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AUG 28, 2014 •
QUEEN AND ADAM LAMBERT LIVE REVIEW (ALLPHONES ARENA, SYDNEY)
BY BEN NEUTZE
Queen is one of those bands that manages to cross all kinds of demographics, and can bring out the inner rocker in almost everybody. Perhaps it’s due to their eclectic compositions, which cross broad musical landscapes from faux operatic rock, to pre-punk punk, to glossy electro-pop. Everybody has a favourite Queen song.
Of course, the majority of their fans are people who grew up listening to the band in the ’70s and ’80s, so there was no crushing crowd at their second Sydney concert with American Idol alumni Adam Lambert. Instead, the arena floor was seated, and many stayed seated for most of the concert. A Queen concert has become a bit of a safe affair.
That safety is reflected in the set list, which took a few unexpected turns with lesser-known numbers like Dragon Attack and 39, but mostly kept to the big hits — Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You and Another One Bites the Dust.
Although their audience mightn’t rock quite as hard as they once did, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor (who are now the only two active members of “Queen”) still deliver the goods.
The night belonged to these two, who penned and played some of the most iconic music of the last 50 years. May’s guitar was front-and-centre, for most of the night, with his most legendary riffs and solos getting an outing. They’re the solos we know, love and can all hum along to, but he adjusts a few things here and there — adding an extra flourish — to keep things fresh. And when he appeared in a gold-lamé cape for his Bohemian Rhapsody solo, you knew you were watching a rare, bona fide rock god.
May had his own 10-minute guitar solo, which in lesser hands would seem indulgent, but he’s has never been the showiest player — preferring a fairly tasteful musicality over spectacular technical feats.
Taylor is also still in fine form, as he demonstrated in a “drum battle” with his son Rufus Taylor, who played additional percussion for most of the night. He also got his moments front and centre as he took on vocals in A Kind of Magic and Under Pressure.
But what of the “new guy”, Adam Lambert?
Lambert has the technical skills and power to rival any pop-rock singer working today and delivered a faultless vocal performance, absolutely tearing down every musical road the band takes. He is particularly impressive in more soulful hits like Somebody to Love and Who Wants to Live Forever. But while he camped up the stage like it’s nobody’s business in five different costumes that would all make Freddie proud, he doesn’t have the raw charisma of the front-man who dragged the band into the brightest of all possible spotlights.
Thankfully, he does exactly what’s required with grace and modesty — he’s not simply trying to emulate Freddie, but he’s not reinventing the wheel either. He’s not really the front-man in the concert (that honour goes to May) so he doesn’t make the songs his own. But who would want him to? The songs aren’t his own, and the concert isn’t either.
When original Queen front-man Freddie Mercury appeared on the giant screen at the back of the stage at two points during the concert, he eclipsed everyone else on it. The only way you can really describe the “x factor” that Freddie possessed is to say that he completely trusted his instincts and went into whatever seemingly mad, dangerous and often ugly place they took him.
When pop icon of the moment Lady Gaga (who took her name from the band’s 1984 hit Radio Ga Ga) appeared onstage as a surprise guest to duet with Lambert on Another One Bites The Dust, we caught a glimpse of a similar kind of raw, unpredictable power, as she strutted and fidgeted around the stage and down the catwalk in an obnoxiously large black wig and skin-tight velvet bodysuit.
That danger is the only thing really missing here. The entire set up of the concert feels a little like things are being checked off the “Queen” list. Down and dirty rock – Tie Your Mother Down (tick), camp drama – Killer Queen (tick), stadium-thrashing power ballad – Who Wants To Live Forever (tick).
But as they worked their way through, it was clear they’re still rocking with the best of them, and delivering what the audience wants. I can’t imagine many would go home disappointed.
Queen and Adam Lambert play Melbourne on 29 and 30 August and then Brisbane on 1 September.
