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Post by Q3 on Aug 7, 2017 0:29:20 GMT -5
Concert Review: Queen + Adam Lambert at Boston’s TD GardenAug 6, 2017 To their credit, replacing Freddie Mercury is not something his surviving bandmates have ever tried to do.By Adan Ellsworth A quarter century after the death of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, one thing remains clear: it is impossible to replace Freddie Mercury. To their credit, replacing Freddie is not something his surviving bandmates have ever tried to do. “Queen” has never toured with a stand-in singer. When the group’s guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have hit the road in the years since Mercury’s death (bassist John Deacon retired in the late ‘90s), the shows have always been billed as “Queen + [Insert Name of Famous Singer Who Isn’t Freddie Mercury Here].” First, this meant Queen + Paul Rodgers when the Bad Company/Free vocalist toured with the band between 2005 and 2008. Since 2014, it has been Queen + Adam Lambert that have filled arenas across the globe. The “Queen”/”Queen +” distinction might seem trivial, but it is most definitely deliberate. It makes clear that while others can sing with the band, they can’t join. The job of Queen vocalist is forever filled. This is more than fine by Lambert. As he told the TD Garden crowd early in his set with Queen last Tuesday night, he’s fully aware that he is not Freddie Mercury. He’s just a fan who ended up with a pretty sweet gig. The only difference between him and his fellow Queen supporters, Lambert joked, is that while they were in the audience, he was up on stage, wearing a “really gay pink suit.” Lambert’s choice of attire is hardly the only thing that differentiates him from the people who pay to see him perform with Queen. For one thing, it’s doubtful that anyone in the Garden crowd last week could have matched his vocal prowess. From rockers like “I Want it All” to the power ballad “Who Wants to Live Forever,” there is no part of the Queen canon his voice can’t handle — though there’s no denying he was more in his element on the latter song than the former. Similarly, while he held his own on heavier tunes like “Hammer to Fall” and “Stone Cold Crazy,” he was far more at home with the cabaret of “Killer Queen” and the poppier “Don’t Stop Me Now.” In short, he can sing rock, but he’s not a rocker. He just doesn’t have the gravel in his voice. On the other hand, if the concert were put on by Queen + [Insert Name of Singer with Great Rock Voice Here], would that vocalist be able to pull off something as playfully silly as “Bicycle Race?” It’s damn near impossible to find someone who can nail all the different styles that equal “Queen” – yet more proof that there’s no replacing Freddie Mercury. As for the Queen side of the equation (which was augmented by keyboardist Spike Edney, bassist Neil Fairclough, and percussionist Tyler Warren), May supplied his signature riffs and nimble leads throughout the night and, especially on “Get Down, Make Love,” ladled out the guitar atmospherics that have always been a part of his arsenal but that he never seems to get credit for. What other guitarists do with effects pedals and amplifier nobs, he does with just his fingers. Taylor was his usual rock star cool, effortlessly bashing his way around the kit and providing the backing vocals that were always so integral to the Queen live sound as well as lead vocals on “I’m In Love with My Car.” Photo: Adam Ellsworth Queen + Adam Lambert in action at Boston’s TD Garden. Photo: Adam Ellsworth.The set itself was predictably heavy on hits, though this approach led to a missed opportunity. When Queen + Adam Lambert toured in 2014, they celebrated four decades since the 1974 Queen releases Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack by featuring some songs they might not have otherwise played (most notably “Now I’m Here,” “Seven Seas of Rhye,” and “In the Lap of the Gods…Revisited”). The current tour corresponds with the 40th anniversary of Queen’s sixth album, 1977’s News of the World. The very stage Queen and Lambert performed on was based on the cover of that album. Despite this, they provided only three selections from the record, and two of those were “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions,” which they obviously would have trotted out no matter what the year. The third track, “Get Down, Make Love,” was a welcome surprise, and while lesser known by comparison it was a Queen concert staple from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Surely though there was room for at least one more cut from the album. The epic “It’s Late” would have been a natural showcase for Lamberts chops, or, if they wanted more of a rocker, “Sheer Heart Attack” would have been an obvious choice. If a place could have also been found for the cocktail jazz of “My Melancholy Blues,” then all the better. It’s a shame there wasn’t more from News of the World, though the night had its share of highlights regardless. Particularly stunning: the trinity of “Somebody to Love” (which started with just May’s guitar and Lambert’s vocals before building to its full gospel glory), “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and “Under Pressure,” all played at the end of a catwalk that led out into the crowd. There aren’t many groups touring today that can unleash three songs of such enduring quality all in a row. Then there were the moments that always work whether it says Queen or Queen + on the marquee, like the audience duet on “Love of My Life,” and the synchronized clap-along to “Radio Ga Ga.” “Love of My Life” specifically has become the emotional highpoint of any Queen + concert, and last Tuesday night was no different. May, alone with his acoustic guitar, took lead vocal on what was once a Freddie standard. His voice wasn’t made for a tune like “Love of My Life,” which made him all the more vulnerable. sitting alone on a stool at the end of the catwalk, surrounded by thousands of beams from cell phone lights. He traded lines with the crowd before taking a brief solo, and then, for the first of two times Tuesday night, Mercury himself (via footage from Queen’s 1986 stand at Wembley Stadium) appeared on the big screen that was hanging above the stage to finish the song, much to the delight of the Boston crowd. With the real, in-person, May looking on, the late-singer took his bows, bent over, and stuck out his ass. Only Freddie. Adam Ellsworth is a writer, journalist, and amateur professional rock and roll historian. His writing on rock music has appeared on the websites YNE Magazine, KevChino.com, Online Music Reviews, and Metronome Review. His non-rock writing has appeared in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, on Wakefield Patch, and elsewhere. Adam has an MS in journalism from Boston University and a BA in literature from American University. He grew up in Western Massachusetts, and currently lives with his wife in a suburb of Boston. You can follow Adam on Twitter @adamlz24. Link: artsfuse.org/162088/concert-review-queen-adam-lambert-at-bostons-td-garden/
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Post by betty on Aug 7, 2017 0:59:21 GMT -5
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ... esmeeglam!
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Post by seoulmate on Aug 7, 2017 2:04:38 GMT -5
(looks up) aakkkk... that cake is TO DIE FOR, Betty!!
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Post by franki13 on Aug 7, 2017 3:18:05 GMT -5
esmeeglam!
I am certainly going to miss the QAL concerts...sigh. Thanks to all who brought us the videos, scopes, instagrams. pictures, etc. They were wonderful! I have been attempting to write a recap from my Nashville show. Sorry for the delay. It will be here.
One thing I want to mention. I posted a birthday wish on 8/2 and someone posted inside it that they were having gallbladder surgery. I received some nice well wishes, but I didn't have surgery. My gallbladder has been gone for quite some time. For the person who actually posted, I hope you are doing well. My vacation is over and now back to work. Hope I remember all my different computer codes.
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Post by skaschep on Aug 7, 2017 3:19:10 GMT -5
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Post by skaschep on Aug 7, 2017 3:42:20 GMT -5
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Post by skaschep on Aug 7, 2017 3:42:56 GMT -5
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Post by skaschep on Aug 7, 2017 3:52:05 GMT -5
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Post by seoulmate on Aug 7, 2017 4:34:22 GMT -5
awww, it makes me sort of happy that Adam's relaxing at home with beautiful candles!
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SophieB
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Post by SophieB on Aug 7, 2017 5:32:34 GMT -5
.... quiet day. I have resurrected a re-cap I started to write and never finished a couple of weeks ago.... taking out the actual concert bits because it was too long and everyone has said it all better.... so a non-concert, concert re-cap... .
BELATED NOTES ON A CONCERT ROAD TRIP......Toronto, Auburn Hills, ClevelandThis trip was touch-and-go to the last; not a good time to be thousands of miles from home despite my family's usual mantra of 'go, go, go'. Then the airport train was stuck for an hour due to a line failure and people all around me were missing flights....not a pretty sight, I can tell you. I was super-cool with my 'should I really be going?' attitude..... But then - that old ADAM TRAVEL MAGIC kicked in....never lets me down! I was upgraded on my flight from Heathrow and arrived in Toronto to find my little hotel room upgraded to a four room suite! (I should have played the lottery)... By the time I met up with two of my favourite people, Q3 and Theosgma, for a four-day three-concert road trip, I was more than up and running again. They had everything organised, of course - concert tix, travel, AirBnBs....so grateful. Toronto:
We marvelled that the Rogers Centre was so quiet: it was almost as if there was no show on there.... and what do you know, there wasn't! We'd actually gone to the wrong arena.....and no, we don't know how that happened either..... We raced across to the Air Canada centre and arrived a little sweaty and mourning the loss of a pre-concert meet-up with Skaschep - only for Q3 to discover that Skaschep was the lovely young woman sitting next to her for the show! What were the chances? skaschep : It was so very, very nice to meet you....and your lovely parents.....for pre post-concert drinks. Your father took the leather pants discussion very well, I thought. You are a gorgeous breath of fresh air both here and in the world outside.
(Concert: half way between stages at barrier.....Sound - horrible; Sight - never mind about the sound )
The next day Q3 and I visited the CN Tower and were stalked by Brian May... Couldn't shake him off....passing in a corridor, coming out of a lift we were waiting for, joining us on a viewing platform..... and the funniest - when waiting for another lift, just the two of us in a quiet spot, Brian suddenly appeared on a little one-man internal balcony and stood for about 15 seconds looking down on us.....only about six feet above Q3. She was facing me and didn't see him....and I just froze, was useless - and sadly the whole thing just went over her head, literally. It would have made the greatest pic ever...Romeo and Juliet take two....but I couldn't move....and it was Brian's private time after all.
He was with his son and two security men...his birthday. His hair is literally like a beacon for miles around; his skin is very English Rose, pink and soft. He can't hide but I don't think many knew who he was....certainly the lift man and the barman we spoke to had no clue, other than 'he must be famous'. We nodded to Brian the first time and he responded almost imperceptibly but kindly with his eyes but I have to say that he looked rather withdrawn....just tired perhaps....
And he knew for sure we weren't stalking him as we were always there first!
Auburn Hills:
I accidentally left my wallet on the WillCall desk....for perhaps 7-8 minutes. Money, cards, tickets.... When I realised I ran back - and there it was, on the desk, intact. How many people had been served there in the meantime? As Brian would say...Thank you, thank you...Beautiful People of Auburn Hills
They are also amazingly good at late-concert-start Mexican Waves - though they lost points for not being too hot on the organised Queen handclaps.....can't have everything....
I spoke very briefly to one of Adam's two personal security men.... the one who leads him round in Gaga. I said that Adam seemed like a nice man and that he liked to party, didn't he? (not quite like that but I was struggling)....he replied emphatically that Adam was a very nice guy and, with the tiniest bit of a wry smile (don't think he does smiles really), said he sometimes makes it hard to take care of him. I imagine he does! Both Adam's personal security guys are very good-looking: perfectly groomed. Now there's a surprise....
Cleveland:
My best ever QAL (not counting QAL London NYE) Sat at the front, not at the central barrier but just at the bit where the guitar shape sticks out.....Adam leaning out from the stage just above our heads. My favourite seat location. And so much room to dance....(which I think I actually did!) I'm sure it was bamafan who had the same seats at another concert and she too mentioned enjoying Adam being a sex-machine-ready-to-reload... RIGHT....THERE..... And the sound was stunning....goosebump inducing. Not only is Adam's voice getting better and better but he knows it and his whole performance grows with it.
We could see so much detail. Adam is always on the alert and in control. Everytime he turned upstage, he engaged one band member or another, including them, spurring them on....keeping the energy up. He was the conductor of brilliance; the catalyst for all of this.
And there were countless little instances of Adam connecting with Brian....signalling him with his eyes, gently nudging him into position, or infusing him with his energy.....and when Brian was dangerously close to disappearing down the hole with Adam, it was much more of a shove than the videos capture.
The audience response to this show was the best I'd ever heard; they loved Adam's every word, move, note....he could do no wrong.
And I had a bit of a moment....over a pink bike. Just ringing the bell brought the house down. Now you REALLY have to love the bell-ringer for that to happen.....certainly wasn't the bell.
THEY GOT HIM! For who he is....and for just who he is. Freddie, gay, Idol, solo, QAL.....nope. Just HIM. Perhaps for the first time, I got him as well....unconditionally....
SaggyCrotchPants and all (see....can't stop myself.... )
There is something this time round that makes Adam even more loveable and...accessible. He has this thing of being rock star, camp comic, boy-next-door or superstar vocalist....yet always having his genuine 'niceness' shining through. Almost like he can't help it.
After the show we joined 100,000+ people on the streets. The local team had just won a big game in the stadium next door and a magnificent firework display was mixed with Queen songs booming out into the night, from pubs and passing cars. It felt like the whole world was celebrating. It was truly magical.
In our beautiful AirBnB, the three of us talked until 4am with the alarms set for 7am to get me to the airport. Q3 - you really are Superwoman; astonishing capabilities with a thoughtful and generous heart. Theosgma - your insight and gentle spirituality inspire my dull, prosaic soul to want to seek something more....
Thank you both.
And my thanks to Adam....yet again....just as you are.
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