8.29.14 Adam News and Info, Tonight Melbourne

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Melbourne's first concert in on tap today, head on over to the concert thread for all the pics, videos, and highlights.





Reviews For Sydney #2 Are In






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.

dailyreview.crikey.com.au/queen-and-adam-lambert-live-review-allphones-arena-sydney/11162#.U_6gLeCzsGk.twitter



Adam Lambert rocks Sydney like Freddie Mercury while bewigged Gaga is the Queen of the stage

Nicole Manktelow The Daily Telegraph
August 28, 2014


T WAS recess and two friends sat on the steps of the common room sobbing, as teenagers do, over rock stars.

Not just any rock star of course. It was 1991 and Freddie Mercury had just died.

There were tears again, shameless, in the front row of the mezzanine as Queen rocked AllPhones Arena in Sydney last night.

We’d never thought the band would be back in Australia. It’s been 29 years between tours, after all.

Newcomer Adam Lambert, did the impossible, bursting onto the stage with the vocals, charisma and sheer presence that lifted the roof and filled this reincarnation of Queen with cheeky new swagger.


Lady Gaga, centre, with Brian May and Adam Lambert. Picture: Twitter

Undaunted by inevitable comparison, the young showman immediately nailed the holiest of rock anthems, strutting and controlling the stage as though it were his playground, despite sharing it with the likes of legendary Brian May.

An usher had mentioned to us there would be a “special surprise” this night, but had given no clue that Lambert would soon have another playmate.

While pumping out Another One Bites The Dust, a figure clad in ’70s era body suit and enormous curly wig leapt onto stage, as only pop royalty herself, Lady Gaga, would attempt.

Gaga might have stolen the show in this instant, but for other huge moments including Roger Taylor’s drumming, almost eclipsed by son Rufus and a heart-stopping drum-off between the two.

There were indulgent guitar solos from May coupled with time-warping trance-inducing retro lasers.

Who would have imagined it possible to do the music and the memory of Freddie any justice?


Lady Gaga, backstage with Brian May, nearly stole the show. Picture: Instagram

There were moments where the image and voice of our idol were worked into the set, beamed into life via vintage clips, captured by the band’s signature overdubbing.

Somehow Lambert had to snap the entire audience out of it, and bring us back to the present. He did so with the sheer force of his own personality, incredible energy and constant interaction.

We two, were school girls once again, pouring out our hearts as we sang along. I will remember most Lambert’s incredible voice, in which there was more than a little of the late, great Mercury.


Lady Gaga with May and Lambert whose voice was more than a little reminiscent of Freddie Mercury. Picture: Instagram




Just Because I Love This


Queen and Adam Lambert - WWTLF - Allphones Arena, Wednesday 27 August 2014

youtu.be/OI2PgT111Rw





2014 Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Dates



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