My Edmonton Recap ---stressed with real life trying to get this done ---and here it winds up late but lucky enough it fits the thread title ---Edmonton reviews
(Long--scroll is one's best friend.)
Everything relates to Adam and Queen
I start my car and pull out of my local service station ready to begin my 4 hour drive to Edmonton and my radio is playing the last bit of Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Well …I thought …how fortuitous!
I went solo…as my Atop buddy has moved out of province and attended the Vancouver concert, and friends had family commitments with it being the tail end of July 1st here. Later in the day as I bought a take-out burger from the bar ---what is playing, Another One Bites The Dust! Hey hey! Alright Edmonton has the spirit.
Leaving Edmonton, I am pulling out of a service station and an Edmonton female DJ is asking “ well everyone…how was that Queen and Adam Lambert concert last night? And I am going to play a Queen song in a bit”. She takes a call, and it is positive, but did not give the fella enough time between all her questions to expand on his thoughts. The man got in a few things--- I saw them the last time they were here…thought it was a great show, but a quiet crowd. Quiet why? Most likely due to the demographics being all ages/a lot of young people, and not as many “grey hairs” as the last time-- was his thought. The DJ commented on the younger generations attending, saying…I guess we are educating them well! I thought that was a very astute comment then she throws in, she has been to many Glass Tiger concerts and no one is quiet there (well she started nice enough--boo to her!) Then she goes to commercial and the program comes back with Fat Bottom Girls playing. (she redeemed herself ---a bit)
I thought how cool that my start, the middle and the end of my journey had referencing to QAL/Q.
With so many amazing recaps I can hardly do justice to the superlatives/feeling/emotions that some were able to put to into words. I thought I could share a few specific moments that are stuck in my mind, and the logistics of the concert that made it an awesome concert night for me. To start--it is the one and only concert I am attending. And it was Brilliant! Here we go---As I shared yesterday in a post, I checked out the venue and all the information the receptionist shared with me that I posted in the thread was wrong…SORRY! The gates opened at 7 not 6:30, and you could access the floor through any gate…not just 15 as I was told. Needless to say, I had a lot of time to kill as the concert started closer to 8:40. I should have taken a nap!!
Anyway…I bought my program from one of the fellas standing in the almost vacant concourse by the merchandise. I have enough t-shirts. Too bad as there
literally was no line-up. I headed to aisle 15 and found my seat, as barely anyone was in the arena. The seats were numbered differently than the Ticketmaster image so I was 2 seats further from the fret than I expected but the seat position was still awesome.
And it never mattered anyway. No one came for the two seats on either side of me. The people to my right in the direction of the side of the fret stage--- were short! In front of me--my height! Yay!! An unobstructed view. And I thought –crap- the two vacant seats on the stage side were going to get filled with 6”4” guys. Never happened!
As soon as the second bursting of smoke appeared. (first was a false alarm or a test), the lady at the end of my row jumped up to the barricade. When people around us saw her move there was a surge to the barrier. I was one of them. I became row two as being my polite self I could have had a spot but it might have involved a slight body check to the lady who ducked under as I reached for the barrier rail. She apologized right away, and offered me the spot. I thought too late for that. I did tell her that Adam would be coming around so be prepared. What a nut I am, I ”shoulda” been just as pushy! Oh well…she was shorter than me, and a Queen fan. But honestly it was only an extra 1.5 feet from the barrier position for the whole night! The same gal let me in for the Adam/GAGA hand touch. My hand was missed…but I sure saw him up close. (Adam likes his stage make-up –holy moly...I have to say it makes him look great on the big screens.)
I have to say Brian and Roger look very fresh in real life.
Those were the best seats I have purchased for a concert in terms of being able to visually see the show, plus see: faces and full bodies on both the big and little stage and the runway action. Being 8 feet away even though from the side ---well my eyes were glued to them when they came to the little stage. When performing they looked in our direction more than the other side… happy girl here! I locked eyes once with Adam. I know it! His eyes/head did a little stop check - then he carried on. I cannot even remember which song…think SYW…he was wearing the silver suit.
Adam and Brian surveyed our little group/area on several occasions. Excitement plus, outstretched arms and smiles and cheers galore! Brian kinda pauses and looks but it seems more like wonderful scan, versus specific people. The selfie moment captured my white jacket arms up in the air. I went back to retrieve my water that I left behind under my chair, but made the arms up just in time. It is not in Dr. Bri’s but in another picture of the selfie. In Dr. Bri’s I am hidden behind one of those lights on the fret stage.
Now for just a few highlights/memories:
My eyes were so busy watching, my brain sometimes did not remember exactly which song, which moment. I do however have a few major memories, the first one I will share was in the song CTLCL. Adam was on pause while Roger and Brian played their parts. Adam was goofing around doing these Elvis leg and hip moves near the front of the fret. Then he moved back closer to Roger and continued to go totally over the top with more Elvis moves. He went on and on--more hip/more knees/more on his toe lifts then he was looking downward and to the side, shoulders hunched/bent at the waist, head cocked to one side (my side) and then he added in all those Elvis lips and face moves. He was having a ball! It was like he got totally carried away being goofy thinking how many of these moves can I do while Brian is playing. Whoops now I have to get back to the program at hand! I laughed to myself thinking, how many hours as a little kid, did he stand in front of a mirror trying out those impersonations.
While others had the lead, I cannot forget Adam
in the muted red light glow mimicking Making Love/humping on all fours. It was over in a flash. He then moved near Roger, quite enjoying performing his risqué liberating moves, such as bending over waving his butt and hand. What a guy. I had not seen full videos of that song. I had no idea what he was getting up to in the background while the others were performing.
I guess his part was bringing the
erotic to the Queen show. (Great fun to see what is not always on the screen.)
Being Up close: I really was able to see how his body prepares to belt out those big notes. Leaning forward/bent knees, then rising up and the tongue coming out and literally vibrating, or going in and out while going for it. Yet, other times a long note or words/sounds would build and one would never know how he is preparing as externally there was little change --he was already standing tall/head up and that ability would just overwhelm me. Also --Close enough to see spit flying out. (just twice) Close enough to see his furry chest and his left furry knee cap (peeking from under the silver pants unzipped at the knee while seated singing Spread Your Wings).
Close enough to really see the clothes, (love his choices for this tour---the best!) the shoes, the realllly RED freakin hair…no wonder he wears a hat when off the stage (he commented it was fine for the stage, not so much real life—no kidding). Dr. May’s striped shirt was actually shimmery.
Logistics:Leaning on the shoulder height stage for my first real Adam tour (GNT Boise) I rarely focused on anything other than staring at Adam. He stared back too! It was a super experience but since then I know --I want to see Adam, AND I also want to see the SHOW/ dancers/lights etc. I do not go to a zillion shows each tour, just one or two so I need to really think about location and making the most of the experience.
Last night was perfect for me. Visually I saw all of the production, lights, platform lifts, etc. I rarely concentrated on the screens except for viewing Roger and Freddie clips, and when the visuals behind were “the show”. Seeing all that creative production and lighting in person was spectacular. I am so glad the lasers worked. I was beginning to wonder but they used them extensively in the later portion of the concert---just not the first part of the show.
I can see why some do not want to look at videos. I knew kinda what to expect through some on/off periscopes but if I had never seen the bigger picture …it would have been even more-- WOW/ captivating/attention grabbing. On the other side of that coin was knowing what is coming, to mentally prepare for special moments I did not want to miss.
I am so glad Kryptoman reminded me about ear plugs. I dug them out and thank gosh I did. When the plugs are in the voices/singing is crystal clear, and the music a bit muted. No chipmunk effect, and no concert after effect on my ears.
After trying to get a pic or two, in previous concerts I found I missed things by trying to look into my camera or iphone and the pictures were terrible. I was not going to take pictures but I just had to as I was so close. After a few shots, I realized by watching those around me I could have my eyes up to watch Adam/Brian/Roger and video by having my elbows in and having my iphone by my chin or by my shoulder. This time I could just press video and let it run as I was so close there was little need to zoom in. They may not be perfect vids…but a good decision for me. I have my memories a tap away on my iphone, and in my brain. (I wonder which will last longer!!)
The fellas and whole QAL team did themselves proud. I am so thrilled Adam has an outlet for his amazing talents and it has allowed me to feel and see that talent.
It is like he really is a "real person", when I see him close up like this.
This is not photo shopped.
Like the concert, everything is live.