Queen fans have had 13 years to deal with the death of Freddie Mercury and the fact that the remaining members had no desire to go on without them. They're in for a pleasant surprise, as Queen guitarist Brian May has announced on his website that Queen will reform and tour in early 2005. Apparently May recently played onstage with Paul Rodgers (formerly of Free, Bad Company and The Firm), and they both had such a great time that they've decided to tour together. Queen drummer Roger Taylor will be involved, but there has not been any confirmation as to whether John Deacon will be joining his former bandmates.

Fans of the Warped Tour can start making plans for a series of indoor winter shows being organized by the Warped Tour creator, Kevin Lyman. The Taste Of Chaos tour will kick off on February 18 in Orlando, and feature 38 dates across North America, with a finale on April 2nd in Phoenix. Performers will include The Used, My Chemical Romance, Killswitch Engage, A Static Lullaby, Senses Fail, Converge, Underoath, Saosin, and some special guests.

Taste of Chaos Tour Dates:
Feb 18 Orlando FL
Feb 19 Miami FL
Feb 20 Jacksonville FL
Feb 22 Norfolk VA
Feb 23 Poughkeepsie NY
Feb 24 New York City NY
Feb 25 Philadelphia PA
Feb 26 Asbury Park NJ
Feb 27 Washington DC
Feb 28 Boston MA
Mar 2 Portland ME
Mar 3 Montreal CANADA
Mar 4 Toronto CANADA
Mar 5 London CANADA
Mar 6 Dayton OH
Mar 8 Toledo OH
Mar 9 Chicago IL
Mar 10 Cleveland OH
Mar 11 Detroit MI
Mar 12 Milwaukee WI
Mar 13 Lincoln NE
Mar 14 Minneapolis MN
Mar 15 Champaign/Peoria IL
Mar 16 Fargo or OFF ND
Mar 17 Kansas City/Topeka KS
Mar 18 Dallas TX
Mar 19 Houston TX
Mar 20 Corpus Christi TX
Mar 22 Denver CO
Mar 24 Calgary CANADA
Mar 25 Vancouver CANADA
Mar 26 Seattle WA
Mar 28 San Francisco/San Jose CA
Mar 29 Fresno CA
Mar 30 San Bernardino/Bakersfield/Irvine CA
Mar 31 San Diego CA
Apr 1 Los Angeles CA
Apr 2 Phoenix AZ

The 1985 Live Aid concert, featuring dozens of bands in two concerts in London and Philadelphia, will at last be available on DVD. The concerts were organized by Bob Geldof's Band Aid Trust in an attempt to raise funds to fight the effects of a devastating famine in Africa.

The shows took place on July 13th, 1985, and featured a truly star-studded cast, including Eric Clapton, U2, David Bowie, Queen, Madonna, Sting, The Who and many others. Seen by a worldwide audience of 1.5 billion, the shows raised over $140 million to fight hunger.

The shows were originally meant to be a one-off, not for sale to the public, but bootleggers started selling copies of the show on Ebay, prompting the Band Aid Trust to allow the release of the show on a 4-DVD set.

In related news, members of the British pop scene assembled last weekend to record a new version of the "Do They Know It's Christmas" charity single. The new version, billed to "Band Aid 20", will feature Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, The Darkness' Justin Hawkins, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Blur's Damon Albarn, Jamelia, Daniel Bedingfield, Dido, Joss Stone and others. The single will be released in time for Christmas, and will almost certainly top the British charts.

Two big fall music releases will be arriving early. Eminem's Encore and Destiny's Child's Destiny Fulfilled have had the release dates for their new CDs bumped, due to some combination of "overwhelming demand", "leaks to internet" and "CD piracy". Destiny Fulfilled had originally been scheduled for release on Tuesday, Nov. 16, but will now hit the stores one day earlier, on November 15th. The original release date for Encore was also November 16, but the CD will now be available on Friday, November 12.

An interesting pattern is developing here. The record companies are pencilling in tentative release dates for their products, but can't control every single CD. They must keep an eye on the black market music distribution channels (internet MP3 sharing and counterfeiters, for example) and be ready to release their products early if necessary.

In related news, U2 haven't made plans to bump the release date of their newest release, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, despite the fact that mp3 copies of it have hit internet file-sharing networks. The CD is due for release in America on November 23rd.

It's been a good year for fans of The Pixies. The band, who had broken up in the early 90s, reformed and toured extensively. Reviews of the shows were positive, and the band members seemed to get along very well. Special recording and CD duplicating equipment followed the tour, allowing fans the opportunity to purchase an MP3 recording of the concert they had just seen. But what about the fans who couldn't get tickets, or who lived in a city that wasn't a tour stop? We have good news for them, as the Pixies have made the live recordings of many of their recent shows available as MP3 downloads. The shows are in 256kbps MP3 format, and are available for $11.99 each at the Pixies' official download store.