A KIND OF MAGIC: Roger Taylor, Shepherd's Bush Empire, 22nd October 2021
Roger Taylor in the spotlight, Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 22nd October 2021 (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
My youngest daughter, Izzie, grew up against the steep, unapologetic backdrop of my musical tastes. I like to think I didn't entirely force-feed her my record collection, but some of the sounds stuck. So much so that she took her own deep dive into the history of the heavy hitters: The Beatles, Genesis, Billy Joel, and, most notably, Queen.
Stirred by the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic, her fascination turned into full-blown obsession. In 2019, I managed to fuel the fire by taking her to see Queen and Adam Lambert at Madison Square Garden. It was an unbelievable experience, but it was massive—an arena spectacle.
The real magic, it turned out, was waiting for us in a much tighter space.
The Reckless Sprint
Fast forward a couple of years. We discovered Roger Taylor was touring his solo album, Outsider, and by some stroke of absolute luck, I bagged two face-value tickets for the final night at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
When I say last-minute, I mean it. Tickets secured at Friday lunchtime. A frantic text sent to Izzie: Meet me after school, we’re catching the Leeds to London train. It was tight. The kind of reckless, illogical starting point that forces you to drop everything and run. But sometimes you have to trust the compass, not worry about the detailed logistics, and just get on the train.
We made it. Perched way up in the upper tiers of the old theatre, we had a proper birds-eye view of the stage. While the room filled, Izzie’s sharp eyes scanned the crowd, spotting rock royalty and family members in the stalls—Rufus Tiger Taylor, Tigerlily Taylor, and the legendary Pattie Boyd. You could feel the humidity and the collective hum of anticipation circulate the room.
Then the lights went down.
New, Old and Borrowed
The opening strains of Sigur Rós’s Hoppípolla drifted across the old venue, and the band took the stage to a deafening welcome for an all-in-black Roger Taylor.
They promptly tore into a set that was beautifully balanced: something new, something old, and plenty borrowed from the Queen catalogue. The musicianship was fluid and fierce. Christina Hizon’s vocals lifted Surrender into the rafters, and Christian Mendoza’s lead guitar work ignited Man On Fire.
But the room was about to shift on its axis.
The view of the Gods from the Gods (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
For the encore, Taylor walked back out for a stripped-back, almost a cappella version of Tutti Frutti. The crowd was locked in, shouting the call-and-response—“A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom”—back at the stage.
Then, the dry ice parted.
Unannounced, Brian May walked out into the spotlight. Already plugged in, he struck a chord, and turbo-charged the song into rock ’n’ roll heights that would have made Little Richard whoop.
The place completely erupted. The sheer, deafening weight of the euphoric noise was physical. I think I nearly had to peel Izzie off the ceiling. It was one of those rare, unscripted moments that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up—even now, years later, just typing it out.
As Taylor gleefully shouted into the mic, “It’s my brother from another mother,” they tore straight into an incendiary A Kind Of Magic. The crowd went from hysterical to absolute liftoff
Brian May enters the stage (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
Joining the Quorum
You go to gigs for decades hoping to see something truly historic, a one-off alignment of the stars. This was it. We were looking at a genuine Queen quorum: Taylor, May, and the long-time "fifth member" Spike Edney, flanked by Tyler Warren and Neil Fairclough.
When May finally departed, the remaining band brought us back down to earth with a couple of brilliant covers—Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll and Bowie’s Heroes—before the anthemic Radio Ga Ga closed the night for good.
It wasn't a run-of-the-mill gig. It was a reminder of why we chase the noise, why we buy the records, and why we pass these musical maps down to our children.
It really was a kind of magic.
Seat: Level 3 Unreserved Seating/ Standing
Set list:
01. Hoppípolla (taped intro)
02. Strange Frontier
03. Tenement Funster
04. We're All Just Trying To Get By
05. A Nation Of Haircuts
06. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
07. Up
08. Gangsters Are Running This World
09. Absolutely Anything
10. Surrender
11. Man On Fire
12. Rock It (Prime Jive)
13. Under Pressure
14. Say It's Not True
15. I'm In Love With My Car
16. Outsider
17. More Kicks
18. Drum Battle
19. Foreign Sand (English Mix)
20. Tutti Frutti
21. A Kind Of Magic
22. Rock And Roll
23. Heroes
24. Radio Ga Ga
Thanks to QueenConcerts (www.queenconcerts.com) for the setlist
