8.21.21 Adam News and Info

Translated from Spanish    313.3K followers

My last concert: Queen + Adam Lambert:

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MY LAST CONCERT: QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT


The pandemic stole our concerts, among many other things. Those massive congregations in stadiums or theaters, esplanades or auditoriums, in which a magical communion between artist and public took place. Squeezed in the front rows or seated in the highest part of a tribune, concert goers forget all the problems and we surrender to that collective catharsis, that euphoria that is unleashed when you listen, live and direct, to the chords of your favorite song (s) and you scream, so no one hears you.

When the coronavirus settled in our country, in March 2020, I had already bought my tickets for the third time of Guns' N Roses in Lima. And they fell, like dominoes, some others that I did not think to miss: Pat Metheny -extraordinary jazz guitarist, on his first visit to Peru-, Martin Barre -legendary guitarist of Jethro Tull, along with Dee Palmer and Adam Wakeman , Rick's son, to celebrate 50 years of the group-, Kiss -after 11 years of the explosive concert he offered at the National Stadium. All, until further notice, canceled. Incidentally, Teleticket has not yet announced the return of the GN'R payments so far, despite the fact that they are already advertising some face-to-face concerts for the latter part of this year.

This week has been 24 months for me without experiencing that liberating sensation, a combination of fatigue, satisfaction and desire to continue that occurs when white lights are turned on and the roar of speakers and flashing LED screens are replaced by soft music background and the murmur of the public that begins to leave the enclosure. Some, making shouting comments and bare smoothness. Others, unable to speak. But everyone, as rarely happens in life, feeling and thinking the same thing. The last face-to-face concert I was in was on August 17, 2019, exactly two years and four days ago.

Three hours before scheduled on that sunny day, the concert had already started on the wide esplanade outside the BB&T Center, an impressive sports complex and shopping center in Fort Lauderdale, 45 kilometers from Miami. Hundreds of fans arrived, alone or in pairs, groups and entire families, many with poles alluding to the band, waiting for the doors to open. Two radio stations turned on the atmosphere from huge speakers, with the classic songs that, a few hours later, would make the aroused fans of Queen delirious. We -my wife and I-, fans and connoisseurs of the group, had flown six hours the night before, from Lima, a lightning trip to make come true, even partially, the dream of seeing, live, that band that we had listened to exhaustion,

In the morning we met, at the hotel, with groups of people who had come from different parts of the world to attend the date 21, in North America, of The Rhapsody Tour, a tour organized after the worldwide success of the film about life by Freddie Mercury, the revered songwriter, pianist, singer and leader of Queen, who died in 1991. The band would go on a short break and then shake up Japan, New Zealand and Australia, in January and February 2020, with their spectacular show, which that they managed to complete before the bans caused by the Wuhan virus.

Outside the BB&T Center, home of the Florida Panthers, one of the area's most popular ice hockey teams, the scorching heat melted with the anticipation, which grew by the minute. The merchandising stall couldn't keep up with the orders: polo shirts, hats, bags, mugs and books with tour motifs. Inside, a great party was about to begin. At 8:30 pm, an orchestral version of Innuendo, the Queen's swan song, began to play and the venue fell apart as Brian May (74) and Roger Taylor (72) jumped on stage playing Now I'm Here, powerful rock song from the third LP, Sheer heart attack, from 1974. They are the main attraction of this new stage of Queen, which began in 2009 after the attempt to cover the space of Mercury with the legendary vocalist Free and Bad Company , Paul Rodgers (2004-2008).

For two and a half hours, more than twenty thousand people shuddered to Brian May's electrifying riffs and solos, fired from his inseparable Red Special. In the background, Roger Taylor sustains the rhythm with force and accompanies with his unmistakable voice, raspy and high, the vocal harmonies that made the quartet famous. Both have found in Adam Lambert (39) a talented "younger brother" with style and personality of his own. The young American, who came to the fore after finishing second in the eighth season of the American Idol game show, is an efficient performer who shows deep respect for Freddie Mercury, whom he describes as "irreplaceable", a true truism. . With wide command of the stage and a natural and extravagant attitude, Lambert overcomes the challenge of putting himself in Mercury's shoes (hitting the highest notes without a problem, which is no small feat) and he does it in his own way, without falling into caricature or the exertion of imitating him.

The staging, a display of elegant sets, sound, lights and high resolution screens, sums up everything that Queen has always been: theatricality, sophistication and energy, but with 21st century standards. Replacing the elusive John Deacon (70), who decided to retire entirely from music after Freddie passed away, bassist Neil Fairclough did an impeccable job; Tyler Warren accompanied on drums and backing vocals; while an old acquaintance, Spike Edney, handled pianos and keyboards just as he did with Queen in the eighties. From rock anthems like Tie your mother down, Fat bottomed girls, I want it all or Hammer to fall to the inevitable Don't stop me now, Somebody to love, Radio Ga Ga, I want to break free or Crazy little thing called love, Queen + Adam Lambert offered an amazing setlist, based on the soundtrack of the blockbuster film Bohemian Rhapsody (Bryan Singer, 2018). A particularly emotional moment was when Brian May took up the acoustic guitar to sing, together with the audience, the romantic Love of my life, accompanied by the voice and image of Freddie Mercury projected on a black background .

The last show of The Rhapsody Tour was on February 29, 2020 in Brisbane, Australia. The European portion of the tour was rescheduled, first for this year - which would have coincided with the band's 50th anniversary - but, as the complications of COVID-19 are still far from disappearing, it had to be postponed again for 2022, starting the month of May with various dates in Ireland, Scotland and England. May, Taylor and Lambert look forward to that moment: "We will return better than ever," they declared on their website.

During the pandemic isolation, Brian May published guitar tutorials on his social networks and participated in various scientific and environmental conferences; Roger Taylor released a single, Isolation , and announces his sixth solo album, Outsider, for this October 1. For his part, Lambert published, in March 2020, his fourth production, Velvet, in the disco pop wave that he continues as a soloist. The three launched a new version of the classic We are the champions , whose sales were donated to a solidarity foundation with front-line doctors, promoted by the WHO. And they also produced the album and DVD Live around the world, available online, which collects the best moments of the four tours they have done since 2009.

But let's go back to the BB&T Center. For his customary guitar stravaganza , astrophysics doctor Brian May integrated music and astronomy into a grandiose audiovisual show : Mounted on an asteroid he released his fabulous orchestrations - which included excerpts from the Czech Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony (1893) - surrounded of planets and stars that revolved around him. For his part, Taylor played David Bowie in the classic Under Pressure, performed a somewhat restrained version of his composition I'm in love with my car and sang the opening verses of Doing all right, one of Queen's first songs. For Bohemian rhapsody, the operatic section sounded, as always, in its original version, while the full band prepared to break everything with the portentous ending. The end of the party came, of course, with We will rock you / We are the champions. An unforgettable night that I still have recorded in my eyes and ears.

I may never attend crowds of this nature again, but if so, I feel fortunate that Queen's was my last concert.

I love that pic at the top! He looks soooo gorgeous.

I must admit I don't get the Billie love...I have listened to a couple of her brother's songs and do like his voice though. Personally, I think she's overrated, but I thought that about Adele too lol, so obviously I'm not in step with the trends. Actually, never have been.

I don't think that is it either. The article says Billie 13.6/32.8 overall. Queen 15.1/48.7 overall. Taylor 19.8/41.4 overall. So that would put Taylor at #1 if that were the case. Oh well, they are on the list so it is all good, lol.