1.20.15 Adam News and Info
Jan 19, 2015 23:58:01 GMT -5
Post by tinafea on Jan 19, 2015 23:58:01 GMT -5
Leeds Concert Thread Can Be Found Here:
adamtopia.com/thread/2778/1-20-14-al-leeds
A singer fit for Queen: Adam Lambert fills Freddie Mercury's boots
By Sadie Nicholas
NEARLY quarter of a century after Freddie Mercury’s death his bandmates Roger Taylor and Brian May have found a worthy successor in Adam Lambert.
When Adam Lambert belted out Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody to talent judges Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul during his audition for American Idol in 2009 he could never have dreamed that one day he would form part of the legendary band.
But six years later the 32-year-old singer, who finished as runner-up on Cowell’s US version of The X Factor, is taking fans and music critics by storm as a re-formed Queen go on tour, with himself as the new frontman accompanied by original members Brian May on guitar and Roger Taylor on drums.
Billed as Queen with Adam Lambert they have silenced even the purists who declared that without Freddie Mercury there could be no Queen.
Last Saturday with 31 dates of a world tour already under his belt Lambert took to the stage with them at London’s O2 Arena and wowed the audience with his own brand of the flamboyance and exuberance Freddie was famous for.
Yet without trying to impersonate the legendary singer – no mean feat.
Lambert may only have been nine when Freddie died in 1991 of Aids-related pneumonia but he became a big Queen fan.
On stage at the O2 he was the first to pay tribute to him saying to the audience: “I love him just as much as you.”
In an interview on American radio last November Lambert revealed his nerves at performing with Queen lest anyone should think he was trying to fill Freddie’s shoes.
Referring to the tour dates he did with Queen last summer he said: “I was pinching myself every step of the way.
This is an iconic rock band.
"It’s an honour to be up there singing the songs that Freddie helped to write and make famous.
"And we sold out all these arenas.
"It was nuts, there were thousands of people.
“I knew that this was sacred ground.
"I went in cautiously and respectfully and made sure I’m communicating that I’m also in love with the original image of this band.”
Witty and camp with a voice described by many as being technically brilliant Lambert has been credited with “stealing the show”.
But then he has long been a seasoned performer.
Before appearing on American Idol he cut his teeth in musical theatre appearing on stage in big Broadway hits such as Wicked.
His route to Queen began decades earlier when he was growing up in San Diego, California, and enrolled at the Children’s Theatre Network as an eight-year-old.
“My parents put me in there because I was hyperactive and made too much noise.
"They had to find an outlet for me,” he said.
Thanks to Simon Cowell’s clout it was on the final of the TV talent show that he got to perform on stage with Queen for the first time.
It’s impossible to imagine what his reaction must have been when three years later May and Taylor called and announced him as Queen’s new frontman for a series of gigs including the Sonisphere festival at Knebworth, Hertfordshire.
The sceptics went into overdrive – how could anyone replace Mercury?
Yet that wasn’t ever the band’s intention.
Taylor explained: “After Freddie died Brian and I thought it was all over but it just seemed to keep coming back.
"We had the stage musical and the Queen music lived on.
"Now we’ve just done a big tour in America.
"Adam Lambert is magnificent and he fits in very well.
"He’s very theatrical.
"I call him ‘camp Freddie’.
“We met him through American Idol.
"They asked us to perform We Are The Champions with him and the other finalist.
"We got on very well and a couple of years later asked him to do a few shows with us.”
By then Lambert had already clocked up two hit albums proving that he’s no talent show flash in the pan but he admits that he remains star-struck.
Asked whether there were any rock ’n’ roll antics during the tour last summer he said: “Roger is still a bit more of a party animal than Brian but they both know how to let their hair down and we had a lot of fun.
“We would finish a show and then get out the back, still sweaty and in a bathrobe and drive to the private jet.
"I thought, ‘Are you kidding me... a private jet?’
"And we’d get on the jet, have a couple of glasses of wine and laugh about the show and then they’d tell me stories.
"I mean this was a golden age of rock.”
As for the UK tour extra dates at Wembley, Sheffield and Liverpool have been added during February to cope with the massive demand.
For anyone still sceptical about Lambert’s place on stage with Queen, despite the sensational reviews, Roger Taylor has the final word: “I think Freddie would be his No1 fan.
"He loved anyone who could sing like that.”
Not a tribute band at all as some had feared Adam Lambert’s inclusion would make them – but a tribute to Freddie Mercury.
Even Queen’s hardiest fans can’t argue with that.
www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/552960/Queen-Adam-Lambert-singer-succeed-Freddie-Mercury
Birmingham Mail
Queen and Adam Lambert at the Barclaycard Arena: What to expect from the unlikely combination
Queen & Adam Lambert bring their tour to Birmingham on January 23.
The Barclaycard Arena will host one of the biggest bands of all time, along with their controversial frontman.
Adam Lambert splits opinion not because of doubts over his talent, but because of the hugely difficult task of trying to follow Freddie Mercury.
Still, some of our friends up at the Newcastle Chronicle went to see the show at the Metro Radio Arena.
Five Queen live videos with Adam Lambert
Six things you didn't know about Adam Lambert
They were blown away by the show and here’s what they had to say about Adam Lambert.
“And what of the man who has taken over the reins from enigmatic frontman Freddie Mercury?
He is an incredible frontman with an amazing vocal range and the crowd, all lovers of Queen, showed their appreciation of the new band member with piercing screams and cheers. And this magnificent showman deserved every one of them.
He never tried to be Freddie but on every occasion delivered the Queen songs with his own style and more importantly great aplomb.
With a spectacular set, including a runway to the centre of the crowd, three huge screens, lighting rigs, mesmerising visuals and one hell of a voice in the form of Lambert booming in harmony with the strains of Brian May’s guitar, the crowd definitely enjoyed a fantastic show and a visual treat.”
That opinion of the show is definitely the overall consensus from those that have caught the two together.
Anyone in any doubt over how good the show is should take the plunge and head down to the Barclaycard Arena.
Let's not forget, Mercury was a firm believer that the show must go on.
Event details are available here
more: www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/queen-adam-lambert-barclaycard-arena-8474777#ICID=sharebar_twitter
'One of the best concerts this writer has ever experienced at the O2'
by Andy Morris Photos by Thanira Rates
On Saturday night, 95 minutes after Stars In Their Eyes showed precisely how not to impersonate a well-loved performer, Adam Lambert takes to the stage to stand in for Freddie Mercury and act as frontman for Queen.
Lambert, resplendent in the kind of leathers that Judas Priest’s Rob Halford used to wear bombing round Birmingham, was clearly made for this moment. He may be sporting the finest Cuban heels to strut on the O2 stage since Bruno Mars came here in 2013 but Lambert has a vocal range, a stage presence and a sense of the theatrical that is second to none.
The key is that Lambert makes it clear very early on that this is not an impersonation of the still mourned Mercury. “I love him as much as you love him,” he tells the crowd. “My goal is to celebrate the amazing music of Queen and bring you back to why you liked them in the first place.”
This he succeeds wholly in doing, not least because the band he’s fronting is still so strong. Alighting on a stage the shape of a giant Q, both Roger Taylor (initially in shades) and his son Rufus sit behind full drum kits, with Brian May heading out front (grey mullet occasionally blowing in the breeze). As expected, the reclusive bassist John Deacon isn’t present but a shot of him on the giant screens brings loud applause.
The set list is flawless, as one might expect from a band who have crafted some of the finest rock songs of the 20th Century. What’s intriguing is the presence of Lambert seems to have give the tracks a fresh energy - ‘I Want It All’ is simply colossal, ‘One Vision’ extraordinary and Lambert’s exhortation to “all you fat ass bitches” somehow works during ‘Fat Bottom Girls’.
The only glaring omission comes in the form of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ getting skipped over. But as Lambert says himself, ‘You know what the problem is with this band? Too many hits!”
Queen truly know how to put on a show. Ever track feels like a finale - with huge solos, near-operatic vocals and pomp set to 11. There is an intergenerational drum battle, a gold glitter drop, a mirror ball descends for ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’, lasers comb the the entire O2 at one point and and (bizarrely) footage of Metropolis during a performance of 'Radio Gaga' (it makes more sense given it was a soundtrack to Mercury’s ‘Love Kills’).
At one point May straps a GoPro onto his guitar, both so that everyone can check out his playing but also so that he can point it towards the audience and capture the O2’s reaction to him rattling through ‘Stone Cold Crazy’. The screens behind May during ‘Last Horizon’ will, depending on your persective, either recall the timeless search for man’s true knowledge of the cosmos or remind you of a Windows’ 97 screensaver.
The band seem genuinely moved and certainly see to enjoy themselves. Naturally their late bandmate never feels far away. When May plays a solo of ‘Love Of My Life’ he talks about how much he missed Mercury. “There was this man who used to sit behind me…” he says thoughtfully. “It makes me happy to sing his songs really”. Nothing is taken for granted. At times footage of Mercury accompanies the action, allowing him to contribute 24 years after leaving the stage. This is used most effectively on ‘Days Of Our Lives’ where Taylor takes the mic and performs a gutsy vocal, accompanied by vintage shots of the band mugging to the camera. This isn’t a mawkish tribute, this is a real, vibrant rock show.
What's interesting is Lambert at times seems even camper than Mercury ever was - not least when he seems to have borrowed part of his costume from Macho Man Randy Savage. It feels strange to say it but it thankfully it shows how far we’ve come that a man can lick a microphone, reclining on a chaise longe, raise one Cara Delevigne-esque eyebrow and pause during 'Killer Queen' after delivering ‘Guaranteed to blow your...’. The crowd clearly love it.
When Lambert chugs from a gold champagne bottle and spits it into the air, he addresses the drenched front row. “Did I get you wet lady? Rock'n'roll that's what I am supposed to do! It’s like the SeaWorld show up here.” The only criticism? Lambert’s English accent is as horrible as he says it is.
The evening as a whole is a spectacular celebration, one of the best concerts this writer has ever experienced at the O2. Lambert, a man who decided to enter American Idol while out of his mind on mushrooms at Burning Man has not only the theatricality and the sheer vocal chops but also the assured confidence to front a band like Queen. Sure, at times the outfits make it feel like ‘Tom Of Finland Sings the Hits Of Top Gear’ - but there is so much genuine passion, affection and skill involved that it’s impossible to dislike. They duck 'Bohemian Rhapsody' a bit - choosing to leave sections to the video - but it all so moving that one can’t complain.
It is intended as the highest compliment that this is second only to seeing Mercury in his prime.
www.gigwise.com/reviews/97395/queen-and-adam-lambert-live-review-o2-arena
Green On Seen: Midlife crisis? Adam Lambert + Me
I’m getting old – no, really, I am. I’m too old for lots of things like certain clothes for instance; supertight look-at-me-I’m-gay tops are definitely out (with my chest they were never really in), as is dying my hair blonde or any other colour for that matter. And, I thought, I was well past forming unrealistic obsessions with pop stars. I have had them of course when I was younger: Adam Ant was one – I was particularly taken with his arms, David Sylvian from Japan was another and then there was John Taylor from Duran Duran too.
My first crush though was on Marc Bolan, I had a huge poster of him on my bedroom wall and I don’t think I was even 10! But it was an uneasy relationship because that poster used to frighten me; I was convinced Mr Bolan’s make-up ran during the night – I’ve never been what you could call normal.
But now, in my fortysomethings, I have fallen madly in love with Adam Lambert. Yes I have and I’ve only very recently discovered him thanks to the BBC showing the concert with him and Queen on New Year’s Eve. I didn’t see it live but I downloaded it a couple of days ago and I think I’m now onto my eighth viewing. And from those eight viewings I have come to the firm conlusion that he is the perfect man for me. I want to marry him now!
He’s cheekily handsome, glam, camp, funny and just comes across as a fabulously genuine person…oh, and he can sing a bit too. Actually, he is one of the best vocalists I have ever heard.
And now he’s coming to Liverpool. Queen + Adam Lambert are playing the Echo Arena February 26. What do I do? Go to the show obviously – if I can get a ticket – but should I try and use my press connections and see if I can get a little bit closer, speak to him maybe? But then what if I did and he turns out to be an idiot – shattered dreams and all that. Or, even worse, he is absolutely charming and I turn out to be an idiot!
Maybe I’ll just stalk him instead.
ADAM LAMBERT @adamlambert
London @queenwillrock
http://instagr.am/p/yCw5XeONIZ
ADAM LAMBERT @adamlambert
Teamwork! drbrianmay @queenwillrock
http://instagr.am/p/yCvBjdONEM
******
Adamtopia CalendarQUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT – 2015 UK and EUROPE TOUR
Note: Sold out status based on availability of tickets on 1.5.15 at 12:00 AM. Lack of available tickets may be due to factors other than a “sold out” concert and these concerts may not be technically sold out. A few more tickets are likely to be available before the concert dates when the unused VIP, artists, press and venue holds are released.
CONCERTS START AT 20:00 LOCAL TIME
Tue 13 January NEWCASTLE Arena SOLD OUT Attendance: 9,500
Wed 14 January GLASGOW Hydro SOLD OUT Attendence:
Sat 17 January LONDON O2 Arena SOLD OUT
Sun 18 January LONDON O2 Arena SOLD OUT
TODAY!!!Tue 20 January LEEDS Arena - a few VIP tickets left.
Wed 21 January MANCHESTER Arena SOLD OUT
Friday 23 January BIRMINGHAM NIA SOLD OUT
Sat 24 January NOTTINGHAM Arena SOLD OUT
Mon 26 January PARIS Zenith SOLD OUT
Thu 29 January COLOGNE Lanxess Arena
Fri 30 January AMSTERDAM, Ziggo Dome SOLD OUT
Sun 1 February VIENNA Stadhalle
Mon 2 February MUNICH Olympiahalle
Wed 4 February BERLIN O2
Thu 5 February HAMBURG O2
Sat 7 February FRANKFURT Festhalle
Sun 8 February BRUSSELS Palais 12 SOLD OUT
Tue 10 February MILAN Forum SOLD OUT
Fri 13 February STUTTGART Schleyerhalle
Sun 15 February HERNING Jyske Bank Boxen SOLD OUT
Tue 17 February PRAGUE O2 - very limited
Thu 19 February ZURICH Hallenstadion
Sat 21 February KRAKOW Kraków Arena
Tues 24 February LONDON Wembley SSE Arena SOLD OUT
Thurs 26 February LIVERPOOL Echo Arena – limited to standing GA tickets
Fri 27 February SHEFFIELD Motorpoint Arena – limited to standing GA tickets
Early 2015: Adam's Third Studio Album may be released.
*****
The Adamtopia guidelines are quite simple. To be a member of Adamtopia...
1. You must be an Adam fan.
2. You must be respectful of other members. Feel free to express your opinion, but be glitterier and golden.
3. Strive to be funny, entertaining or informative when you post. Avoid posting something that has already been posted.
4. Never question anyone's right to post, the appropriateness of a topic or define the proper way for an Adam fan or Adamtopia Member to behave. Let the moderators do their job.
More rules will be added if the need arises but, if everyone follows these rules, we will not need a lot of rules.
*****
,
Happy Birthday
!!!!
,Happy Birthday
!!!!
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE ULTIMATE ADAM LAMBERT PLAYLIST.
Links and nominations are located here: adamtopia.com/thread/2744/ultimate-adam-lambert-playlist-more?page=1
