8.10.14 Off to Korea

My QAL adventures (July 2014) - warning long post

Living on the east coast, I was fortunate to go to 4 QAL shows in 10 days. I would certainly have gone to more if I could have rearranged work, but in the weeks leading up to the first show (Philly) I watched all of the videos, streams, and interviews available, and could not wait to go. Each of the shows was a different experience, affected by who I was with, where I sat, who was around me, the vibe (so to speak). Here are the highlights (from what I can best remember). I think I can best describe the total experience as sensory overload combined with pure joy --it is a lot to take in – Adam, Brian, Roger, the band, the crowd, the spectacle of it all. My favorite memory of each of the shows is:

• Philly (7/16) - getting together with other Atop fans and chatting about AL and Queen and our mutual excitement for Adam’s future album/career path.

• MSG (7/17) – best seats for visual aspect of the show, witnessing my spouse “berting”, taking in Adam’s voice and knowing how big this concert was for him and the band, and being really happy to be there for this special occasion

• Merriweather (7/20)- great GA standing on the floor, huge surprise how great this concert was, even better that I was w/ my sons/DIL/girlfriend and friend; they all loved it. Huge crowd support.

• Atlantic City (7/26) – solo road trip, 5-10 seconds of direct eye contact with Adam. You know exactly what I mean if you are close enough and this has happened to you in concert. Very loose, happy band. Outstanding loud crowd.

At each of these shows I talked to Atoppers or saw familiar faces from Atop – often in the front row. Good to know that the support for Adam’s career is still so strong. And comforting to know that I am not alone in my passion for keeping up with ‘all things Adam’. Perhaps it is an escape from work, RL, but in a nutshell it has enriched my life in many ways. I’ve traveled more, including a solo trip to London two years ago as I just could not pass up seeing QAL. Best decision ever. I’ve also volunteered in the community more. I’ll post some longer reviews in two parts. Will also copy these into the relevant concert thread. Part 1 below. Part 2 later tonight.

Philadelphia (7/16)
I took the train from BWI station to Philly, met up for dinner with some lovely Atoppers. Two years ago in London (for QAL) I met/sat with ‘mmmgoodcracker’ and it was great to meet up again and see that neither of us had not lost any love or zest for Adam. [I’ve been a fan of Adam’s since Hollywood week, AI) but it was right before the London 2012 QAL shows that I signed up as a member here and was encouraged to attend the London get together, which I did.] Back to Philly, enjoyed dinner and drinks post-show with the Atop group. Many thanks for ‘CraazyforAdam’ for organizing dinner. It was wonderful to also meet ‘butterknife’ on the subway and I thanked her for sharing all the videos.

I had right floor seats, row 7 or so. Close to see everything but too near the speakers and it seemed to me that the sound was really muddy/not great where I was. It did get better as the show went on. Because I could see the stage and screen so well, I seemed to focus on how tired both Adam and Roger looked. They both appeared to have dark circles under their eyes (not sure why I still remember this, but perhaps I had seen so many videos it caught me off-guard that perhaps this was wearing on them, but you would never know from the singing, playing part of it). I think there was a little let-down to be there and maybe it is just too much to take in quickly. I also think the obvious mike issues Adam was having took away from the show for me as I was close enough to see his annoyance with it (too invested, I’m sure casual fans took no notice of any of this). Of course the show was wonderful but in retrospect it was probably my least favorite show, but most $$ seat. Perhaps I just needed one show under my belt. Post show we went out for drinks and enjoyed listening to everyone talk about various aspects of Adam’s life and career that they find appealing.

Madison Square Garden (7/17)

I took a morning train from Philly to NYC and ended up sitting with ‘taumbu’, which turned out to be even more wonderful when we discovered that she and her spouse were in the row ahead of us at the show, and we (w/ spouses) went out for a bite to eat after the show. Let me say that my spouse tolerates my love of Adam and has gone to several shows with me, but usually one show is enough. It was good to see him offer glowing comments about the show (on his own), but more about that later.

Despite many trips to NYC I’d never been to MSG, so I had a sense of ‘refined excitement’ trying to control my obvious enthusiasm. My husband took the train up and met me in NYC. We checked in to a hotel very convenient to MSG, then headed over to MSG to take pics in front of the QAL trucks and the marquee. Finally it was time to head out to the show. Sat beside a lovely couple from Nova Scotia who came just to see Queen again (not too familiar with AL), and a woman in front of us who paid a fortune for her seat last minute, also there to see Queen. [The only downside to seats was a very drunk couple who stood to our right, yelled, and even made a phone call during WWTLF. Who does that? Choose to ignore them as best we could). They enjoyed the show, but disturbed a lot of people near them.]

My spouse (and kids) support my love of Adam. My husband has gone to a GNT show, Pittsburgh Pride, and Nile Rogers’ foundation dinner, and thinks Adam has a great voice, but not a big fan of pop. Anyway, we had fantastic seats, first tier mid-way back and you could see and feel everything. About 30 min into the show my husband says “What do Roger and Brian think about this being “the Adam show”? I took that as a sign he was enjoying it. I think he was totally awestruck at how Adam took charge and fronted such an iconic band. He was taking pics, movies, etc. I’ve NEVER seen him do this at a concert before. When the velvet couch came out, he asked ‘Have they done that before?” The production and overall show was fantastic as was the music of course. He thought Rufus was quite a good drummer. Post concert he started sending pics and ‘the show was great’ messages to friends at home, trying to get someone to take the extra ticket we had for Merriweather. (more about MPP in part 2).
Hearing Adam’s voice soar in MSG was spectacular. It was just a fantastic concert overall. The couple from Nova Scotia loved it, said it was well worth the trip. The woman in front of us also really loved the music and seeing Queen again; did not get to ask her about Adam as we lost her in the crowd. I heard only positive remarks from the audience on the way out. After the show, we met up with ‘taumbu’ and her husband for a chat/bite to eat and had a really nice time being with local New Yorkers and Adam fans. They were planning on going to IZOD a few days later, so good for my spouse to see that other fans also go to multiple shows. Not that he really cares how many shows I go to, but it is a big deal for him to be so agreeable that he was willing to see more than 1 QAL show and would happily go again. Fingers crossed for Europe….

Loved your post suzie12...eager for part !

Suzie12 what a great recap!  Looking forward to Part 2!

Anna ‏@glam4mama 21m
Pic via cecelia1987 IG - Adam Lambert such a sweetheart - instagram.com/p/rhmNSOTXPf/ scontent-a.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xap1/t51.2885-15/10522854_1468346350084316_1372789962_n.jpg …