Ok, so here goes. I don’t have the talent of stringing words and sentences together to paint a picture, the way some here do. And this is going to be less of a recap and more of a rambling series of highlights and memories and impressions.
EMOTION. I’ve only ever seen Adam once live before, and I can’t describe the depth of my excitement leading up to this show. It really, really, really hit me as we arrived in Montreal and were walking to our hotel and we passed close to the Centre Bell and my husband says, “Why don’t look for trucks and see if you can pick up your tickets. I’ll check us in and meet back up with you in a bit.” Yay!! And that’s when I got chills. Posters outside the venue. Footage of iheart playing in the street. Giggling Glamberts taking each others’ pictures under the signs. And then I picked up my VIP tickets. In my hand, tangible proof that I was really, really, really going.
OTHER FANS. One of the most amazing things about being an Adam fan is the connection you instantly have with people all over the world. The first Adam show I went to, I was not able to meet up with anyone from Atop, and that has always been a bit bittersweet for me, because so many others did. I felt like the kid who didn’t get an invite to the party, you know? But not this time! Met up with many wonderful ladies from this board plus a contingent of other fans from twitter for an early dinner before the show. What a treat to be able to talk to other like minded people about how amazing Adam is. I will really treasure that experience, thanks again.
RANDOM SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
We had amazing, amazing seats. The first row in the risers right next to the stage, right beside the folks on the floor. When Adam went up on the little side screamer stages, he was right above us. And my happy coincidence two of the ladies from dinner were sitting right next to us! Yay, screaming glamberts and queen fans all around. Best scenario ever.
That heart stopping explosive moment when the curtain rose. The crowd near me was on its feet and stayed that way, sitting down only for parts of Brian’s solo.
Stone Cold Crazy. I have realized I loooove that song, the pace, the cadence and the visceral rock/sex god appeal that man has while singing it. Sorry, diving into the shallow end, but holy hell. Smoking.
Being so close as to see the absolute utter joy and abandon on Brian and Adam’s faces. The way the whole band has so much fun together. And yes, when he leaned into Adam and put his head on his shoulder. Oh so perfect. I don’t even remember what song it was!
A surprise – I’ll admit right here that I don’t like ballads. I just don’t like that much angst. I am not really fond of WWLF and TSMGO and hadn’t really formed an opinion of Love Kills yet. But, but, but…LIVE IS DIFFERENT!!!! I was entranced, I loved them. I wasn’t expecting such a change of heart. Gorgeous and moving and hearing that voice fill your ears and your chest. Wonderful. And it’s a cliché but that first moment in TSMGO when he first sings the show must go on, and raises his fist to the sky and lights flare and wow. That was a highlight for me.
Radio Gaga. I love that song, and it didn’t disappoint.
The call and response singing. Maybe it’s because there was not a lot of music playing so I could just hear his voice so well, and he was playing with it and it sounded soooo good.
And the CROWD!! I kept turning around to just take in the awesomeness of these 15000 or so people who were cheering.
The confetti!
A couple of other observations. The sound is definitely not as pristine when you are off to the side and so close to the speakers. There were a few moments when Adam was speaking that I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, or when the music swelled to just noise. But these didn’t detract from the show.
Being so close means I spent most of my time watching the performers in front of me, rather than looking at the screen. (I mean, why watch Adam on a screen, when I can see him in the flesh. See his flesh, lol
) But this also meant there were several occasions where their backs were to us (Killer queen, notably) so I’ve realized that I missed a few things. Which is why I’m so grateful for videos and pictures.
I didn’t particularly enjoy such a long guitar solo. But the Queen fans and guitar geeks loved it, and that’s who it was for, so I wouldn’t change it.
I also had the opportunity to hear the perspective on the show from my husband; someone who is not a Queen fan, not generally a classic rock fan, and not an Adam fan…definitely NOT the target audience. On the whole, he really enjoyed it. He thinks Adam is great showman, and can sing like crazy. (He paid him a very high compliment saying that Adam in his crown reminded him of Bono in his Mephisto costume from U2’s Vertigo tour…or maybe it was the Elevation tour, who cares.)
However he did offer an interesting opinion on Adam in that he thought Brian was more comfortable in engaging with the audience. He felt that Adam was more scripted in his interactions, while Brian seemed more natural. He figured that just comes down to experience. Let me be clear that this was not a criticism or even something negative, just an unbiased observation from someone that has no real feelings about Queen or Adam, and had no prior knowledge of what to expect in the show (because I didn’t tell him anything ahead of time.)
Anyway this is way too long, everything was phenomenal. I need, need, need to go to another show, and this time I want to go by myself and just sit and watch so I don’t miss a single thing. I can’t believe I just said that.
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