Queen + Paul Rodgers - Live in Ukraine (2009)

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Queen + Paul Rodgers - Live in Ukraine (2009)

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When it comes to taking on logic-defying challenges, Queen have never fought shy: think Hyde Park, Latin America, Live Aid. All these years later, Queen are still living adventurously. Here's the case in point: just weeks ahead of the start of the band's 2008 Queen + Paul Rodgers' The Cosmos Rocks tour the band were approached to help Ukraine's Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation reach out to the youth of the country with the message 'Don't Let Aids Ruin Your Life'. In a country facing the highest rising rate of infection throughout Europe, it is a message which cannot wait. For Queen + Paul Rodgers - already well prepared for a tour opening with two nights at Moscow's SCO arena, it would mean some drastic rethinking. The venue on offer was Kharkov, Ukraine's, historic Freedom Square, a place so big that during World War II it was used to land planes. For the band and crew it meant "Everyone had to run very fast, very suddenly, but then most of the great and worthwhile things in your life are a little dangerous." Despite the seeming impossibility of it, Queen + Paul Rodgers made it to Freedom Square for the night of September 12, 2008. Over 350,000 Ukrainians came to see them play and more than 10 million homes watched the show live on television. In all, more than 20 million took part in what the band recall as "an unforgettable experience…one of those rare things in life you know you will never forget. A meeting in Music, but also a coming together to fight a common enemy…"

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Queen + Paul Rodgers - Live in Ukraine (2009)

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Queen + Paul Rodgers - Live in Ukraine (2009)

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Queen + Paul Rodgers - Live in Ukraine (2009)

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Queen + Paul Rodgers - Live in Ukraine (2009)

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Queen + Paul Rodgers - Live in Ukraine (2009)

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