7.25.14 Adam News and Info, Tonight Mohegan Sun #2

Update 12:08PM Eastern

The Great Trek continues…..
7.25.14 by Q3

It started a few weeks ago when I flew cross country to hear a preview performance of 8 songs….and it has continued. Two countries, 8 states and 1 province and literally thousands of miles. Along the way, as my family and friends have learned about my Q+AL concert exploits, I have been the subject of bemusement and many headshakes and a bit of envy. I know it is my version of buying that red sports car. But I, do not care – I am having a great time, so don’t stop me now.

I will post full details of the whole amazing adventure later but since that will take some time, I wanted to tell you a bit about one amazing chapter – my one moment on stage with Queen and Adam Lambert.

Partway through the tour I said WTF and contact my dear friend Momtomany and asked if she would like to do the “On Stage” seats with me. She leaped and we bought tickets for these once-in-a-lifetime seats and backstage tour for the IZOG Center concert. People who know me know that this was a huge leap for me in many, many ways. I do not even let people photograph me. I have avoided first row concert tickets because I prefer to go unnoticed. But now I was going to be “one of those people” sitting on stage.

First, I want to say an immense thank you to Momtomany (Mtm) because going with her made it so much more special as you will see.

I will put in a lot of detail but I am saving some of the facts and info that I learned for later. That is not the juicy stuff anyway.

We arrived at the venue at 6:00PM to pick up our ID and tickets. Then we had to wait FOREVER (30 minutes) to meet our tour guide, Andy. There were 9 people on the tour:
A family of four: Dad is a big rock music fan and they do a lot special VIP concert events. He and his wife were delightful. They had a 12 year old boy and a 12 year old girl. None of the four were major Queen fans and they only vaguely knew Adam. The kids favorite concert so far from a long, long list was Selena Gomez and they were pop music fans.

A couple who were Adam and Queen fans. The man’s favorite Queen album was Queen II – my definition of a perfect man. 

The final person was a man who was going to be working on the Asian-Pacific leg of the tour and was training.

Plus, Mtm and me.

Everyone was really nice. We also had a lot of short people. Mtm and I (with our heels on) were the tallest in the group.

We started the tour. Andy our tour guide recognized Mtm who had done the tour before and who is so loveable that I think our group got special treatment.

Andy is one on the tour carpenters. Later in the tour he explained that he (and another carpenter I met later) are responsible for setting the points (the things on the ceiling that everything hangs from) and for assembling the Q which he welded.

Andy told us that the band liked it if the people on the side stage were into the concert and participated in the show. (I knew that for 2 people in that box, there was going to be no issue with participating.) He explained that there was always someone with a phone camera up the whole time videoing it which he asked people not to do but they always did. Our group did not have a videographer in it. I did not even take a photo.

The backstage tour was about what one would expect. I will leave the technical details for later and get to the good stuff.

I noticed that Pete (Brian’s guitar tech) and Steve (the second or “B” guitar tech) was next to us. I met them at the Madison Square Garden concert and I reintroduced myself. So I talked to them a bit. I talked to them more later. Pete has worked for Brian for 20 years and is the keeper of the Red Special. Steve was formerly Roger’s drum tech (he was surprised I knew this) and was on this tour as the second guitar tech. The first amazing moment of the tour was that I asked Pete for a favor – and before I could finish the sentence he said “You want a Brian May guitar pick.” And I said, “No, I really want two.” He ran off and returned with one guitar pick for me and one for Mtm. They are plastic and embossed with Brian’s signature. Not ones he’s actually used but cool.

I talked to the two of them and the other tech crew members for the better part of the next hour. I learned way more than I can post now but I will post it later.

We stopped at the rigging table. There were a lot of harnesses. We learned that the entire lighting scheme is operated manually. There are 6 men hidden in the lightwall and 8 more operators at the back of the house. The fact that this was not programmed at all is amazing to me. It also explain the errors and glitches that happen. Everything is cued to the artists and a lot is cued to Adam who apparently messes up a lot of his cues. (No surprise to anyone tracking his lyrics misses. And yes, Adam f’ed up the kabuki curtain cure in NIH at Madison Square Garden.) There are other misses that happen because it is all so complex. At this point in the tour the crew likes the misses because it makes each show different.

Along the tour we got to the video control area which is run by Steve #2 who Mtm and I had both already met. I asked a few questions, then was standing at the back of the group a bit bored. There are 162,000 pixels on the screen…..there are x gazillion bits of blah blah blah…..then I recognized a man with two women walking by me – before I could think I said loudly “Nile!” He turned and I was standing face to face with Nile Rodgers. I reached for his hands and we stood there and talked for a while (I mean 5 minutes.) I hugged him and turned to try to get Mtm and called her name. She came over and (being more polite than me) asks Nile’s PA is it was OK to talk to him. She told him that she really enjoyed the book. I thanked him for his time and asked if he was going to see the concert (duh!). He replied he was and then turned to go. I MET F’ing NILE RODGERS.

I turned back to the tour again. Pete and Steve were just grinning at me. I hugged Mtm. The we proceeded to the dressing room aisle. We got to see the doors, look at Adam’s wardrobe, all the usual stuff. Then we headed out front.

There were 8 of us on the side stage. Mtm had told me that in the past there had been some issues with people hogging the front row seats and not rotating. I suggested that we put the short people up front so MTM and I were at the side, the family of four up front. We moved the chairs out of the way and cleared the space for dancing. Over time, Mtm and I ended up in the front.

We had a long wait before the show. Mtm nicely went to get some drinks. I went over and met the other carpenter who worked with Andy and a couple other members of the crew. Then I rejoined my new friends Pete and Steve at the back of the stage and got to get a close look at the Q and Roger’s drums and one of Brian’s guitars and ask all kinds of questions. More about that later.

Mtm returned with large tumblers of wine – most needed. We had to keep the drinks at side stage because of all the electrical wires. I chatted a bit with a couple of the crew members. They confirmed that Adam was very nervous at the start of the MSG concert and blew the cue for NIH with a lyrics miss. I suspected this when I saw it. One guy said, “I couldn’t fucking believe it. You don’t mess up a cue at Madison Square Garden.” I replied, “I don’t think the audience noticed it and at least it was better than Under Pressure in Philly where Roger just missed the end completely.” We talked for a while about how these were the things that made the show more interesting – the things that don’t go right. They had done a lot of tours and said Adam was very nice. (Before the MSG concert started two different people who work for Brian told me that they [Bri, Roger and Adam] were nervous about MSG even before the Philly concert. And I think we knew that when Brian spoke about how much being back at MSG meant to them during the concert.)

I returned to the stage – to our section where we were supposed to stay. We had our own local security guard. I discussed the “rules” with him. Basically, we could do anything we wanted as long as we stayed inside the designated area. The chair got shoved into a corner. Now we had a dancefloor!

Before the concert started, a yellow-shirted security guy comes up to me and says, “Are you with the tour?” I did not have a clue what he meant. I finally realized I was dressed in all black like the tour crew and was kind of directing chair removal and looking like I knew something. I asked him, “Why?” “All the VIP stuff is screwed up. I need someone from the tour to straighten it out.” I showed him my wristband and told him I was not with the tour. He went off.

I wondered down to the floor and found someone with the tour. I told them about the issue and pointed out the panicky guy. I was direct to a couple of people and was now almost completely backstage. Security was bound to throw me out at some point – but no one did. I found a nice woman who was with the tour management and left it in her hands. Back to my spot.

I chatted a bit with the other people in our area. And the show began. Most of what happened during the show could be seen, but it was beyond awesome. Mtm danced with Adam right next to me, and got a setlist and a Rufus drumstick. Adam was 18” from me – I am sure I look like a deer with high-beams in my face. When he did the keyboard back and forth with Spike, he literally had snake eyes staring at me – awesome but also bone chilling.

The concert is a bit of a blur for me. Brian looked at Mtm and me a smiled/laughed a number of times, Neil (who I had met and spoken with a couple of times before) recognized Mtm and maybe me, he hugged and kissed me on the cheek. A delightful man BTW. I was behind the keyboard for part of the concert and could read Spike’s iPad. The whole thing was beyond, beyond. At one point I gave a note to Spike for Brian which I now know Brian received. Yes, it was a thrill to see Adam up close, and Roger, Spike and Neil. But the true trill for me was Brian played the Red Special about 2 feet in front of me more than once, and was really having fun with the fact that Mtm and I were dancing up a storm, and was just so close to us a few times. I honestly have a huge crush on Dr. Bri.

I promise to relay all the technical and Queen trivia and tour info later. But to answer a couple big questions.

- The late arrival of Spike on the “Last Horizon” part of Brian’s guitar solo in Philly and MSG was because they got back on stage too late.

- The “Killer Queen” fainting couch and arrangement was all Adam’s doing.

I have to go now and drive on the Mohegan Sun. More later as the show must go on.







Queen set to be NZ's biggest concert of 2014


Published: 12:53PM Friday July 25, 2014 Source: ONE News


Queen's first New Zealand concert in 30 years is primed to be the biggest show of 2014.

Queen announced last week that they were returning to New Zealand for their Once in a Lifetime Tour fronted by American Idol star Adam Lambert.

Viagogo spokesperson Alex Levenson says the ticket company has clocked 73,000 searches for the tickets for the concert since they went on sale yesterday.

"We haven't seen this kind of demand for tickets in New Zealand since the Eagles tour earlier this year," says Mr Levenson.

"If demand is anything to go by, the upcoming show at Vector Arena is set to be one of the biggest of 2014."

The high demand for tickets has prompted the group to add an extra show. They will play two shows at Auckland's Vector Arena on September 3 and 4.

Tickets for the concert are available via the Ticketmaster and Dainty Group.
tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/queen-set-nz-s-biggest-concert-2014-6037955




New Video For AT&T Live Proud Campaign




AT&T Live Proud Campaign with Adam Lambert
360 Agency

Published on Jul 24, 2014
AT&T and Adam Lambert have teamed up for another year of Live Proud! Join the movement and empower the LGBT community by creating an #ATTLiveProud Meme at att.com/liveproud and you could meet Adam at a private event in New York, or win an AT&T Technology Prize Package!
link




Soundcheck at IZOD Center of "I Was Born To Love You"


youtu.be/UIwyl6Ss1vo

Adam Lambert Hungary
Published on Jul 24, 2014
Queen + Adam Lambert - I Was Born to Love You snippet from Izod Center, 23rd July, 2014
Taken by @shadyrekuu



7/24: TED NUGENT, QUEEN, NIGHT RANGER PODCAST, SACRAMENTO THIS WEEKEND, MORE
by Eddie Trunk

Caught Queen with Adam Lambert last night in NJ. Pretty remarkable that for the most part Queen are filling arenas (sold out MSG and The Forum in LA) with no opening act against all the competition out there this Summer. Speaks to the power and timelessness of their music. I have seen the band with Freddie, Paul Rodgers and now Adam Lambert. Stating the obvious, nobody is Freddie. But I liked Paul very much in the gig and Lambert was totally different, but also very strong. Lambert is way more flamboyant and really gets into the Freddie pageantry of the frontman role. His voice is pretty remarkable and he was clearly moved to be able to sing Freddie’s songs (as he stated) and play in a band that was important to him and so many around the globe. Queen are MASSIVE outside of the US. Here they are an arena act, everywhere else stadiums. As a matter of fact they recently did a gig in front of 500,000! Queen in 2014 is more a celebration of the music and a tribute to Freddie. Lambert is very much his own guy in the role, careful not to impersonate (no half mic stand or similar clothes, etc), but also very much about doing the material as close to Mercury as possible. Different from Rodgers who put more of a bluesy spin on it. I interviewed Brian May before the show and he told me they wanted to get back to being a little heavier and more classic Queen. The show had a little bit of a too long middle of ballads and solos, but with the two key guys being in their mid 60′s, and playing over two hours, it gave others a break. Highlights for me were “Now I’m Here”, “Stone Cold Crazy”, “Fat Bottom Girls”, and many others. Just amazing songs! Brian is one of a kind in his playing and sound and Roger sings and plays very well, especially for his age. He had an assist from his son at a few points in the show as well. Brian told me he is unsure how long he and Roger can keep doing it and where it goes from here, but loves Adam and said he thinks Freddie would have also. The demand is there for more shows and maybe even an album but seems nothing is set yet. Had a great hang after with Roger and Brian and they are just class gentlemen as well as rock icons. You will hear the complete Brian May interview in my podcast very soon as well as clips of it in both radio shows. In the short time I had with him we got into some great stuff.
eddietrunk.com/724-ted-nugent-queen-night-ranger-podcast-sacramento-this-weekend-more/



Other News


Nile Rodgers @nilerodgers
Adam Lambert & me in his dressing room before the Queen concert at the Izod Center. They completely smashed it! fb.me/1udznSESN

nilerodgers
#adamlambert #nilerodgers in dressing at #izod Center #Queen concert which they smashed!#birthday book turned out awesome too!






SNAPSHOT: JULY 24
ADAM LAMBERT
2 of 5
He's so sexy it hurts. Adam Lambert struts onstage during a performance with Queen on July 23 in East Rutherford, N.J.



www.grammy.com/photos/adam-lambert-24





Share your concert story or review!!
6.28.14 by Q3

Everyone wants to read about your concert experience. So, if you are inclined to share, please do. It is fun to read them even if you attended the same concert. Everyone has a different experience and sees different things.

If you do want to share a review, please post it in the CONCERT thread. Then, so we don’t miss it, post a short note with a link to your review in the current Daily News thread.

If you already posted it in both places, that fine. Just leave it as it is. If you did not post it in the concert thread, please post a copy in the concert thread so we can include it in the concert archive.

Thanks to all who have shared. And I hope/expect to read hundreds more! So post away!

2014 Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Dates



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