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BROOKLYN, New York, USA - Barclay's Center- July 28, 2017


www.kingscountypolitics.com/queen-draws-roars-approval-barclays-center/

Arts & CultureQueen Draws Roars of Approval at Barclays CenterJosé Negroni
ByJosé NegroniPosted on July 31, 2017


Really, Queen should stop being so extraordinarily entertaining to their multi-cultural fans that shouted along on every familiar song all the way through Friday’s one-night stand at Barclays Center. The capacity audience of 15,000-plus greeted the band when they took the stage, following no opening acts, as if they had been long-lost friends.

In the course of their two-hour concert, the smart and sexually frank band leader Adam Lambert, a major figure in pop, sang along through Queen’s greatest tunes showing off that he can rasp, whether in a tenor or falsetto, any breakneck riffs.

Two members of Queen’s prime lineup, the meticulous and impassioned Brian May, on guitar, and the devilishly fast Roger Taylor, drums, showed strong gusts of emotion through their solo streaks.


Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn.

As the evening flew by, the high-spirited and stylish Mr. Lambert did a seamless job providing the interminable hits “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Under Pressure,” “Killer Queen,” “Who Wants to Live Forever?” “Radio Gaga,” “We Will Rock You,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” with a flavor and excitement of his own. And his fleet-footed, stage-is-burning dance moves were clearly designed to get the crowd into it, which it was in a boisterous fashion. From time to time it became hard to forget about Freddie Mercury with his upper-register crescendos and soulful expressions, and yet Queen illuminated its songs so well that Mr. Mercury would have savored the performance.

Dedicated to Mr. Mercury for not caring what others thought about him, Queen debuted a new number, “TwoFux.” The audience, many wearing shirts emblazoned with Mr. Mercury’s face, once again leaped to its feet and clapped in unison.

“This was a perfect concert, they played all the songs I wanted them to play” said John Mercado, 67, of Ditmas Park, who was there with his wife and teenage grandson. “The age variations were wider than what you would usually see at legendary rock concerts. It got me to not brood over the current president or subway system. The atmosphere was incredible. Freddie’s not here, but our voices are now those of Freddie. In a sense, us along with Adam are singing for him.”

The fans exited the arena letting the music impel them, many left chanting “We Are The Champions.”

What will this world come to when there’s no more strumming and stomping through the well-made tunes of the rock heirs of the Beatles? It often seems as if living in the shadow of the Beatles will outlive us all, and yet they’re ever more distant in 2017 and as time goes by it will result in the deaths of those who were around while they were around and got to really ingest their magic.

Basically, the world is getting more and more away from these crown princes of rock ‘n’ roll whether it be the Beatles or Queen. Once the All-You-Need-Is-Love spirit withers away and future generations are left with musical cynicism, in an increasingly darker and ominous world, then even the distinctive, hyper-romantic Mr. Lambert with all of his raw charisma and ballooning biceps won’t be able to rescue us.

BROOKLYN, New York, USA - Barclay's Center- July 28, 2017



thezreview.com/2017/08/01/concert-review-queen-adam-lambert-at-barclays-center-brooklyn/

Concert Review: Queen + Adam Lambert at Barclays Center, Brooklyn
by DANIEL BUKSZPAN on AUGUST 1, 2017

I’ve been listening to the music of Queen since I was seven years old. The new album at the time was “News of the World,” which contains the one-two punch of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions,” and I listened to it obsessively.

When singer Freddie Mercury died in 1991, I believed that the book had been closed forever, that any chance I had to see the band died with him. Maybe that was for the best anyway. Who wants to see those guys continue solely out of some morbid sense of obligation? Sometimes it’s better for something, even something great, to just be over.

Queen tried to soldier on with Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company at the helm, and even though he’s one of my all-time favorite singers, it just didn’t work. He was simply the wrong person.

A few years later, I heard that they were going to go back out on the road, this time with “American Idol” finalist Adam Lambert at the mic. This struck me as an even shittier choice than Paul Rodgers. Rodgers at least had decades in the business behind him. Lambert, on the other hand, was a runner-up on a glorified game show. Why didn’t they just pull some homeless guy off the street and give him the mic while they were at it?

Well, on July 28, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, I was served heaping helpings of crow, heavy on the humiliation, right in front of the band. Lambert is not only an excellent singer who’s 100% up to the technical challenges of singing Queen’s music, but his entire approach is one of appropriate humility.

Lambert seems both cognizant of how lucky he is to be fronting this band, but not intimidated by the task. He sings the songs like he’s been singing along to the records for his entire life, but he doesn’t imitate Mercury – he has a style all his own, both completely original yet a fitting tribute. It’s a delicate balance to strike, and he nailed it.

The set list didn’t include any deep cuts or rarities, which was one of only a couple of problems I had with it. There are a lot of songs less famous than “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Radio Gaga” that would have been nice to hear, but at this point, it’s fairly well-established that the people at the concerts want to hear the hits. The crowd, which ranged in age from my 10-year-old son to people who appeared to be in their 70s, certainly didn’t seem to mind.

So it was a set list that was heavy on the familiar, not that that’s necessarily a problem. In addition to the expected “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the band performed “Killer Queen,” “Stone Cold Crazy” the mighty “Fat Bottomed Girls,” and many, many more. It also had a couple of moments of tribute to Freddie Mercury that I don’t mind saying got both me and my lovely wife more than a little choked up, which we really weren’t expecting.

The only really noticeable flaws came courtesy of drummer Roger Taylor. His playing seemed to drag a bit and the tempos wandered freely, up and down. He sounded kind of tired, and with good reason. He’s now 68 years old, playing the drums every night of the week on a 100-plus-day tour, in a set that lasts for two hours, may simply be more than he can handle.

The fact that there was a second drummer onstage with the group would seem to bear this out. It wasn’t enough of a problem to compromise anyone’s enjoyment of the show, but it’s definitely there, and the recent retirement of Rush drummer Neil Peart from live performances may simply mean that rock drumming is a younger person’s game, like playing football, or any other physically demanding vocation.

Not affected by his age was guitarist Brian May, who just turned 70 and played every note flawlessly. His performance, as well as that of Adam Lambert, was extraordinary enough to overshadow any other problems that might have beset the evening, including the row of doofuses sitting behind me who generally acted like drunken yahoos from the beginning of the show until the last note.

If you have any doubts about whether or not you should see the band perform in this incarnation, you should ignore those doubts and go see them while they’re still playing. Everything works with Lambert at the helm, and if you’re any kind of fan of this group’s music, you should see them perform while they’re still alive and well. You won’t regret it.

Libel

By Carl Doy



Artist: Queen & Adam Lambert



Date / Venue: Saturday February 17th, 2018 - Spark Arena, Auckland



It was hot and steamy in Auckland last night and it was a relief to get into the airconditioned cool of the Spark Arena.



But it didn’t last long. Queen and Adam Lambert were in town and they got straight down to business with a white-hot opening set guaranteed to get everyone’s attention right from the start. Three of their greatest, We Will Rock You, Another One Bites The Dust and Fat-Bottomed Girls were delivered in quick succession, and only then did the pace relax for a second or two when Adam Lambert welcomed “all the fat-assed bitches of Auckland”, quickly assuring them though that it was meant as a term of endearment.



He needn’t have worried, the audience loved it, but it was the first step in creating a bond between him and the audience, everyone being aware that he had the seemingly impossible task of replacing one of the most flamboyant and charismatic rock legends in history.



He successfully cemented that bond over the next two hours through a virtuoso vocal performance. Is there nothing the boy can’t sing? He delivered Killer Queen in a purple suit sitting on top of a giant robot, informing us afterwards that it gives good head, which, if not actually out-gaying Freddie, certainly put him up there in the same camp.



And while Adam was winning new fans, the stars of Queen were playing to the converted and working their magic to support their new guy. Roger Taylor, one of the great rock drummers, was rock-solid throughout and also gracious enough to have a drum battle with their percussionist, Tyler Warren and bow to his technique.



Star of the show? Has to be Brian May, who has contributed so much to the sound of the band over the years and last night, changing guitars almost as many times as Adam changed suits, he gave us a masterclass in technique, style and sheer stamina. Not content with that, he duettedwith Freddie on Love of my Life and included us all in when he took the biggest selfie in the world.



There’s more, some unbelievable laser/3D effects added imaginative and very often breathtaking visual extras throughout the show.



The band covered every hit last night, saving their biggest one of all for the very end - of course, Bohemian Rhapsody, complete with the original vids and vocal harmonies,



A magnificent show. If you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourselves to get a ticket to Sunday's Spark Arena show. Adam isn’t the new Freddie, their talents are too individual, but I’m sure Mr. Mercury would have approved. The capacity crowd at Spark Arena certainly did.

libel.co.nz/home/concert-review-with-photos-queen-adam-lambert

QUDOS Bank Arena, Sydney - Wednesday February 21, 2018
 [Live Review] QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT (Sydney)
Posted on February 23, 2018 by David Youdell

QUDOS Bank Arena, Sydney
Wednesday February 21, 2018 :

Majority of my childhood was soundtracked by Queen’s greatest hits record. I still have that exact record to this day, that I inherited from my late father. The influence Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon had on me was enormous.

For some time between 2004 and 2009, Queen had Paul Rogers of Bad Company fame fronting the band, but to be completely honest Adam Lambert – American National Treasure as I like to call him, not only does it better, he doesn’t even have to “steal the show” – he just adds to it. In complete harmony with the rest of the band, honouring the forever immortalised legend that is Freddie Mercury and still making sure to be respectful of who the original members of the band are.

If you are one of those people who would say : “Well he’s no Freddie.” – “No shit. There will only ever be one Rock God.” – Lambert will tell you this himself. Regardless of what you think of Lambert, you would be the ones missing out on experiencing something truly magical and ridiculously inclusive for a huge crowd of people who filled the arena that night.

First Australian show for Queen in 2018 took place in Sydney at Qudos Bank Arena. Kicking the show off with a little ‘We Will Rock You’ intro, ‘Hammer to Fall’ welcomed Lambert to stage pacing around in a pair of high heeled boots, sunnies and a very cool rock’n’roll outfit. The man is not only beautiful, he is extremely talented as well. The way he captured the crowd in the palm of his hand without excluding the original members of the band really was noticeable during ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’.

The crowd soon was surprised by Lambert appearing from beneath the stage on top of a metal head sculpture (called Frank, apparently) wearing a very extravagant pink suit, addressing all of the “but he’s not Freddie” critics and moved on to a glorious version of ‘Killer Queen’, which was definitely worthy of Mercury’s crown. But there was more – as ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ commenced Lambert made his way to the end of a very long runway reciting the lyrics to ‘Bicycle Race’ and once the spotlight lit the very end of the runway – there was a pink glitter tricycle waiting for him with a basket full of flowers, he threw a few into the crowd and rode the bike back to stage during the shorter version of the song. Roger Taylor took over from Lambert with an absolutely mind blowing version of ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, being a huge fan of his, I was absolutely stoked I got to experience that.

‘Get Down, Make Love’ and ‘I Want It All’ were well received but the show really got to its culmination when Brian May finally greeted the fans and announced a song for Freddie, ‘Love Of My Life’ – the whole venue glistened with phone generated lights and the echoing singalong, a few tears were shed when Mercury appeared on screen to finish off the song. What a truly special moment.

While the crowd recovered from all the feels, May pulled out a selfie stick and filmed the crowd all around the venue, spinning around and projecting everything on screen which entertained the fans quite a bit. Glitter pants clad Lambert returned to stage for ‘Somebody to Love’, moving over to the end of runway May, Lambert and Taylor had their moment afterwards Roger Taylor did an amazing drum solo battle with touring drummer by the name of Tyler Warren. I expected to see Taylor’s son – Rufus Taylor, who’s probably too busy touring with his band The Darkness, but young Nashville lad pulled it off just as well! First notes of ‘Under Pressure’ always spark me up, shared vocals of Lambert and Taylor sounded great! ‘Some Kind of Magic’ performed by Taylor and May really made me admire Taylor even more as a skilled and talented singer.

A weird but pleasant surprise was Adam Lambert’s own song “Whataya Want From Me”(originally Pink’s song) it must’ve been mind blowing for Lambert to have his hit single played by the LEGENDARY “backing band” – it was his time to shine separate from Queen as a band, BUT he preferred to stick close to May and not take on all of the glory. He seemed very appreciative of the gesture and hugged it out with May at the end of the song.

‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ saw the whole venue light up in tiny little dots of light projecting from a huge disco ball, while ‘Last Horizons’ had the stage rise above the crowd, as if Frank (the statue head from earlier) was raising Brian May in the palm of his metal hand. Packed with a bunch of psychedelic visuals on screen, guitar solo sounded exquisite and finishing the performance with ‘Radio Ga Ga’ and a lengthy ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ sing-a-long from the crowd. While the crowd begged for more, we saw Mercury appear on screen from an old live recording and his image commanded the crowd to sing along to the harmonies of ‘Day-Oh’ followed by flipping everyone off reminding us how cheeky he actually was.

It was finally time to hear all rebel’s favourite anthem : ‘We Will Rock You’ – Lambert appeared on stage in a cape and bejewelled crown and May wore some sort of a futuristic silver outfit. ‘We Are The Champions’ closed the show exploding with confetti as the band waved farewell. It was a nice touch hearing David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ blasting over the speakers right as the house lights lit up. The list of Queen’s guest vocalists was larger than the amount of fingers on both of your hands, but Bowie’s and Mercury’s “Under Pressure” will always be iconic.

If you are still one of those “He’s no Freddie” people, you are truly missing out on being part of music history being made. Suit Yourself.

Reviewer : Annette Geneva
Photographer : David Youdell