7.26.19 Adam News and Info

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Queen + Adam Lambert take a curtain call at Toyota Center





Honestly, if I found myself inside a burning building and Queen's Brian May stood there playing guitar, I'm not entirely sure I'd flee. And even if he didn't have a guitar with him, I still might enjoy a quiet moment with this singular rock 'n roll oddity. "So," I might say, "want to talk about space?"

As a rare guitarist-songwriter-singer-astrophysicist, May occupies a planet of his own. And while his band is best known for its late, great quicksilver frontman, May remains a celestial entity worthy of orbitig. He proved it throughout the two hours Queen + Adam Lambert played to a packed Toyota Center, perhaps most when he sat at the center of the arena with an acoustic guitar and sang "Love of My Life" and "'39," the latter prompting May to comment on Houston's status as Space City, with a nearby space center that May has visited multiple times.

It was the quietest spell of the show, but also strangely intimate, with May's 12-string guitar still offering that tone that only he gets when he plays.

He and drummer Roger Taylor – the other remaining remnant of Queen – reminded throughout the night how good the band's vocalists were -- beyond the departed Freddie Mercury, who died nearly 30 years ago. It seems obvious to me now, but I'd missed how much the band took inspiration from the Beach Boys, vocally at least.

Musically, Queen found a space of its own by fusing the muscle of hard rock with the flamboyance of musical theater. May's guitar playing mapped out that sound. If I can be afforded one last space travel metaphor, his riffs are the rocket fuel that offers ample propulsion and his solos have a dreamier quality. He played an extended solo atop a projection of an asteroid this night, surrounded by a light show with stars and planets. May's playing was exploratory before finding its way back to Earth with "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Fat Bottomed Girls."

This is a band that could've simply played its "Greatest Hits" album and collected a paycheck. That's how ubiquitous the hits are, and how well they play in an arena. But the mix was intriguing and generous. I particularly enjoyed "Seven Seas of Rhye" and "I Want It All."

As has become the routine, the part of frontman was played by "American Idol" discovery Adam Lambert, who plays that part with ample enthusiasm and a voice that finds its way to all nooks of an arena. Lambert gets out in front of the comparisons, knowing it would be a losing battle if he chose to fight it. So instead he rolls with the role, dealing with what he called "the pink elephant in the room . . . I'm not Freddie."

He's not. And that's fine. Their voices are both dynamic but distinctive. Mercury also moved around the stage with a liquid ease that fit the stage name he chose for himself. Lambert is fearless up there, and unafraid to camp it up, but he doesn't quite become part of the music the same way.

But Queen's songs are so Broadway theatrical that they don't necessarily require one man to sing them. Sure, Mercury's voice stamped them indelibly. But his death shouldn't take the songs with him. They just require somebody with a little operatic panache willing to lean into them a bit. And Lambert has proved not just able, but also game. Tallying the great and the serviceable in the set almost seems beside the point. That said, I thought "Another One Bites the Dust" felt a little flat.

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Last night: Queen and Adam Lambert at Toyota Center. www.houstonpress.com/music/review-queen-adam-lambert-toyota-center-july-24-2019-11327533

The Rhapsody Tour, the latest run of live Queen shows featuring Adam Lambert on vocals, was a half-dozen songs into its Houston stop when Lambert stated the obvious to a capacity crowd at Toyota Center.

"I’m going to say it, I’m going to address the pink elephant in the room – I’m not Freddie, because there’s no replacing the one and only rock god, Freddie Mercury!” Lambert noted, pausing graciously to allow Houston’s Queen fans to honor the band’s late and legendary front man.

Lambert said he and Queen have partnered for eight years now, performing everywhere for fans, new and old, including Toyota Center shows in 2014 and 2017. Lambert’s proclamation almost seems unnecessary at this stage in their union. But he and Queen’s original members, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, are navigating new waters on this journey. Their first tours together brought in a mix of Queen die-hards and “Glamberts,” followers of the American singer and American Idol runner-up. The Rhapsody Tour’s tickets are being snagged by Mercury fans, particularly new followers who learned his story via Bohemian Rhapsody, last year’s award-winning, blockbuster band biopic. The film has grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide. It sent Queen’s signature song, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” back to Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, more than 40 years since it first charted. Whole new generations of Queen fans emerged from darkened movie theaters, fascinated by Mercury’s story and the band’s unmistakable music.



That music is Queen’s story, the one that will endure, and fans heard lots of it last night, from expected cuts from the greatest hits compilations, like “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Radio Ga Ga” to less obvious gems such as “’39,” from A Night at the Opera. May plucked away at an acoustic guitar at the end of a catwalk which reached generously into the arena’s crowd for that one, which followed his rendition of “Love of My Life.” That song is highlighted in the film and it gave May a chance to discuss his old friend and band mate. It was a moment not unlike the one Paul McCartney offered fans at a Minute Maid show some years ago, where he performed “Something” in honor of George Harrison. May’s voice – which is still pristine all these decades later – reached out to Mercury and Mercury reached back, by way of his image in a video sequence.

Mercury appeared several times this way, during “Bohemian Rhapsody” and again for the audience call-and-response of “Ay-Oh,” which kicked off the encore. But his virtual image was hardly necessary. His spirit was in the room on practically every song, particularly during tunes like “I Want to Break Free” and “Who Wants to Live Forever.”

For his part, Lambert has learned to share the stage with that specter, quite admirably. I’ll admit I once wondered why Queen would ever perform live with anyone but Mercury, but Lambert’s grace in the face of such detraction has been winning. And, seeing him deliver his take on these songs live was fun and impressive. He camped it up for songs like “Killer Queen” (straddling the piano and batting his eyes with every flap of an over-sized fan) and “Bicycle Race.” He never tried to emulate Mercury, but just presented the songs in his own fashion with his own notable vocal skills. My wife, sitting next to me there in section 120, said it was probably her favorite classic rock concert ever because of Lambert’s infusion of youthful lifeblood into these old treasures. I agreed. Judging by the extended ovations, the thunderous applause and the long lines at the merch tables, so did a sold-out Toyota Center crowd.



May and Taylor harmonized beautifully as ever last night and, of course, Queen purists were yet again enthralled by May’s mastery of the guitar. The stage show was obviously bonkers, but it was altogether otherworldy for May’s spotlight moment on the instrumental track “Last Horizon.” The riffs he fired off were jet fuel which propelled him into space. He stood atop a meteor and played among the planets like a proper deity. The show featured plenty of interactive moments. There was karaoke-styled crooning to “Don’t Stop Me Now,” disco dancing to “Another One Bites the Dust” and the familiar overhead hand claps to “Radio Ga Ga.” But May as the center of the universe was a moment for music fans to simply collect in awe.

Personal Bias: In the spring of 1983, I drove a carpool of fellow Marian Christian High School students to our humble campus daily. Practically every morning before Mrs. Gagne’s formative speech class or Mrs. Ball’s critical English studies, I tortured my carpool by playing Queen’s “Bicycle Race” on repeat. The song was already some years old by the time Kim, Karen, Tisha and Tish were piling into my dookie-brown Honda Civic, but for some reason I’d just discovered it that year and those resilient young women endured wash-rinse-repeat plays of the tune. One of them must have really loved it (or at least the fellow who loved it) because she married me. She said nothing to me when the band cranked it up last night (offered by a leather-clad Lambert hamming it up on a Harley), but just gave me side-eye and cracked the slightest hint of a smile.

The Crowd: Not a single naysayer in the house, they were devoted to this iteration of Queen, as evidenced by their interesting and abundant dance moves and game but questionable attempts to sing like the best rock vocalist in recorded history. I'd watch it all again with them.

Random Notebook Dump: A rare and glorious summertime cool front blew into Houston yesterday with Queen. If a respite from throttling humidity and brutal heat is not symbolism for the breath of fresh air that Lambert affords Queen in 2019, I don't know what is.

10 Jul Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
12 Jul Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
14 Jul San Jose, CA SAP Center
16 Jul Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Arena
19 Jul Los Angeles, CA The Forum
20 Jul Los Angeles, CA The Forum
23 Jul Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
24 Jul Houston, TX Toyota Center
27 Jul Detroit, MI Little Caesars Arena
28 Jul Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
30 Jul Washington, DC Capital One Arena
31 Jul Pittsburgh, PA PPG Paints Arena
03 Aug Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
04 Aug Boston, MA Xfinity Center
06 Aug New York, NY Madison Square Garden
07 Aug New York, NY Madison Square Garden
09 Aug Chicago, IL United Center
10 Aug St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
13 Aug Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
15 Aug Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
17 Aug Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center
18 Aug Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
20 Aug New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
22 Aug Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena
23 Aug Charlotte, NC Spectrum Center