As reported yesterday, Bad Company have confirmed their first UK dates since September 2002, the group’s first bout of British touring activity to feature the three surviving band-members – vocalist Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs and drummer Simone Kirke – in over three decades.

Here are few words from the press conference at the Hard Rock Café.

Words: Dave Ling

On why the dates are taking place:
Paul Rodgers: Well, we did ten dates in the States [in the summer of 2009] with the Doobie Brothers opening for us, and it turned out to be a really fantastic tour. The vibe was really nice. And we got a lot of feedback from the UK saying, ‘What about us?’ So we thought it would be nice to do eight exclusive dates in the band’s homeland.

On who’s going to play bass (effectively replacing original member Boz Burrell, who died in 2006)?
Rodgers: It will be Lynn Sorensen, from my solo band. He’s on the [live] DVD [recorded in Hollywood, FL, on 8.8.08]. Howard Leese from Heart will also be there on support guitar. The chemistry of the thing works really well. Those guys are really into what we [the core members] do; they know how to deliver. It’s a nice format.

A mischievous question asked by a voice from the crowd: So Andy Fraser [former Free bassist] is busy, then?
Rodgers [sounding flummoxed]: Er… I dunno. Next question.

On the possibility of hearing some new material:
Rodgers: Great question. There’s always the chance. I write all the time. [Turning to Mick Ralphs]: I dunno about you, do you write specifically for a band?
Ralphs: In the early days we always just wrote for whatever, and then used the ones that fitted best.
Rodgers: The problem we have right now is that the people will be expecting to hear all the band’s biggest songs. It’s really hard to squash in something new amongst all of that.
Ralphs: But the door is always open to that idea.

On digging into the group’s catalogue for songs like Electricland on the last set of American dates:
Rodgers: Yeah, Electricland was something that we recorded [on 1982’s Rough Diamonds album] and never got the chance to play live. It was fantastic to do that, and it worked very well. So I daresay it’ll happen again.

On the addition of the Joe Perry Project as the trek’s support act:
Rodgers: I met Joe at the Classic Rock awards and we had a nice little chat about music and various things. We were kicking around ideas as an opening act and it struck me that him and us together would be a great combination. So we called him and he was up for it. It will be a really nice show.