“In my opinion it’s not Queen without Paul Rodgers”, someone jokingly said to me, obviously referring to the naysayers who said this about Freddie when Queen toured with Paul. This time they would do a few gigs with Adam Lambert, just because it worked so well. Now I have to confess I had only vaguely heard of this guy, but I figured if Brian and Roger think he’s good enough, I should see this (and of course, any excuse to see Queen).
I dragged my friend Graham along, which was not hard as he loves the music too. And he assured me he had been to a few concerts before, with good seats. “I’m sorry, did you say seats?” I replied. “You haven’t properly been if you didn’t have standing tickets, dear.” I do have to admit that my list of experience isn’t all that long either, but I was going to show him. He still thought for a moment I was kidding when I told him we’d go in the morning, but he took it all well. Part of the fun is queuing all day with fellow nutcases, often from all over Europe. And so we met a lovely woman from Rome, Amy, who was actually there for Adam…
She enlightened us that you could recognise ‘them’ by the black and yellow in their clothing, as that’s the colours of Mr. Lambert’s new album. There was a bit of ‘them’ and ‘us’ going on, which I thought was strange, as it never seemed an issue during Queen + Paul Rodgers. Eventually we were all just happy to hear our favourite songs performed by the best band in the world though and I for one do see why Queen decided to do a few + Adam Lambert shows. It was different (the venue was a lot smaller, cosier too) and maybe Paul Rodgers solo would be more my cup of tea than Adam, but that’s not really fair given the fact I don’t know any of Adam’s solo stuff yet. He did a great job this evening though – period!
I don’t want this to be a review. That’s unnecessary. Amy asked if I read reviews afterwards, but I never do. Who cares what critics say? I liked that they started with the Flash theme, going on to Seven Seas of Rye. I also hadn’t heard Keep Yourself Alive and Under Pressure live before (remember I was born a bit too late) and These Are The Days Of Our Lives, showing all four of them in the good old days, gets me every time. Songs like Radio Ga Ga and We Will Rock You are still the ultimate live performance songs and Brian told a joke about the Higgs boson, before playing probably my favourite of all: ’39.
It had been a while since the last tour, back in 2008, which was right before all the Voorwerp madness took off. So this was the first time I saw Bri on stage after we met too. It doesn’t make a difference though, for those of you who have been asking me this. Except Graham and I didn’t hang around for autographs afterwards, at least not on purpose – the queue just happened to be at the place he and I said we would meet if we would lose each other in the crowds! Although I remember that ‘not going home right away’ had its charm too; talking some more to likeminded strangers with whom you’ve just spend a whole day and an unforgettable evening, before you all go your separate ways…
Anyway, thanks Queen, and thanks Adam, it was good to see you (again) and well done!
The first picture above was taken by Graham, you know, just to have one good souvenir. It was taken at the beginning of the show, after which G put his camera away too. I only took the following three pictures, and I do want to make a point with this. People seem to have forgotten how concerts work. Some seemed annoyed I was singing, dancing, clapping and jumping and thus enjoying the music and the moment, rather than watching the whole thing through a tiny camera screen too. Bit of a shame, for them.
My pictures show the front of the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London, a few of us after we just had another shower (which is probably why Phil was surprised when he saw us there) and the stage, before it all started.
One Comment
Excellent gig and an awesome day, thanks again (said from the comfort of a cosy chair) x
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