2010 Year in Review: Queen

While most fans expect that 2011 will be an exciting year for Queen, given that it marks the band's 40th anniversary, personally 2010 was a rather marvelous year for me.

Of course, the big news is that in July, I met Dr. Brian May, Queen's guitarist. Click here to read my account of the day.

Though I didn't go into detail here, my encounter with Dr. May did not end that evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The next morning, I emailed Dr. May and thanked him for signing my book and CD. I also provided him with a link to my blog entry about meeting him with the explanation that I thought it might provide him with a bit of amusement.

To my surprise and delight, Dr. May responded! His message was short and simple, but enough to give me a thrill. Many fans have contacted Dr. May on a variety of topics yet a very small percentage report receiving any type of reply.

And believe it or not my excitement didn't end there! Later that weekend, I received another email from the woman who designs Dr. May's website. In her email, she wrote that Dr. May had in fact looked at my blog post and rather liked some of the pictures that Husband had taken of the lecture. She asked if I could send larger versions of the pictures and if I would allow Dr. May to use the pictures on his website.

Of course, I agreed and sent the photos along. Sadly, the lecture at which I met Dr. May was right in the middle of a busy touring schedule and once he had time to make a decision about using the pictures, it was too late. In fact, he never even wrote about the New York book signings on his blog (a highly unusual occurrence as he typically documents all his comings and goings in his Soapbox).

Just knowing that he had actually laid eyes on my blog though, even if it was just long enough to admire Husband's pictures, provided me with another great thrill and made my experience of meeting him even sweeter!

In honor of my momentous meeting, I spent the year thinking "all foxes, all of the time" (as a nod to Dr. May's Save Me campaign which hopes to prevent the return of fox hunting in the U.K.) Anthropologie was more than happy to help feed my new fetish and had an entire line of fox themed clothing and housewares this fall.

Sadly, I was sized out of the Fox tights, which ran a bit short and my evil evil evil sister had the nerve of fitting into the lone size Medium of the Wily Sweater left in my store (I'd tried it on earlier in the season but needed a size Large. See her review of the sweater here.) The fox candles were a Christmas gift from my mom as was the ornament which is now proudly displayed in my office next to my photograph of Dr. May. The children's sweater was adorable but unfortunately too pricey for any little boys that we know. And the button.

HEY!

RT, how did you sneak that button into my photo montage of fox items at Anthropologie?

The button was also a Christmas present, from my sister's two dogs Jack and Docker. I laughed for a good five minutes after opening the package and the button is now up in my office bulletin board.

The rest of the year was characterized by lots of frustration and lots of waiting. Waiting for the RT solo album that he originally began promising in November 2009. Waiting for news of the band's new record deal with Universal. Waiting for the release of the Hammersmith Odeon Christmas Eve concert from 1975 which has been rumored since last Christmas.

We did receive a new Rock Band track pack, which as far as I'm concerned was worth the wait. In addition to new lesser known songs like Tenement Funster, Now I'm Here, and Keep Yourself Alive, I can finally sing harmonies on previous Rock Band favorites like Somebody to Love and Killer Queen. I also convinced Husband to download the track pack early enough that I was ranked #2 on Pro Drums Expert for We Will Rock You. Not too shabby.

And though the boys weren't in the studio working on their own solo projects or Queen material, they did find time to play on a few albums released over the course of 2010. Both RT and Dr. May appeared on Taylor Hawkins' side project Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Rider's second CD, Red Light Fever (click here for a review of that CD and the concert that Husband and I attended in May). And Dr. May produced and played on Kerry Ellis's CD Anthems which was released this fall in addition to finding time to play on Meatloaf's album Hang Cool Teddy Bear.

We'll see what 2011 has in store for Queen fans. Personally, I'd love the opportunity to see the boys play live though I recognize that any shows would likely be abroad. With that in mind, I'm also hopefully that We Will Rock You, the musical, finally makes it to Broadway and when it does, rest assured, I'll be in the front row cheering ecstatically!

Tonight is New Year's Eve and tomorrow is 2011! So exciting!

See everyone next year!