3.8.18 Adam News and Info
Mar 8, 2018 2:51:19 GMT -5
Post by Q3 on Mar 8, 2018 2:51:19 GMT -5
Where's Adam? Last spotted in Sydney. He is expected back in LA next week. Hopefully, to finish up A4? So will he take a short post tour leg break somewhere?
beat
Review: Queen & Adam Lambert retain rock royalty status
They are the champions.
“I know what some of you may be thinking,” Adam Lambert proclaimed to the sold-out Rod Laver Arena. “I’m just going to call it out: ‘He’s no Freddie.’”
He’s right of course. Going into the show, that was the murmur around the block. What is Queen without Freddie?
“No shit,” retorted Lambert to his own statement. “Because there will only be one rock god named Freddie Mercury."
This exchange came seven songs into the epic, two-and-a-half hour set. Lambert addressed the crowd with his flamboyant charisma, all flawless makeup and theatrical flair, and won over the entire crowd, making way for one of the best concerts of the year thus far.
It came as such a relief, breaking down a barrier between feeling more like a karaoke session than a performance by one of the biggest bands in the world.
Though Lambert is a star in his own right, Brian May, 68, and Roger Taylor, 70, were heroes on display to be adored. May’s guitar was flawless and Taylor’s drumming and vocals were joyful.
The sprawling evening gave the originals plenty of opportunities to demonstrate that they well and truly still have it. Punctuated with guitar solos, a drum battle, and frequent appearances from their mascot robot Frank – who first appeared on the cover of their 1977 album News of the World – the set left nothing to be desired.
The guitar-shaped stage was lit up in spectacular fashion, utilising all that Rod Laver could possibly offer. The video imagery was masterful, with emotional tributes to Freddie Mercury dotted throughout the show, videos of him singing playing alongside the band. The touching tribute hit most beautifully during the evening’s highlight – May’s beautiful acoustic rendition of ‘Love of my Life’. With tears in my eyes, it’s a musical moment I won’t soon forget.
Lambert’s voice is stunning. Truly flawless in its strength, clarity, and emotional capacity. I honestly couldn’t think of a vocalist other than Freddie that I’d want fronting the band, worlds away from my apprehension coming into it.
More... www.beat.com.au/music/review-queen-adam-lambert-retain-rock-royalty-status
THE HUNDRED PERCENT ROCK MAGAZINE
LIVE: QUEEN with Adam Lambert, Perth – 6 Mar, 2018
A couple of oppressively stinking hot and sweaty days did nothing to dampen Perth’s enthusiasm for the return of the mighty Queen – now, effectively, Brian May and Roger Taylor – with Adam Lambert, and a sold out Arena were anxious from the scheduled start time of 8:15, cheering Mexican waves and handclapping their readiness whilst atmospheric music set the mood.
Suddenly the house lights dimmed and an impressive and innovative video/lighting rig showed us the giant robot from the cover of the News Of The World album, as re-purposed by artist Frank Kelly Freas from his original sci fi story painting. The robot, dubbed Frank by the band, impressively ‘lifted’ the lighting rig above the stage, allowing the band to burst into song.
The ongoing half of Queen have worked with a handful of singers over the years since the great Freddie Mercury died and bassist John Deacon retreated from any kind of public life. It’s no stretch to say that their short collaboration with George Michael was the best fit in Freddie’s wake, so it’s no surprise that Adam Lambert – a veteran of American Idol – has more than a little of the young, brash Michael about him.
Lambert starts a little slow tonight, focusing too much energy on posturing during an intro snippet of We Will Rock You, but soon comes good and lets his impressive vocal range have his full attention through Hammer To Fall and Stone Cold Crazy.
With May and Taylor now running the show, it’s a rock-heavy – even hard rock-heavy – set list, and there’s no mistaking the unique guitar sound of May’s (courtesy of his handmade-from-a-fireplace Red Special) and Taylor’s pounding drums (even if he has some assistance in this department – but more of that later.)
The lighting must have been designed by a troubled teen with AHHHDD – they hyperactively throw every bell, whistle, trick in the book AND the kitchen sink at the audience, bombarding us relentlessly with lights, lasers, strobes, and more.
Practically every song is a classic (even Lambert’s 2009 top ten single and Grammy nominated Whataya Want From Me, written by PiNK, Max Martin and Shellback, is overly plain in this exalted company), and there were handfuls more they could have easily played to the same response.
The disco bass line of Another One Bites The Dust is unmistakably funky; an accapella intro to Fat Bottomed Girls – Lambert exhorting “all my fat ass bitches” to “get on your bikes and ride,” proving that whilst heavily influenced by Mercury, he’s no mere imitator, and he camps it up even more through Killer Queen, dolled up like Liberace atop Frank’s robot head, giving it the full gay cabaret schtick.
Lambert endears himself to the crowd with a short, respectful speech about his predecessor – for some, the only vocalist allowed to sing these songs. “I know there’s some people out there saying, ‘well he ain’t no Freddie Mercury!’”
“Promise me that you AND me will celebrate Freddie and Queen together tonight?” he pleads, evoking a huge roar and a few notches up the respect ladder.
One would imagine that Freddie would have firmly embraced the more open sexual attitudes we enjoy now, some 27 years after his passing from AIDS-related illness, and Lambert’s flamboyance, confidence to embrace his effeminancy, and risqué jokes would certainly have tickled the late singer. A hot pink tricycle highlights Bicycle Race, and Lambert isn’t shy to ride it around the stage with his microphone on a specially built stand on the handlebars. It’s absurd, but it works – the band are obviously having a ball, and the music never descends from rock and roll to cabaret.
More with photos...
magazine.100percentrock.com/live-reviews/201803/239986/nggallery/page/2/image/2018-03-06-queen-with-adam-lambert-perth-by-stuart-mckay-41/