7.20.14 Q+AL CONCERT THREAD -- Columbia, MD USA

I completely forgot about the neon ribbon.  I didn't even think to look for any.

Bohemian Rhapsody
Terry Baker



Published on Jul 23, 2014
Queen and Adam Lambert, Merriweather Post Pavilion, 7/20/14

Run4Roses ‏@run4roses132 Jul 26

NEW: My @queenwillrock + @adamlambert photo album from Maryland/DC show | slideshow s228.photobucket.com/user/indybeck71/slideshow/Maryland%20QAL … downloads s228.photobucket.com/user/indybeck71/library/Maryland%20QAL …

Hey Guys! Here are my Merriweather impressions. Thanks for allowing me to express all the wonderful goodness of seeing my concerts. It’s a little long, so remember scroll is your friend.

The difference between the locations of Philadelphia and Columbia were astounding to me. With all of Philly’s tall buildings, my room on Broad Street allowed me to see a vista all the way to the concert venue and the Ben Franklin Bridge. It was open and accessible. I walked everywhere and when the distance was a little far I took the subway. Compare that to Columbia where the forest became walls and hid the community making the distances deceiving. Having a car was a necessity especially since my hotel that looked close on a map was actually about 7 miles or 10 minutes away.

The concerts were similar in that in Philadelphia I could see everything. I might not have been front row, but everything was open in front of me. At Merriweather I was stage left in the little General Admission standing are crammed in with 148 fans all jockeying for position. I was about the third person back from the catwalk, but most of the people were taller than me so again invoking the forest walls of the local community. I had taken my son and daughter in law, but she was feeling claustrophobic so they stepped back from the teeming masses. Darn it! I wanted to truly share this concert with them. Yeah! My son is 6’1” so now he can take pictures!
The concert experience itself is where the openness vs. walls metaphor gets flipped. In Philadelphia, Brian and Adam seemed tired and anxious and it affected their connection to the audience by putting up a psychic wall. They seemed guarded. Couple that with my own experience of having an aggressive ass yelling and mocking me. It was inevitable that while the concert was amazing there were too many barriers to truly immerse in the joyful flow.

In Merriweather, though, all the constraints and barriers seemed to be lifted. From the first few measures of music, it was apparent that Adam and Brian were totally present and receptive to the audience’s energy. I was lucky enough to be behind the 3 Germans that I had originally seen in London during the first Hammersmith show and then had seen again recently when someone had posted them in the states following the QAL concerts. The tall German with the long blond hair couldn’t stop grinning when he heard the first notes, “Now I’m Here”. The older man stage right at the beginning of the catwalk with the Freddie mask couldn’t stop grinning. Hell, none of us standing stage right could stop grinning, singing and WooHooing. While my ankle has a hard time handling the strain of standing for hours, I would definitely do standing tickets again. There is something about the release of having to be careful of standing, dancing, singing and yelling your appreciation. All the people beside me and in front of me were so into the flow of energy given off between the performers and the audience that it felt that time had sublimely stopped -that some inverse property of “39” had taken place. That instead of time travel, we were stuck in an infinitly loop of gorgeous stasis. The music followed its linear list, but we were caught up in the magic of the moment. Even now that I have put some semblance of analysis to the experience, I relive the feeling of pure joy and majesty. Even now, I tear up at the beauty and oneness. It remains a truly happy place.

We were all so happy where we were that we noted that the band didn’t play TSMGO, but it didn’t matter – the two hour moment was magic. Perfection wasn’t my goal, unity with Adam, Brian, Roger and the audience was. When the concert was over and I was floating giddily back out of the group unison, my son remarked, “Mom, I give you shit, but I do love seeing you happy.” (That’s MY Boy!!!) I was and am happy. Touching that oneness between the band and audience for hours was amazing and a pinnacle of experience for me.

As we left the very crowded venue, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Now as I’m writing this, I still can’t keep the smile off my face. I will close with a quote from The Lego Movie song – “Everything was Awesome!!!