7.1.14 Q+AL CONCERT THREAD -- San Jose, CA USA

OMG. "Somebody to Love" in San Jose. Wow.

I've also watched "Killer Queen"---so fun that Brian comes to join Adam by the couch at the end of the catwalk---and "Under Pressure," which was so good, from last night's concert---even though I'd told myself not to view anymore videos (except from Los Angeles) until after my concert in New York. But there was just something about this show that dissolved my resolve and I know that tonight I'll be catching up on all my favorite songs in the set list from yesterday's concert.

My overriding impression during last night's sound-only stream was that Adam was hot! (And the photos bore that out.) For some reason, even though I couldn't see him in action, that thought struck me and stuck. And he was definitely on fire vocally on STL.

Queen + Adam Lambert LAP OF THE GODS, SSOR & KQ - San Jose 7/1/14
cos2mwiz

When I saw these lights at the Vancouver show, it was so magical to me I almost peed my pants.

RECAP:

When the concert was over and I was driving back to my mom’s for sleep before flying home the word that kept coming to my mind about how I was feeling about my concert experience was:

Satiated
The word satiated comes from the Latin satire, meaning "fill, full, satisfy," which is precisely how a person who is satiated feels — full and satisfied from a good meal. There's nothing better than a hearty home-cooked meal to leave you satiated with a full belly. Other things, besides food, might leave you satiated as well — like a good movie or finishing a challenging task. (or a concert!!!)

Now that I am home I had to look up the meaning to see if it meant what I thought it did in describing how I feel. And yes, the meaning does!

This may be long so scroll is your friend…

Pre-Concert:

When I arrived at the venue I decided to circle the building to find the venue parking lot. On the way I thought I glimpsed a “Truck and Roll” truck in the back of the venue. After parking, of course I had to walk over there to see if that was true. And yes, there was one. The wall prevented seeing much else back there. Willowgarden and I planned to meet upon my arrival, so I called her to let her know I was there and we met at that back corner of the venue. Since it was only 3:30 we hung around there and chatted. More people we hovering in the area and it turned into a “hope we see Adam and/or the band” sighting as they come to the venue, or hear sound check.

About 4-ish I saw a van arrive and in the back seat behind the driver I saw Neil, and on the passenger side Spike. We waved, but I didn’t notice anyone waving back. Didn’t even really notice anyone even looking our way (small crowd).

The security guy said three more were due to arrive so the excitement grew as the crowd started to get larger. A black SUV arrived a little later, and while I couldn’t see inside, a guy next to me said it was Brian, he could see his hair…

A little later, another SUV arrived and I could see Roger inside in the back seat on the passenger side. Someone said his wife was also with him. Excitement really started to build now knowing one more VIP was still to come. Has to be Adam, right? Well true to form, we waited… and waited… and waited…

Willowgarden and I were getting antsy since we were scheduled to head to the bistro around 4:30 to meet up with other Atopes and I had reserved a table and it was going on 5pm. If I recall correctly, it was around 4:15 when the security guard said sound check had started and maybe Adam would skip sound check… Well, we didn’t believe that. As it started to approach 5pm, Willowgarden said we’ll give him 2 more minutes and that’s it, we’ll head to the bistro. Well… yeah, in one minute there it was. That big, black, SUV with you guessed it – Adam inside. He was in the back seat on the passenger side wearing shades. Every one squeed with glee as he smiled and waved. By the time I realized he really was inside and snapped a picture all I got was the ass end of the vehicle.

Feeling like we had performed our stan duties, Willowgarden and I headed to the bistro. The place was getting packed and finding Atopers wasn’t happening at that point. Some other glamberts said outside in the patio area was a group of glamberts so we thought maybe that was them…

After ordering we went over the group to discover that someone named “Kurt” had reserved a bunch of tables. I scouted around and found two tables with our reservations on them, but nobody there and this was going on about 5:30 by then. We sat there for a little bit but felt lonely, so decided to crash one of the “Kurt” tables where the groups of known glamberts were gathering. Come to find out “Kurt” was Lambertlust, LOL, I didn’t know that. I introduced myself to him, and his lovely new wife came over and introduced herself and said we were welcome to one of the vacant tables. Willowgarden and I were joined by Atoper Wild4song, and then another Atoper and her friend (I know her real name but don’t recall here handle). Then another gal joined us at the table. After eating/drinking Willowgarden suggested we to get the “line” experience next. I agreed so most of our table headed out together for that experience. It was getting close to 6:30 by then.

On the way out I looked at the two tables I reserved and the sign was gone from one of them and the other had five people there? Waaaaaaaaaa, yeah! But, but I was on the way out. I stopped to ask if they were Atopers and they said YES. Hooray, I was going to finally meet more people from our forum. Willowgarden had already gone out front so I went and had her come back in to meet everyone. We met Berdieeve and friend, Tippytoes, Hoopla, and Prism & Mr. Prism… It was so nice to put a face with the name and only wish we had more time to chat.

Then, on to the venue. We waited in line and that is when my DS joined us. Pretty much the usual line banter while waiting to get in. When the doors opened the line actually moved pretty fast. When I went through the guard wanted to look in my purse and only seemed to care if there were any beverages being taken in.

Once inside Willowgarden, DS and myself just wandered around and I got a T-shirt, keyring and program. Eventually we went to our seats. Willowgarden was just a few rows below us closer to the stage. Our seats were on the side, row 6, and EXCELLENT!

It was at this time I tried to do a test STREAM… but NOOOOOOO, I was so sad. I even called ahead to see if they had public wifi. They said during events. While there was a public signal, there may as well not have been… since it wouldn’t stay on for me or allow me to access the internet. I have not had time to see if you all had a stream from the others, but assuming if they had cell service you did. I don’t have cell service on my smartphone. Anyway, I wanted to give back the community, but sadly, it didn’t work out this time. So I said to myself, “ef it, mumble, mumble… I will just take in the full concert experience and put away all devices.

Concert: Oh yes, Love the build-up before the show start and when it did… Just WOW. This truly is an audio and visual panacea for the senses! We could see the band really good and of course the large screen is truly eye candy. You have probably heard all the little details by now so I will only highlight a few things and really hope there are some good vids from this concert, finger crossed.

~ The band seems to be getting more free spirited all the time. Really had to chuckle at the Water Fountain Adam as he is getting better and better. On the back fountain, standing up fountain AND UP on the couch fountain, LOL. During Fat Bottom Girls his get on your bike and ride thrust seemed even more pronounced. I will be surprised if I don’t see gifs of these thing in particular.

~ Really appreciated being able to see Brian and Roger do their thing, since with may Adam centric vids, when Brian and/or Roger are in focus, the camera is on Adam. So seeing Brian “tickle” the strings is really a treat. I just love me some Brian May. Soulmate, sharing is the word of the day

~ The big screen, lots of things going on there too that I have not noticed in the videos, so that was fantastic. The whole light, lazer, smoke, screen and visuals are outstanding. So much to see and hear.

~ Also really enjoyed the middle Brian, Roger and the band portion. After Brian sang Love of My Life and the band came out to the thrust and he introduced each one by first and last name. When he introduced Rufus, my sister said some of the crowd “boo-ed” him. I wondered the same thing. WTF, why would they do that or did we hear it wrong. Others, did you notice that or what did they do. Because it certainly was different than the the reception for the rest of the band introductions?

~ Chipmunk effect. There was a little, I never did put in earplugs. Mostly noticeable on the middle and upper register, but not real bad. He didn’t seem to be doing too much in the lower register, but perhaps that was just my impression?

~ Crowd – the floor seemed to stand most of the time. But everywhere else did a lot of sitting and/or chair dancing. This is the one thing I don’t like personally, since I like to stand and get the full experience. Two and a half hours my get to be a bit long, but I didn’t get to find out. I didn’t want to be the only one standing in my section. But during CLTCL, I did stand up, didn’t care what others thought by then… Once BR started the whole place started standing and was that way to the end! The whole arena was on its feet and cheering, singing, clapping and hooting… At the end I recall three bows as the crowd continued to cheer. So much love going around.

~ The sound vibrated the stadium and that is one thing that the live experience has that watching on the internet cannot duplicate. That and the full emersion for the totality of it all!

~ Much of it is still a blur, and that is why I hope there are some videos. Since I was hoping to stream I left my good video camera behind…

Post-Concert: Satiated

My DS said it was the most visually stunning performance show she has ever seen. She really enjoyed it. While it didn't make her all time favorite (that was front row seat for a different artist) she had a great time. This is my only QAL and I am satisfied, for now! Waves to those I met at the concert:-) and forgive me if I left anyone out… Em

Off to review the tread and see what you guys were up to :D