A Queen Italian Day was celebrated on 26th November 2011 at Palapanini in Modena

It was one of the most heartfelt and greatest tributes ever organised in Italy to commemorate the life and the 20th anniversary of the death of the unforgettable Freddie Mercury.  It was a sincere homage to Queen music. Thousands of all-aged fans flocked together from every part of our “Bel Paese” to watch the evening performances and I’m convinced that nobody was disappointed . 

The atmosphere in the sports hall was incredibly intense. A mixture of happiness and emotions flavoured with moments of strong nostalgia that created a single heart beating as a sign of the friendship and love for the most loved rock band in the world. 

Walking into the venue the audience could immediately see a unique setting with a series of stalls where objects never seen before all together could be admired: from extraordinary historic memorabilia brought by the main collectors for the event, really prestigious items belonging to every Queen period, to the Official Italian Fan Club WWRY stand, where you could also buy a copy of the book “40 Years of Queen”. (which incidentally was soon sold out). Part of the money raised from every sold object will be donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust together with the performance proceeds.

The show started at about 5 pm and it lasted until midnight. On stage there were the main bands from the national panorama. Performing one after the other and whose common aim was to celebrate Queen works with the utmost humility and professionalism. Every setlist was very peculiar as it included different kind of songs, from “Lily Of The Valley” to “Ogre Battle”, from “Let Me Live” to “Liar”, from “White Queen” to “Spread Your Wings”, from “Nevermore” to “You Take My Breath Away”, in addition to all the usual greatest hits that everybody knows. Fans were deeply satisfied and the feeling between the audience and the artists were very intriguing. 

Peter Hince, Queen's historic roadie from their early years until their very last concert, was a special guest. He told the audience his memories and presented the Italian version of his book. Moreover he showed us one of the famous microphone poles used by Freddie during his concerts, one of his tambourines and his microphone, just to let everybody daydream. 

Another highlight of the show to be remembered is Martha Rossi’s performance which was introduced by a video message from Brian May. Martha sang the beautiful Italian version of “We Believe”, adapted by Raffaella Rolla and moved on to an acoustic version of “Love Of My Life” which was incredibly touching.

She joined then the Regina tribute band to sing “Somebody To Love” who led to the grand finale where all tribute bands gathered on stage, as is the norm in all big events. 

Italy celebrated an anniversary full of emotions with an event made unique by all the special things proposed and surely everybody will keep a lasting memory of it in their mind and their heart. 

And once again Queen music was able to unite different generations with such an intensity which can’t be found anywhere else in the world. So…LONG LIVE QUEEN!

Luca Navacchia

With thanks to both Luca and Raffaella Rolla