Shane’s Queen Site gets a major revamp and site move

Shane’s Queen Site gets a major revamp and site move

by | Nov 29, 2016 | Personal

After a few month’s redevelopment Shane’s Queen Site is now resident on shanemcdonald.ie having moved from the old queen.shanemcdonald.org address.

My Queen website started life on tinet one of the pre-eircom web hosting solutions dating back to 1998. At that time it was a 2 page site and very basic. Over the next 6 years it grew and I eventually hosted it on my shanemcdonald.org server with the Queen subdomain. By 2008, the queen site was getting about 500 hits per day and was growing. I even got the attention of one of the Queen roadies, Peter Since, who asked me to review his book. I had a very enjoyable few weeks emailing Peter about his experiences with Freddie and Queen.

Since 2011 the site had not been as regularly updated as I would have wished. Also with the advent of the Google mobile friendly SEO penalties, the traffic on the site was decreasing. So earlier this year I made the decision to review the content on shanemcdonald.org and move everything to a distinctly Irish .ie domain. First the blog and main site (which you are currently reading) and next the Queen site which migrated fully last Saturday evening at 11pm.

What’s on Shane’s Queen Site?

The Queen website started life as a home for the chords and tab which I transcribed by hand. I found that many of the books you bought were incorrect or used very general chords – listing an F where an Fsus4 was the actual chord etc. Since then the site has included discographies, books and book reviews, information about the band, polls, and a few other areas of interest to any Queen fan. I intend to update a few sections before the end of the year and I may add a few new sections in 2017 including a ‘Learn to Play Queen’ section where I will upload videos of how to play certain Queen songs….

If you want to take a look, the address is www.shanemcdonald.ie/queen 

Enjoy !

Shane's Queen Site
Win tickets to Flash Harry at The Academy Dublin

Win tickets to Flash Harry at The Academy Dublin

by | Aug 15, 2016 | Ireland

Sorry The Flash Harry Competition is now Closed !!!

MCD Productions Present Flash Harry, A Celebration of Queen at The Academy Dublin on 17th September.

The Winner of the Flash Harry at the Academy tickets was “Amy Keenan” – thanks to all who entered

Win 2 Tickets to Flash Harry at The Academy Dublin

Simply Share this post via the Share-bar to be in the draw.

The Share-bar is normally to the left on desktop. On mobile is it on the bottom of the screen and shows Facebook and Twitter icons

For an extra chance of winning, leave a comment with your favourite Queen song below.

Winners will be notified by 5th September (Freddie Mercury’s Birthday coincidentally). The winners must be available to attend the concert at The Academy Dublin on 17th September.

 

About Flash Harry

Flash Harry presents a show that embraces the very essence of live music, talent, energy, passion and pure showmanship. Audiences will see the band rocking out Queen’s greatest hits. These include hits like One Vision, Radio Ga Ga, We Are the Champions and Bohemian Rhapsody and more.

The band Flash Harry has been celebrating the music of Queen for over 20 years. I myself am a huge Queen fan and envy Stevie Prosser’s job as keyboard player. I myself can play any Queen song and I would be listening closely to the musicians. I saw these guys a few years ago in the Forum Waterford and they were very accurate. Their sounds was very good in the way the songs were delivered.

These guys have sold out major venues time after time, including Belfast’s Grand Opera House, Waterfront Hall, Dublin’s O2, and even the Royal Albert Hall in London. Their own-style “The Magic of Queen – Rocked Up and Classical” show, incorporating a 64-piece orchestra and 40-voice choir, filled one of the biggest venues in Ireland, Belfast’s Odyssey Arena, to capacity on three separate occasions, earning the guys their place in Irish Rock Music legend.

After an amazing non-stop 20 years delivering unforgettable shows in top notch venues, the reason for Flash Harry’s success is simple, it’s a show of hit after hit, delivered with the very essence of live performance: energy, enthusiasm, talent, passion and pure showmanship.

Flash Harry are five musicians who love to perform. It is not about recreating the exact sights or sound of Queen; it’s about creating the excitement, energy and spectacle of a live show, but they capture the essence of Queen very well. The audience feeds off the performance just as much as the band. It is the catalogues of songs that are the real stars of this show and they are performed with total love for the music by a band guaranteed to deliver

The music of Queen is universal in its appeal, and has been the sound track of the last 40 years. Rarely will a show reach across generations and deliver as much as Flash Harry – a celebration of Queen. If you are a Queen fan I highly recommend you see Flash Harry at The Academy Dublin on 17th September 2016.

Flash Harry are:
Stevie Boyd – Guitar and vocals
John ‘Click’ Cleland – Bass guitar and vocals
Harry Hamilton – Lead vocals
Stevie Prosser – Keyboards and vocals
Stevie Shanks – Drums

Win Tickets to Flash Harry at The Academy Dublin

Buy Tickets - Flash Harry at The Academy

Tickets to Flash Harry – A Celebration of Queen at The Academy Dublin – €28.
On sale now from Ticketmaster.ie

Buy Tickets - Flash Harry at The Academy
Queen angered as Trump uses We are the Champions

Queen angered as Trump uses We are the Champions

by | Jul 21, 2016 | In The News

Rock band Queen (my favourite band as you probably know by now) have lodged the latest protest against Donald Trump. The presidential candidate played the band’s famous 1970s anthem ‘We Are the Champions’ at the Republican National Convention.

The song was used without the consent of the band and Donald Trump took the stage with ‘We Are the Champions’ playing in the background, walking through a cloud of dry ice on Monday.

The Queen guitarist, Brian May has said that, whatever Queen’s views on Mr. Trump, it did not allow politicians to play Queen songs. The song was written Freddie Mercury and was released on 7th October 1977 on the News of the World album. It is one of the most recognisable Queen songs and is played at many sporting events.

Adam Lambert, is currently performing Queen on tour, has been much more up front with his opinions. He is quoted as saying, “If your political party spends decades treating gay people as second class citizens, then guess what: You don’t get to use Freddie Mercury’s music at your convention,” Lambert, who is also gay, expressed his opinions on Twitter.

Other musicians and artists have had their music played by Donald Trump including the Rolling Stones, REM, Neil Young and even Adele. if you want the video you can here another song just fading out at the start of the video… so Queen were not the only artists who’s music was used without permission.

What I don’t understand is why these artists don’t sue Donald Trump for usage etc. I really dislike the attitude currently being displayed by Donald Trump in this regard. Blatantly playing copyright protected music without first seeking permission.

What do you think? Should these artists be upset about the music being used. Or is it just a case that the music is getting some extra publicity. I’m not sure if it is related but Queen Greatest Hits 1 is at position 72 in the UK album charts , up 14 places from last week when it was in 86 position …. Coincidence?

Queen Live at Wembley – 30 Years Ago Today

Queen Live at Wembley – 30 Years Ago Today

by | Jul 12, 2016 | In The News

On this day 30 years ago, 12th July, 1986, Queen took to the stage at Webmley Stadium for what I feel is probably their best performance. The concert, part of the Magic Tour, was recorded and the album was released on 26 May 1992, with a DVD released in June 2003.

I first saw this Queen concert in 1989 when The Tube, an ITV program, broadcast sections of the show late one Sunday evening.

It is certainly one of my favourite live concerts and I regularly put it on and with my piano and guitar turned to 11 (spinal tap reference), I jam away to it. The first 2 tracks kick the concert off with a bang, ‘One Vision’ and ‘Tie your Mother Down’. Other excellent tracks in the performance include Queen hitls like  ‘A Kind of Magic’, ‘I want to Break Free’, ‘Love of My Life’ (with the audience joining in) and a poignant ‘Who Wants to Live forever’ where Freddie says “we’re gonna stay together until we fucking well die, I’m sure of it.” Apparently the band knew of his illness at that stage.

If you haven’t seen the concert it is certainly worth taking a look at, as Queen pump out hit after hit.

Track listing

“One Vision” – 5:50
“Tie Your Mother Down” – 3:52
“In the Lap of the Gods… Revisited” – 2:44
“Seven Seas of Rhye” – 1:19
“Tear It Up” – 2:12
“A Kind of Magic” – 8:41
“Under Pressure” – 3:41
“Another One Bites the Dust” – 4:54
“Who Wants to Live Forever” – 5:16
“I Want to Break Free” – 3:34
“Impromptu” – 2:55
“Brighton Rock Solo” – 9:11
“Now I’m Here” – 6:19
“Love of My Life” – 4:47
“Is This the World We Created…?” – 2:59
“(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care” – 1:34
“Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart)” – 1:24
“Tutti Frutti” ( – 3:23[4] “Gimme Some Lovin'” – 0:55
“Bohemian Rhapsody” – 5:50
“Hammer to Fall” – 5:36
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” – 6:27
“Big Spender” – 1:07
“Radio Ga Ga” – 5:57
“We Will Rock You” – 2:46
“Friends Will Be Friends” – 2:08
“We Are the Champions” – 4:05
“God Save the Queen” – 1:27

Queen Looking at new Frontman?

by | May 23, 2009 | Music

American Idol contestant Adam Lambert may be in line to do a gig or two with Queen. According to rock magazine, Rolling Stone, Queen guitarist Brian May was notably ‘impressed with Lambert’ on this week’s American Idol finale and mentioned that they may work together in the future.

in 2004, Queen reunited with Paul Rodgers, but Lamberts style was in line with ‘doing a Freddie’ which is a tall order for any singer. Earlier this year Queen’s partnership with Rodgers was mutually ended. It could happen that Queen will have a chat with Adam Lambert and possibly, Queen could have a new lead singer.

I saw Queen in Paris in 2005, along with Paul Rodgers and he was very impressive – however, he was not doing a Freddie Mercury style performance, rather singing the songs in a Queen/Free fusion. I’m not sure what Adam Lambert might be like as a leader singer – perhaps the video below might help make your minds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vFYn-JD8II&NR=1 – Note this link may be removed as American Idol videos are never usually left on-line very long !