Roger Taylor has revealed the release of The Outsider Tour Live, a 22-song LP of tracks recorded during the Queen drummer’s most recent tour supporting the release of his 2021 solo album Outsider, due out Sept. 30.
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The concerts, which took place in the U.K. in October 2021, were the first for Taylor outside of Queen in more than 20 years. Backed by his touring band guitarist Christian Mendoza, keyboardist Spike Edney, bassist Neil Fairclough, drummer Tyler Warren, and multi-instrumentalist Tina Keys, The Outsider Tour Live highlights the Outsider album, which Taylor wrote during the pandemic lockdown, and also brings an element of “escapism” to the live shows with scattered in covers and Queen classics.
“I just want everybody to enjoy it,” said Taylor, “get away from the depressing time we’d been having.”
Throughout The Outsider Tour Live—available on LP, CD, and digital formats—are a sprinkling of covers, pulled from specific shows on the tour, including David Bowie’s “Heroes,” Led Zeppelin’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti,” the latter featuring a surprise appearance by Queen bandmate Brian May. The guitarist stayed on through the Taylor-penned Queen classics “A Kind of Magic” and the closing “Radio Ga Ga,” during his London show.
Taylor also leaves his own stamp on renditions of Queen songs “Tenement Funster,” “These Are The Days Of Our Lives,” and “Under Pressure.”
“I don’t try and sound like Queen or not like Queen,” said Taylor of The Outsider Queen tracks. “I just want it to be me.”
“Surrender,” off Taylor’s fourth solo album Electric Fire in 1998, features touring bandmate Keys on vocals. Addressing domestic violence—Same cycle happen every day / Same characters same play / My game plan’s become clear / Gotta find a way out of here / There ain’t no place to run / No welcome mat in my home / No love here, no life / He want a punchbag, not a wife—the song led to more widespread attention on the subject within the UK when it was initially released and was also adopted by the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in promoting zero tolerance.
“While I’m still able to do it, I really want to embrace it,” said Taylor of his live Outsider performances. “I can still clobber away, but I like to think I clobber with more subtlety these days.”
Photo: Lola Leng Taylor / Reybee PR
