I will be very interested in seeing your review of the upcoming concert after you see and hear Adam live. There is no way to replicate his voice in recordings. Fingers crossed that they get the sound for this concert right -- these arenas can be tough. But Queen has always had one of the best tech crews so my expectations are high.
Well I have heard Adam live once - I did see him on his GNT. It was a fun gig overall though I was *NOT* a fan of his band which was pretty limited from what I heard...and...I'm not a fan of *all* the solo material
BUT I am looking forward to a show where I know I'll love 99% of the material and can judge him better.
Adam's touring band has changed. The GNT musicians were all touring pros but Adam is a solo artist. Like most solo artists, he assembles a band for a tour, then they go off to other tours and projects. There has only be one person who has been with Adam since the beginning, Tommy Joe Ratliff who played bass guitar for the GNT and now is on lead guitar.
>> The Queen catalog really suits Adam -- and he can move across genres in a way that few other singers can. I honest cannot think of any other vocalist with Adam power and range and stage presence, who can be theatrical, sing operatic rock, do a rock n' roll song in full-Elvis style, sing a soft ballad, etc. and have all of it sound like Adam Lambert. The only singer I can think of who was like this was Freddie.
>> Adam's voice and Brian's guitar go together very well. It is like a vocal duo, you can't just put two great singers together, it has to work. This works.
I do not think there is a song that Freddie sang live that Adam cannot sing live. In some cases the vocal arrangement might need to be adjusted since Adam is a Tenor and Freddie was a Baritone who often sang as a Tenor. But theatrical songs like "The Show Must Go On" and "Who Wants to Live Forever" are right in Adam's wheelhouse just as they were composed.
The other Adam difference is that when he does the Queen Rock n' Roll Numbers (the Elvis inspired songs) like "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" he brings more sexiness to it. (Since that is what the "Roll" in Rock n' Roll means, it is kind of essential.) It was Freddie's tribute to Elvis, so Adam's take on it is very appropriate.
I think that the EMAs and 6 UK/Europe concerts were intended to stay very close to the original material. First, out or respect to the fans, Freddie and the music. It also gave Adam a safe place to be in terms of being attacked for not being Freddie.
iHR was different. Adam was a stronger front man than in London. Brian was on fire -- best I have seen him in decades (except for the amp issue at the end of WATC). And because it was a short set, none of the bands rustiness showed. (It was apparent in London that the band was not as tight as they were when they were in the middle of the Q+PR tour.)
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The way the Tour promotion is being done with Adam being presented almost as the front man of Queen versus as featured guest vocalist, and with so much promotion of it being new and different, and with what I know about Adam, I do not expect this to be nostalgic.
What I do expect is a big set, elaborate effects with pyro and smoke and lights, and a return of the theatricality that made Queen circa 1980 the best live act in the world.
What I do expect is respect for the past Queen and Freddie, but a new, reinvigorated take on this music.
And if it is only as good as they were in Las Vegas, it will be one of the best live concerts of my lifetime. And that will take a lot.
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The wild card in all this is that many people in the audience are coming to see Adam. The tour is perfect for fans who loved him on American Idol but are not pop music fans. (Non-fans seem to forget that Adam was the main ticket draw for a 50+ arena tour in the US in 2009 after Idol -- well except in Milwaukee and Little Rock
] He has a lot of casual fans who also like Queen.
I think that many Queen fans are still underestimating Adam and are playing by a set of rule that Brian and Roger has chucked out.
I originally thought that it would be 1/3 Adam fans, 2/3 Queen fans -- now I am not so sure. But it is a hot ticket and it appears that the Glamberts will be filling up the VIP sections. Adam fans tend to be binge concert goers. Like 21st century Deadheads.
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Finally, I reread the comments that Brian and Roger made in May 2009 yesterday -- and looking at it now, this has been in the making for 5 years and iHR was part of the evolutionary plan, not just a happenstance. In 2009, Brian made a comment about it being important that Adam build his own solo career, that it was not fair to Adam to tie him up with a band of old guys.
And while there are some parts of touring with Paul Rodgers that seem like this, the two histories are very different. And the relationship between Brian, Roger and Adam is quite different. I think this was more planned than Brian and Roger are letting on.
It came from a very weird source! 
