Queen & Adam Lambert Worth Going To?

I've seen it before. It's good, but he's not got Mercury's tone, and not as strong.

 

my definition of "tribute" band doesnt fit here - in this scenario, we have half the original band, especially the main instrumentalist and the original drummer.

thats NOT a tribute band.

again, just my opinion.

 

Forget anything you feel about Lambert, are you really going to miss an opportunity to see Brian May shred right in front of you?

 

Yes. Go. Saw them a couple years back and I'm seeing them again on Thursday. Brian May live is worth seeing alone. His guitar sound live has never been truly captured on tape. So worth seeing.

 

I wish I could "like" this post more than once.

 

I saw them at MSG a couple years ago. I had cautious optimism, but ultimately went away feeling really disappointed.

Lambert couldn't even come close. May's endless noodling, where exciting in the '70s, was literally sleep inducing that night.

Too bad a full Queen + George Michael tour never came about. THAT would've been special.

 

I cant believe all the negativity here. YES GO SEE THEM how else are you gonna get to see at least 50% of the original band and these shows are all tributes to FREDDIE anyways from what I saw. Bohemian is mostly taped Freddy (well for Paul it was). SUCKS that Freddie died so long ago but really america was ripped off on getting to see Queen after the 82 tour. The show is gonna kick ass and ADAM WILL BE PRETTY AWESOME TOO

 

That was me. They're "on top of their game," which is a bit different than "at the top of their game." On top of their game means that they're playing really well, plus they seem healthy, etc.

Re the tempo comment, I'm of the opinion that most artists play a lot of things too fast live--and usually the groove suffers because of this. So slowing down a bit might be a good thing. As a drummer myself, I try to be really cognizant of this. Unless an artist I'm working for demands faster tempos (and some do, unfortunately--usually to the music's detriment in my opinion), I strive to keep things no faster than they were on the record, and if I'm going to deviate from that, I'll often prefer to deviate by playing something at a slightly slower tempo.

Some of your comments about Queen with Lambert sound kind of "rockist."

 

As mentioned, was at the Hollywood Bowl last night. I'm a longtime Queen fan and admittedly like some Adam solo stuff. (If you dig in to some of the songs on his debut he emotes incredibly well for a guy of his age, and obviously has some serious pipes) I digress. My wife is the reason I went last night, otherwise I likely wouldn't have given it a thought. She loves the Hollywood Bowl regardless of who's playing. She'll see Tony Bennett one night, Megadeth the next.

Long story short, a fantastic show. I'm often ready for the exits before the show's over when seeing my all-time favorite bands. (hey, this is L.A.. I wanna get home before the morning!) There were 28,000 people at the Bowl and NOBODY was heading to the exits until the band took a bow. I can't remember the last time I saw that. The Bowl has ONE exit and funnels everyone out through it. Not an easy thing.

There's zero doubt that both Brian and Roger are incredibly thankful for Adam to step in and allow them to continue to do what they love in this manner. You can see it all over their faces. The show is very much a fitting tribute to Freddie and they all make it feel like he's still part of the show. I think Adam is the perfect frontman here. And I LOVE Paul Rodgers!! He's not doing a Freddie impersonation, he's himself which undoubtedly is a product of Freddie's influence.

To those commenting on how Brian and Roger used to say they would never be part of a talent show or tour with a show winner or whatever, you shouldn't hold that against them. People change. I bet it's kinda like somebody offered them a cup of something they assumed would taste awful. "No way, I'm not drinking that!" And then they take a sip and say; "You know what? This ain't too bad!!"

 

They're dusting off "Its late" and "Spread your Wings".....so go!!!!!

 

The Lambert live show is much better than the Rodgers fronted version of the band IMHO. At least Lambert can hit most of the notes although he is a bit weak on the rockers. Rodgers is a great singer but not for Queen songs. It was fun to see May tackle All Right Now and Feel Like Makin' Love but it didn't feel like a Queen show.

 

I like that you like it

 

I noticed the same thing in Phoenix. No one headed for the exits before the encore or during it. The arena was packed and everyone waited for the last note of music to finish.

 

Saw it 3 years ago and enjoyed it well enough. Roger did very little heavy lifting.

Having trouble finding a reason to go this time, even with a cheap ticket. Though kudos to them for making a 3rd of the setlist different than last time.

 

Fantastic. I'm not up on their recent setlists but if they haven't dusted this one off too, it's time.

 

I agree! I wish they would drop I'm in Love With My Car and let Roger song another one of his songs. Fight From the Inside would make sense given that this tour is honoring News of the World.

 

I don't care if Brian May and Roger Taylor are playing with a monkey as vocalist, I am travelling to Detroit to see them and excited to witness a great band. Of course, Freddie was remarkable, but he is gone now. Nothing will stop me from seeing the world's greatest rock guitarist, an awe-inspiring drummer. Having a strong and charismatic vocalist like Adam Lambert along for the ride is a great plus.

 

Ha, check this out. As suspected, Freddie still flies high.

Freddie Gets Tail Fin on Norwegian Aircraft



Back to the concerts, I looked at the current setlist - since it's a News of the World theme, My Melancholy Blues would be nice but it's hard to choose and to stuff everything in. I'm loving the great reviews here and the enthusiasm, wonderful.

 

Looks like a fun show to me.

 

Tickets sold out for the entire UK tour in about a minute here. Lifelong Queen obsessive and I've still only managed to see a Queen-related show once (with Paul Rodgers in 2008).

Initially I thought Lambert was poor, then he really grew into the role and improved immensely, to the point that I rather liked him and was determined to go see them. Then Brian started claiming in interviews that Lambert's a better singer than Freddie and I've struggled ever since.

Smile just weren't the same after Tim Staffell left.

 

Hey, any chance I have to hear Brian May playing the Red Special cranked through an array of AC30s is "real" enough for me.

 

He said that? Is there a reliable source or link available?

As I've posted above I'm 100% happy for them and the audiences that this is all working, but, obviously, NO. If true this genuinely shocks me and, what was he smoking? Seems out of character too. Maybe to gin up interest for the tour? (No excuse though.) Oh how weird. Very disappointing to hear, if true.

Lambert's a fine enough singer but, .

 

Not great. Those Queen songs only work for me when they are sung in a certain style and tone. That clip makes that song sound like some bland hair-metal, "anthem." Just wrong, ha.

 

Okay, found it, the link is below. I didn't think that could possibly be right; May never said "better". He said Lambert can reach higher notes with more ease than Freddie could. Phew. It didn't seem that May would betray Freddie by claiming Lambert as a "better" singer.

Montserrat Caballe' identified Freddie as a natural baritone and encouraged him to think of himself from that standpoint when they worked together. To my ear he was indeed a baritone albeit with the massive range. Lambert is a tenor. He does in fact climb to the very high notes in live performance with more ease than Freddie did, which natural tenors can obviously do. Sometimes Freddie had to fight to hit them, and sometimes didn't hit them if he was having an off night. He would just spontaneously key himself down a notch when need be and still sounded great. Lambert's not a better singer, he's a tenor. That's all May was really saying, as it turns out. Unfortunate that media such as this linked article use baity lines such as " . . . a decided improvement on Mercury, in at least one regard". And the header below is misleading in itself. Bait again.

Brian May Says Adam Lambert Reaches Vocal Heights Freddie Mercury Never Could