6.27.17 QAL Hollywood Bowl #2
Jun 27, 2017 17:41:51 GMT -5
Post by skaschep on Jun 27, 2017 17:41:51 GMT -5
Another review, but quite a bitter one it seems. Not a fan of Queen and not a fan of Adam who wrote it.
twitter.com/SDoGoing/status/879812353507840000
San Diego oGoing @sdogoing
What's going on SD? Mama mia! Queen and Adam Lambert show gets boost from the… dlvr.it/PQXs2q Get Found -> bit.ly/RS4fGB
Review Mama mia! Queen and Adam Lambert show gets boost from the late Freddie Mercury
Adam Lambert has some mighty big platform shoes to fill as the lead singer in Queen, a point the San Diego-bred “American Idol” alum readily acknowledged Monday night to the sold-out audience at the Hollywood Bowl.
“I know what some of you might be thinking — ‘Well, he’s no Freddie Mercury’,” Lambert, 35, said, after completing a spirited version of “Killer Queen,” a choice song from Queen’s third album, 1974’s “Sheer Heart Attack.”
“I know (I’m not). I know,” the 2000 Mt. Carmel High School graduate continued. “Freddie Mercury is a god! I’m a fan, like you guys. I’m just like you, except I’m up here in a pink suit.”
He also hailed Mercury — who died in 1991 of AIDS at the age of 45 — for his “incredible voice, incredible compositions and his fashion” savvy. Then, Lambert dedicated his unfortunately titled new song, “Two Fux,” to Mercury.
Monday’s show was the third 2017 North American concert date by the band billed as Queen + Adam Lambert, whose joint trek is skipping San Diego. The former San Diego singer began touring with Queen co-founders Brian May and Roger Taylor in 2012.
That was three years after they first performed together during a 2009 episode of “American Idol,” the hit TV show that propelled Lambert to stardom.
“These two guys are rock ’n’ roll legends!” he said of May, 69, and Taylor, 67. “What an honor it is to be on stage with them.”
Lambert’s passion and gratitude were unmistakable. His broad vocal range and at times melodramatic delivery make him well-suited to perform Queen’s octave-leaping songs. He deftly emulates the winking pomp and proudly over-the-top bombast that were two of Mercury’s calling cards as one of rock’s supreme showmen.
Accordingly, Lambert soared on such classics songs as “Stone Cold Crazy,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Somebody to Love” and the show-closing encores of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions.” He clearly loves Queen’s music and his enthusiasm gives a palpable boost to May, Taylor and the three touring musicians who round out the lineup.
Coincidentally, Lambert — like Mercury before him — is gay. Throughout the concert, he happily embraced the wonderfully camp theatrics that were synonymous with Mercury’s indelible stage persona.
But no matter how well he sang, Lambert lacked the electrifying charisma and anarchistic sense of risk and danger Mercury brought to concert stages.
Consequently, Lambert was overshadowed in each instance that Mercury was seen and heard — back in his prime — on the enormous video screens that bedecked the Hollywood Bowl’s stage.
Whether “duetting” with May on the tender acoustic guitar ballad “Love of My Life” or hitting those multi-tracked operatic flourishes on “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Mercury scored big.
A quarter century after his death, the singer’s vintage video clips pack a bigger-than-life punch that drew roars of approval from the nearly 18,000 strong, multi-generational audience. Even bigger roars, it should be noted, than Queen and Lambert received for most of the night.
Lambert has plenty of game and the audience cheered when he held extended notes that grew in intensity, as he first did during “Hammer to Fall.” (His usual high-voltage vocals fell curiously flat on the rockabilly-fueled “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”)
But no mere mortal can compete with the charisma-oozing Mercury, even when Queen’s original singer appears only in posthumous form.
So while Monday’s concert offered a welcome opportunity to again savor such gems as “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Under Pressure,” “I Want It All,” and “Get Down, Make Love,” Lambert was at a disadvantage. Moreover, with no new Queen songs in the set, the concert inevitably looked back, not forward.
Without a doubt, the allure of Queen’s storied back catalog was enough for them to easily sell out the historic Hollywood Bowl, where Queen performs again tonight.
The production was top notch, with dazzling lasers, imaginative lighting and a flower-bedecked bike for Lambert to ride during “Bicycle Race.” The singer also had an array of costume changes, even sporting Mercury’s crown for “We Will Rock You.” (During “Bohemian Rhapsody,” May sported a long, silver cape that looked as if came from a garage sale at former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman’s house.)
Alas, revisiting the past without an infusion of new music and purpose ultimately makes any concert an exercise in nostalgia. And not all of Queen’s songs have the timeless, anthem-like qualities of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions,” two of the five songs the band performed Monday from its 1977 album, “News of the World.”
That made it a challenge to sustain and build momentum. So did the decision to include a “drum battle” between Taylor and Queen touring percussionist Tyler Warren. A solid timekeeper, Taylor has a distinct lack of finesse and technical agility when it comes to soloing.
Then there was May’s atmospheric guitar feature, “Last Horizon,” which lasted nearly 10 minutes and found him performing in front of a cosmic, lost-in-space backdrop.
While well executed, it would have been far more effective at half or a third that length. This holds especially true since May’s more concise solos earlier in the concert accounted for most of the instrumental highlights.
That Queen is a band with a great past is undeniable and Monday’s concert celebrated that past, albeit with mixed results. But unless Queen’s sole goal with Adam Lambert is to revisit previous triumphs, rather than create new ones, it’s time for the band to look forward and not just back.
twitter.com/SDoGoing/status/879812353507840000
San Diego oGoing @sdogoing
What's going on SD? Mama mia! Queen and Adam Lambert show gets boost from the… dlvr.it/PQXs2q Get Found -> bit.ly/RS4fGB
Review Mama mia! Queen and Adam Lambert show gets boost from the late Freddie Mercury
Adam Lambert has some mighty big platform shoes to fill as the lead singer in Queen, a point the San Diego-bred “American Idol” alum readily acknowledged Monday night to the sold-out audience at the Hollywood Bowl.
“I know what some of you might be thinking — ‘Well, he’s no Freddie Mercury’,” Lambert, 35, said, after completing a spirited version of “Killer Queen,” a choice song from Queen’s third album, 1974’s “Sheer Heart Attack.”
“I know (I’m not). I know,” the 2000 Mt. Carmel High School graduate continued. “Freddie Mercury is a god! I’m a fan, like you guys. I’m just like you, except I’m up here in a pink suit.”
He also hailed Mercury — who died in 1991 of AIDS at the age of 45 — for his “incredible voice, incredible compositions and his fashion” savvy. Then, Lambert dedicated his unfortunately titled new song, “Two Fux,” to Mercury.
Monday’s show was the third 2017 North American concert date by the band billed as Queen + Adam Lambert, whose joint trek is skipping San Diego. The former San Diego singer began touring with Queen co-founders Brian May and Roger Taylor in 2012.
That was three years after they first performed together during a 2009 episode of “American Idol,” the hit TV show that propelled Lambert to stardom.
“These two guys are rock ’n’ roll legends!” he said of May, 69, and Taylor, 67. “What an honor it is to be on stage with them.”
Lambert’s passion and gratitude were unmistakable. His broad vocal range and at times melodramatic delivery make him well-suited to perform Queen’s octave-leaping songs. He deftly emulates the winking pomp and proudly over-the-top bombast that were two of Mercury’s calling cards as one of rock’s supreme showmen.
Accordingly, Lambert soared on such classics songs as “Stone Cold Crazy,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Somebody to Love” and the show-closing encores of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions.” He clearly loves Queen’s music and his enthusiasm gives a palpable boost to May, Taylor and the three touring musicians who round out the lineup.
Coincidentally, Lambert — like Mercury before him — is gay. Throughout the concert, he happily embraced the wonderfully camp theatrics that were synonymous with Mercury’s indelible stage persona.
But no matter how well he sang, Lambert lacked the electrifying charisma and anarchistic sense of risk and danger Mercury brought to concert stages.
Consequently, Lambert was overshadowed in each instance that Mercury was seen and heard — back in his prime — on the enormous video screens that bedecked the Hollywood Bowl’s stage.
Whether “duetting” with May on the tender acoustic guitar ballad “Love of My Life” or hitting those multi-tracked operatic flourishes on “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Mercury scored big.
A quarter century after his death, the singer’s vintage video clips pack a bigger-than-life punch that drew roars of approval from the nearly 18,000 strong, multi-generational audience. Even bigger roars, it should be noted, than Queen and Lambert received for most of the night.
Lambert has plenty of game and the audience cheered when he held extended notes that grew in intensity, as he first did during “Hammer to Fall.” (His usual high-voltage vocals fell curiously flat on the rockabilly-fueled “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”)
But no mere mortal can compete with the charisma-oozing Mercury, even when Queen’s original singer appears only in posthumous form.
So while Monday’s concert offered a welcome opportunity to again savor such gems as “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Under Pressure,” “I Want It All,” and “Get Down, Make Love,” Lambert was at a disadvantage. Moreover, with no new Queen songs in the set, the concert inevitably looked back, not forward.
Without a doubt, the allure of Queen’s storied back catalog was enough for them to easily sell out the historic Hollywood Bowl, where Queen performs again tonight.
The production was top notch, with dazzling lasers, imaginative lighting and a flower-bedecked bike for Lambert to ride during “Bicycle Race.” The singer also had an array of costume changes, even sporting Mercury’s crown for “We Will Rock You.” (During “Bohemian Rhapsody,” May sported a long, silver cape that looked as if came from a garage sale at former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman’s house.)
Alas, revisiting the past without an infusion of new music and purpose ultimately makes any concert an exercise in nostalgia. And not all of Queen’s songs have the timeless, anthem-like qualities of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions,” two of the five songs the band performed Monday from its 1977 album, “News of the World.”
That made it a challenge to sustain and build momentum. So did the decision to include a “drum battle” between Taylor and Queen touring percussionist Tyler Warren. A solid timekeeper, Taylor has a distinct lack of finesse and technical agility when it comes to soloing.
Then there was May’s atmospheric guitar feature, “Last Horizon,” which lasted nearly 10 minutes and found him performing in front of a cosmic, lost-in-space backdrop.
While well executed, it would have been far more effective at half or a third that length. This holds especially true since May’s more concise solos earlier in the concert accounted for most of the instrumental highlights.
That Queen is a band with a great past is undeniable and Monday’s concert celebrated that past, albeit with mixed results. But unless Queen’s sole goal with Adam Lambert is to revisit previous triumphs, rather than create new ones, it’s time for the band to look forward and not just back.
