SONIC UNIVERSE CONCERT: 24/6/2011 a cosmic experience with brian may and tangerine dream
As soon as we approached the Magma Centre in Tenerife we immediately realised this would be a unique and incredible experience. Tangerine Dream and Brian May were sound checking and when they played Marmontel Riding On A Clef and Loved By The Sun it was such a blissful moment to hear the familiar and particular 'Red Special' sound which stood out so well. We were already blown away, but then they rehearsed We Will Rock You! It was quite clear we were heading towards something epic: a cosmic journey through the music of Edgar Froese's Tangerine Dream and Dr May.
The venue was packed full, there was a wide heterogeneous audience with Tangerine Dream and Queen fans as well as scientists, cosmonauts AND students coming from different parts of the world to pay their final tribute to the Starmus Festival organized by the genial astrophysicist Dr Garik Israelian. When we entered the hall we perceived a magic atmosphere. It was one of those moments in life when you understand you're part of an event which will go down in history.
The show in itself was a real blast, over 2 hours of excellent music and strong emotions plus some great moments on stage. Among the highlights there was the song dedicated to the Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov and the short speech he made; Brian trading solos with the Tangerine Dream guitarist Bernhard Beibl, a fantastic version of Last Horizon with Hoshiko Yamane on violin, the amazing flute playing of Linda Spa duetting with Brian on Sally's Garden plus some intense improvising between Edgar and Brian, perfectly in tune with each other and greatly supported by the whole band.
Source: Elias Vecchio, via Queen Online