Rock legends Queen would not have played Bristol this week if the arena had been built in the city centre, insists Marvin Rees. The mayor says the original site, now known as Temple Island, had room only for “one or two” trucks but the iconic band brought 40 articulated lorries when they became the first act to grace the YTL Bristol Arena at the Brabazon Hangars.
Queen, fronted by lead singer Adam Lambert, have been secretly rehearsing at the former Filton Airfield for their upcoming Rhapsody tour and played some of their classic hits on Monday, May 23, to a small, invited audience. Mr Rees, who scrapped the original plans for what was then known as Arena Island in September 2018, told a fortnightly press conference on Wednesday that his decision was crucial in attracting the world’s biggest pop artists to the city.
He said Queen’s performance, which developer YTL said marked a “key milestone” in the venue’s journey to becoming a top-five global music arena, was a “very significant” moment that showed “what the venue could be”. Bristol’s Labour mayor said: “If you line up all the questions around the arena, it just makes sense.
