QueenZone discussion #1387795

matt z wrote: Geez. The seats are opening up for tomorrow nights gig. One seat, best available section b row 10 seat 1 (right along the catwalk) ..... $348.... jees. Did everybody else who got good seats get milked dry like that? I imagine seats and pricing vary depending on the venue

Brian Maybe wrote: I'll be there tonight, really looking forward to it! Glad I got some floor seats when they first went on sale. They were expensive enough then! ($160!)

JohnDeacon77fan wrote: I was at the Forum show last Wednesday, as I live here in LA. And I week later I am still blown away at how awesome the concert was! Having been a U.S. Queen fan for 30+ years, I didn't get to see them w/Freddie due to them not touring here after 1982. I finally got to see Queen+Paul Rodgers twice (2007 / 2008) when they came to the Hollywood Bowl and Honda Center in Anaheim, CA respectively. Both shows were incredible. I thought there was no way this new version of the band could top those two concerts. But last week's Forum show? OMG. The energy was beyond insane. Brian was so obviously happy to be back at the Forum after such a long absence and Adam wildly surpassed my expectations with a vocal prowess that was incredible. Yes, I also read the LA Times review of the show that was published the next day. It's a load of rubbish. No offense to the reviewer, but he clearly isn't a Queen fan. Because the 10,000+ folks in attendance went nuts. I was lucky enough to get a floor seat, and happily sang my butt off the entire concert. Same for my wife who--although she thinks Paul Rodgers is hotter--commented that maybe even Freddie himself would've been proud to hear the wonderful music he helped create come to such astonishing life that evening. Especially annoying were the LA Times reviewer's comments about the band featuring Freddie's video image and contributions during "These Are The Days of Our Lives" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," and that this 2014 concert offered nothing new that hadn't already been done by Queen in the 1970s and 1980s. Hmmm. I have a ton of live recordings from the band's heyday. The 2014 guitar shredding by Brian is just as awesome, and -- IMHO -- sounds better, thanks to new technology. Plus, what is the band supposed to do now? Fly? These concerts are a celebration of the music. The goal is for the band to play these songs with passion and bring new life to them, which they did brilliantly. Also new is the great staging for these 2014 concerts, something that expands upon the tradition of great live visuals the band was known for in the old days. Then, of course, there is the new energy that Adam Lambert, himself, brings to the equation. Adam is NOT Freddie, but a great entertainer in his own right. It was so wonderful to see the doors Freddie broke down in the 70s & 80s be expressed so openly and without fear today in 2014. This, combined with Adam's very different approach to some of the classic Queen catalogue, resulted in--IMHO--a great concert, one similar yet different to the band's past triumphs. I'm guessing that LA Times reviewer is shut off from himself emotionally as both my wife and I actually cried upon seeing Freddie up on the big video screen. This is because maybe, just maybe... we're getting a bigger picture that that guy did. Maybe it's the fact that we understand Queen isn't performing these shows with Adam Lambert because 1) they need the money, 2) they're greedy, or 3) they're bored. It's clear to us that they're performing because they love doing it (so why shouldn't they?), and because they love sharing the music they love with like minded folks. And I would also dare say--and this is just conjecture on my part--that Queen recognizes the importance of sharing Freddie's legacy with the world and continuing to raise AIDS awareness, something I feel is extremely important. And what better way to do it than through concerts that are essentially epic sing along with 10,000+ new friends? The band can use these concerts as a forum (pun intended) to send out positive information on a global scourge that continues to plague humanity. Finally, I totally admit to bursting into tears when the band broke into "In The Lap of the Gods... Revisited," perhaps my all-time favorite Queen song, and a tune that I had been waiting over three decades to be performed live. And at the end of the day, if Queen+Adam Lambert can continue to deliver those kinds of affecting performances almost 30 years after their supposed "heyday," then surely this is a tour that needed to happen. I'm just glad I was lucky enough to be a small part of it.