Queen drummer Roger Taylor takes to the stage wearing a scuba mask in footage from a recent concert in Australia that was plagued by rain.
The veteran rocker, 70, is seen taking a bow while wearing the diving equipment in the clip from the band’s documentary mini-series, Roadies In Lockdown.
In February, Queen and singer Adam Lambert battled heavy rain to perform for fans at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
🆕 Roadies in Lockdown: A Rhapsody Tour Lockumentary series! 📽️Episode 1 “Bill, just joking, you can have your shirt open if you want…”. Andy Bews – Show Stage Manager.Watch the full episode here ➡️ https://t.co/BKHI2l7dDQ#QALRoadies pic.twitter.com/EbR5m19aky
— Queen (@QueenWillRock) June 26, 2020
The performance features in episode three of Queen’s YouTube “lockumentary”, created during lockdown by the band’s tour video director Steve Price.
Sam Augustus, who engineers Queen’s BlackTrax lighting system, which automatically follows bandmembers on stage, recalls the gig in a video interview from his home.
He says: “Just before the encore, normally I go up to the quick change and check on the band and just help out if there are any adjustments that need to be made with any of the technology.
“Because the Brisbane show had been rainy – very rainy – I thought I would try and lighten the mood by wearing my scuba mask and snorkel that I just happened to have next to my computer terminal.
“So I went into the quick change wearing this and Roger took one look and was like ‘Can I wear that when we go back on the stage?’
“And lo and behold at the end of the show Roger was wearing it for the bow.”
Augustus said preparations for the show had become so chaotic they became funny.
He added: “At some point when you are working on a show of that nature, where it is raining and everything is chaotic, it just becomes so bad that it gets funny.
“The mood actually lifts after an initial low point.
“It was funny and quite farcical in ways, but we managed to pull off a proper rock show. It was great.”
The mini-series features live footage shot before the pandemic, as well as interviews with bass technician Jez Webb, and show stage manager Andy Bews.
Episodes are available on Queen’s YouTube channel.