Westpac Stadium
Friday 7 February Auckland Mt Smart Stadium
Monday 10 February Dunedin Forsyth Barr Stadium
Tickets go on sale from www.ticketek.co.nz and www.ticketmaster.co.nz on Wednesday 17 April with tickets on sale from 10am NZST.
Announcing their Rhapsody Tour of New Zealand Roger Taylor said: “We are ready for New Zealand and raring to get back with our new show.”
Adam Lambert said: “We have a brand-new visual spectacle that will reframe these iconic songs and we are excited to reveal the show to New Zealand fans!”
With Brian May adding: “This is a great opportunity. Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever and got us our best notices ever. So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious! Watch out, New Zealand! “
Paul Dainty, President and CEO of TEG-DAINTY said: “With the enormous success of the highest grossing music biopic of all time – Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen’s popularity in New Zealand is as huge as it gets, we can’t wait to bring Queen + Adam Lambert back to New Zealand with this brand new stadium production and watch them bring their iconic songs to life.”
The Rhapsody Tour will debut a brand-new larger-than-life production. Set designer Ric Lipson says: “Queen + Adam Lambert’s Rhapsody tour will, once again for them, expand the parameters of what a live music experience can be. This new show promises to be their most spectacular yet, an innovative and interactive celebration of the continued power of Queen’s music.”
“A joy to behold…the show an absolute delight.” – Stuff.co.nz
Since Adam Lambert first shared the stage with Queen for the 2009 American Idol final, his dynamic performances have reinvigorated the band and delighted fans worldwide. Their first full show thrilled a half-a-million-strong crowd in the Ukraine capital city of Kiev in June 2012. Since then May and Taylor’s musical fireworks have been matched by Lambert’s vocal prowess and stage presence, making for an explosive combination. Over 180 gigs later, the partnership has proven a commercial and critical triumph, playing to enraptured full houses in every corner of the world.
Completing the tour line-up are long-term collaborator Spike Edney on keyboards, Neil Fairclough on bass, and Tyler Warren on percussion.
“There were no stops on this bicycle ride which conjured up feelings of exhilaration, nostalgia, elation and a healthy pinch or two of melancholy.” – 13th Floor.co.nz
Then along came 20th Century Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie has topped the cinema box office in more than 35 countries around the world since its late October release, drawing worldwide box office receipts approaching $900 million. The excitement the film inspired also saw Queen propelled back on to the music charts, where they hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Artist 100 Chart, reminding fans why they loved them and dazzling the previously-uninitiated. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is officially the world’s most-streamed song from the 20th Century, and in NZ, the band scored its highest-charting album in 24 years with the Platinum-selling Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack.
When Freddie sang The Show Must Go On all those years back, even he couldn’t have guessed that Queen music would still be thrilling audiences. Next summer, the stadium stages of New Zealand will be well and truly rocked again.
“Queen + Adam Lambert is such a victory both tonally and in substance that it probably surprises even the most diehard fans of both acts.” – NZ Herald
The New Zealand dates are expected to be part of a wider tour of the region taking in six stadium shows in Australia and likely also several East Asia dates.
Tickets for the RHAPSODY tour go on sale on Wednesday 17 April from 10am NZST. Check www.queenonline.com and www.tegdainty.com for more tour information.
