Just finished watching the documentary on Queen. Never been a Queen fan. Wasn't interested. But this is brilliantly and sensitively done, and a well spent 2 hours.
I totally "get" why Roger and Brian want to do Sonisphere.
1. To again do a huge festival/stadium concert. There cannot be anything to come close to the adrenaline rush, the pure joy, of creating music for a massive live audience and to feel the psychic energy produced and shared. It's been 20 years since Freddie has been gone, and I don't think they have ever felt that electricity again. But, as musicians, of course they want to feel it one more time. It's a most potent narcotic.
2. To be able to pay tribute to Freddie some twenty years after his passing. To make his and their music live again. To affirm life goes on and music is eternal.
3. To have found someone, finally, to front the band who can totally, completely, utterly handle the repertoire of great songs, and who embodies the massive stage presence that Freddie had. Who can perform the songs like they need to be performed. And who gels so comfortably with the band. Truly, it must be a dream come true for them, after many years. I can imagine that, for them, after the EMA performance, to realize that someone can embody the energy and the magic that was Freddie must have been an incredible joy. An experience they never expected to have again in their lives.
4. To have endured seeing your close friend and band member become more and more ill, to know he was dying, and to realize he will never sing like before. To write TSMGO, knowing Freddie will never perform it to it's full potential. Then, twenty years later, to have someone sing it live as you have always envisioned it. And to have it performed by an exceptional artist who was inspired and shaped by Freddie vocally and stylistically. Adam is Freddie's legacy to the music world.
Hell, yeah!!! Seize the day! Make it yours! Thank goodness for AI, for their unintentional genius in introducing Adam to Queen. Yes, it is a dream come true for Adam, but, it is also, maybe even more so, a dream come true for Brian and Roger. My secret hope is that they might entice Deacon to join them to recapture and experience that unique magic they shared with Freddie.
Forget about the pay check. Forget about the PR. Forget, even, what the Queen fans or the Adam fans want. Roger and Brian deserve this moment. I can't wait.
