Posting my recap of both Auckland shows here (Warning - it's very long)
Finally I have an empty house after my NZGlitterTribe friend is on her way back to Aussie, and I now have the time to write my recap of the Auckland shows.
The final show would have to have been the best concert experience of my life, and one of the best nights ever. But the first show was also amazing.
I had arranged a meeting place for us to get together before the show at a nearby pub, most appropriately called “The Crown” :)It was great to see old friends, and to finally meet some fans who I had only known online. There really is a great community of Adam fans here in NZ – of all ages.
For the first show, I was with my best friend and her husband. Both like Adam well enough, but do not get the level of my infatuation with all things Adam. My BFF had travelled with me to Sydney GlamNation in 2010, so had seen Adam perform before. She is the opposite to me in that she doesn’t really get involved in the show – I’m the one whooping, dancing, singing, screaming, and she’s just there to watch quietly. LOL. We didn’t have the greatest seats – about half way back on the floor, so lots of heads to dodge around to get a view, however the large screen meant we didn’t miss too much.
The sound was quite a lot louder than I remembered from Melbourne! Anyway, they both really enjoyed the concert and are in agreement that Adam is an incredible performer and is the right man for the job of fronting Queen. WWTLF was the highlight for me, and I always love singing along to LOML and Adam’s call & response “All your love tonight”
And my new friend Stacey (who was on stage) got the selfie – Adam photo bomb during CLTCL! So thrilled for her!
I also had several colleagues and also my parents who went to the first Auckland show. All loved it and had great things to say. Haven’t had a chance to talk in depth with my parents about their thoughts yet - they live in a different city to me, and I’ll be seeing them in a few weeks when I will dig deeper for their review!
Got chatting to a guy next to me before the concert who was one of the Queen fans who was sceptical about Adam…. I told him to let me know when he started to feel like he was “getting it” LOL. By Killer Queen he told me he was “getting there” and at the start of STL I told him if he wasn’t there by the end of this song, he may as well just leave! LMAO. Sure enough after the incredible vocal feats of that song, he turned to me with the biggest grin, gave me a huge high 5 and was yelling “Yeah!!! That was UNREAL” etc. At the end of the show, he gave me a massive hug, and was just so excited by what he had witnessed. Yet another one bites the dust. :D
(I had similar experience before the 2nd show where a young couple who remembered and liked Adam from Idol, but didn’t know much about him, and had just bought their tickets that day…. was telling them all about the fandom and friends I’d made – they were impressed I think! At the end of the show they were just raving. He told me that they thought they were coming along to a ‘good concert of Queen songs’ but were not expecting anything as amazing as it was. So heart-warming hearing these stories over and over.
Now for the 2nd concert and final one of the tour. It quite simply was just a magical experience for many of us NZ fans. A lot of us had tickets in the first couple of rows, right at the tip of the round mini-stage, and just before the concert started, we were able to make our way right up to the barrier! So many NZ Glamberts right at the front, where Adam could see us. And see us he did!
Just before the start of the show, some guy came onto the mini stage, right in front of us and seemed to be writing something on a piece of paper on the floor – a change to the setlist maybe? Turns out it may have been something to do with Bri singing the NZ band “Crowded House” song “Don’t Dream It’s Over” as he picked up that sheet later when he performed it.
I was standing for the entire show next to 3 close NZGlitterTribe friends and we were just so freaking happy and disbelieving as to how close we were. Perfect view of the main stage, and he was going to be THERE, RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. OMG.
So even before the show started, a lot of the audience on the floor was standing and the energy and anticipation around me was indescribable. Never felt anything like it. Not sure if our close proximity had anything to do with it, or if it was just an incredible audience. I like to think that everyone had heard how amazing the show was the night before, so were ready for a fantastic concert.
The first few songs….. unreal. That voice. Him. Moving. Smiling. Pelvic thrusting. It was almost too much, but it was perfection, and it felt like a dream.
The audience was so loud in their appreciation right from the first song. I know they all felt it on the stage. You could see the looks between Adam and Brian.
Then during SSOR the couch was carried onto the stage. Just a few feet away. Faaarrk!!!! Then he was there. With his fan and his bottle of Moet…. lying all over that couch, flirting with 10,000 people…. his cheekiness, his naughtiness….. priceless. His shoes!!! First time I had seen those glittery platforms for real…. love!
He starts his banter leading into STL and comes right over to where me and my friends are and is looking right at us and talking to us when he’s trying to do a kiwi accent and saying how he sucks at it. SO funny!!!! DED.
Somebody to Love….. I think my fave version of all time. His playful wah-wha-whas at the end …. he was just oozing with joy. Infectious.
Brian takes the stage in front of me for his songs…. the “Don’t Dream It’s Over” song was very touching and poignant. He is a class act. Everyone sang along to this kiwi classic – it was wonderful. However, I don’t think we did the best job on LOML sing-along…. I was singing my ass off, but not sure how well the audience knew this one….but was still lovely to experience it all so close.
’39 was wonderful too. I could look across to the opposite side of the mini stage and see my NZ friends singing and dancing and really getting into it! I hope the band saw that. We were there for them too.
Under Pressure. Dragon Attack. No words. To be so close to this beautiful man renders me speechless. You’ve all seen the video of the ass-wiggle during DA…. taken by another friend of mine who was just across the stage from me. No doubt in my mind he knew his NZ fans were there, whether he recognised any of us, who knows, but I’d like to believe he played up to us especially!
Which brings me to the absolute highlight of all the concerts for me… when during the “Gimme All Your Love” call & response he came over to me and my friend, Trudy, and looked right at ME and telling ME “That wasn’t the note” LMFAO!!! I was totally gobsmacked!! haha!! Of course he couldn’t hear me…. or know that I actually CAN sing a bit!
Priceless moment and will stay with me forever. Then Trudy throws the undies she’d painted onto the stage and he picks them up, saying to her “Thanks Mama” and incorporates them into his impromptu singing!!!! ILHSFM!!!!
(The undies said "The King of Queen" and "Nuts are Good" and "your New Zealand Glitter Tribe loves you)
(Not sure if you remember during the NZ promo tour here in 2012, but Trudy was the fan who got his autograph signed at the airport, then tattooed and got to meet Adam when he called her into the studio at The Edge radio station during his interview there. Again, who knows if he remembered her or not, but so thrilled for her that she had that amazing moment! Here is the video she took of it!
The whole concert….. the finale, the glitter, the fans, the audience, everything was just so overwhelmingly amazing.
After the show, we were hanging around outside, met up with a few Queen fans, and decided to wait where the cars drive out to see Brian and Roger and hopefully Adam leave the venue.
We saw Roger’s car drive out first – apparently he waved, but I didn’t see it – tinted windows! Then we think it was Adam’s car…… didn’t see him, and he didn’t stop…. but we think he was tweeting at the time, as a tweet alert came to my phone within seconds of the car passing us!
Then a short while later, Brian’s car drove right past us. It had to stop at a red light at the end of the short road, and we all ran after it! haha! Brian got out, and you’ve seen the photos and video of how wonderful he was, talking to us, signing things and taking photos, and generally being amazing. He said he didn’t realise we were waiting for him, or he would have stopped back up the road!
I had nothing for him to sign, so asked him to sign my shoe! LOL! He was amused I think....
Such a sweetheart. Sad to hear him say Adam wasn’t feeling well though. Hope he’s on the mend now.
The most perfect ending to a perfect night. A perfect week. I have made the most incredible friends throughout this fandom, and to share both Melbourne and both Auckland shows with them has been beyond amazing. We are more in awe and love with Adam than ever before, and eternally grateful that the QAL show was brought to our shores.
Now we all look forward to what’s ahead with new single, hopefully not too far away, and A3 when we will all get together again for yet another massive NZGlitterTribe party!
Your pics are great, I like them very much! 
