6.19.14 Concert Thread - Q+AL Chicago, United Center

moved these up front at the beginning of thread, Very nice! TY

This recap is really long but very good. I gave the link to finish reading it.

Hoopla Magnet ‏@hooplamagnet 39m
RT @audsidol The King of Queen (a recap of the Chicago show) > archiveofourown.org/works/1847578

The King of Queen
wordwinx

Summary:

This is a non-fiction piece, a recap of my Queen + Adam Lambert concert experience at the United Center in Chicago on 19 June 2014 - the opening night of their North American / Australian / Asian tour.
Notes:

I wrote this piece more as an overall experience rather than a point-by-point chronology of what happened from beginning to end. Although I respect and admire Brian May and Roger Taylor to an incredible degree, this recap is mostly about Adam Lambert. I may revise and republish later on if I've forgotten something.
Work Text:

I attended the Queen + Adam Lambert concert at the United Center in Chicago on the opening night of their summer 2014 tour. It was hands down the best concert I’ve ever witnessed. I thought the only show I’d ever see of this magical collaboration was in London 2012. It was too much to hope for that they might grace the stage together again, but thankfully as fate would have it, the journey of these three men: Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Adam Lambert was not over. Destiny prevailed. I would like to take a moment to offer my unfailing gratitude to those who had a hand in this reunion – a hand to raise, a hand to shake, a hand to hold.

For whatever reason, hands have kept my attention as a recurring theme throughout this experience. Without question, Queen had the audience in the palm of its hand. The stage crew and security team certainly had a hand in the show’s success. We, the audience clapped our hands until they were numb! It took all of us lending a hand to create such an amazing memory. The ability to recount the past in such a way as to feel it all over again is a feature of humanity much like the physical attribute of the hand that sets us apart from most other living creatures. I know I sound obsessive, but you really can’t blame me when Dr. Bri went all metaphysical on our asses before serenading us about the love of his life and bringing Freddie back if only via images on a screen. It hit home. The spirit of Queen was all around us, almost tangible. We were at times right there in the moment, exquisitely present and at other times transported elsewhere, otherworldly. The concert itself afforded the audience an incredible spectrum from “come hang out with us for a sing-a-long” all the way to “welcome to our fourth dimensional resurrection.” It was deeply personal and at times, even spiritual. There’s something about seeing Adam Lambert with a beam of ethereal light pooled in his hand, enveloped in a canopy of soft twinkling stars asking the universe who wants to live forever that makes you answer, I do. I want to live forever if it could stay right now in this moment.

Let me begin this testament by praising Brian May and Roger Taylor with the utmost accolades. The fact that they can still rock this hard after decades in the business is awe-inspiring. I must note the laughable contrast of artists with only a fraction of the experience or skill of these men posturing to the media with the hubris of prize fighters. The bottom line is, when you’re truly great, you don’t have to say so. Brian and Roger are incredibly humble and unutterably gifted. In order to maintain my theme, I’ll just say they have more talent and character in their little fingers than most contemporary acts on the radio today. To realize that they wanted Adam Lambert – that they respect and admire my idol fills me with an intense joy. They, along with Freddie Mercury and John Deacon are the ones who are responsible for this catalog of greatness. The songs they perform with Adam or alone are timeless in musical quality and emotional significance made even stronger by every line on their faces and white hair on their heads. I have fallen deeply in love with these men. I don’t know if they are the best living musicians in the history of rock music, but they are definitely my favorites. I celebrate the day they decided to include one voice in a billion in the alchemy of their magic-making.

That brings me to Adam Lambert where all things magnificent reside. It took some personal trial to make my night in Chicago happen as it usually does, but the payoff is always worth it. I’ve seen stadium concerts before but never from the floor. It’s a limited view down there that offers a different kind of perspective, perhaps less grand but ultimately more personal. I had the great advantage of seeing Adam strut and sing and laugh from the tip of the catwalk. I was lucky enough to have that spot before in London, but every concert is different. The Hammersmith Apollo was smaller than the United Center and delightfully intimate. In London, I could see Adam’s toenails when he was bare-footed and the creases in his pants as his flesh shifted under leather. I could see the sweat beaded on his neck and the spit fly over his microphone. We were in the splash zone, and yes, he made us wet. I was close. I wanted it all then, and I wanted it all again now. Chicago didn’t let me down.

Read more:archiveofourown.org/works/1847578?view_adult=true

Linderella ‏scorpiobert 3m
Killer Queen, judys.smugmug.com/Queen-Adam-Lambert-Chicago/i-pv5tHcr/0/XL/IMG_4771-XL.jpg …