Brian May says that he’s planned an immersive ABBA-style Queen show, but there’s one big reason it won’t happen: “I have serious misgivings about that”
With ABBA Voyage contributing billions to the UK economy, it’s clear that digital concerts have plenty of appeal. Hell, even Kiss are continuing their legacy in digital form, penning in an avatar-led 2027 tour following their 2023 retirement. However, Brian May isn’t keen to digitise Queen just yet – especially if the process involved AI.
Speaking to The Times, May confirms that he never wants to tour again. He decided 18 months ago, prompted by the death of a close family friend. “I said to my tour manager, ‘I’ll just nip home for a few days and come back’, and she looked me in the eyes and said, ‘You know you can’t do that’,” he recalls. “I love to play, I love to travel, but the trade-off is sacrificing your freedom.”
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However, May doesn’t want his retirement from touring to mean the end of Queen. In fact, May and dummer Roger Taylor are interested in preserving the magic of Queen in some alternative live experience. Taylor notes that him and May “want to do something fairly revolutionary”, pointing to how ABBA’s ABBA Voyage experience changed the game.
“Not as Abba did, but along those lines,” May chimes in to clarify. “Last year I went to the Las Vegas Sphere. My juices started flowing and I sketched out a whole Queen show. I think an immersive experience is still on the cards and it could conquer time and space…”
Sounds marvellous, right? Unfortunately, May isn’t keen to set the ball rolling on anything too ambitious, as his current vision seems impossible without the aid of AI – something he is strongly against. “Currently you can’t make it without AI and I have serious misgivings about that,” he emphasises.
The Times article even reveals that May even pulled the plug on a music video last month after find out the directors had used AI. The track in question is My Angels Are Calling, a Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour track he and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons featured on.
As a result of the firing, the current video is pretty simple, primarily shot on green screen, but the alternative use of AI was not an option for May. “Data centres are a massive evil and have to be fought,” the guitarist says.
“My message to Andy Burnham [the UK Prime Minister] is clear: stop it now before it’s too late. It’s trashing our future. We all ‘like’ AI. It helps us write emails. It’s even saved a few lives. But the harm it is bringing to the world is immense.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
