| MadTheSwine73 15.07.2014 20:29 |
I decided to this in point form so it's easier on the eyes. So, here's my review of last night's show. - They were almost an hour late. It was supposed to start at 7:30, but Procession didn't start until almost 8:30. On the plus side, I gave everyone a "lesson" about Made in Heaven & Track 13, since they played that before Procession. - Now I'm Here was amazing. It was worth the hour wait. The way the curtain was picked up was great, and the whole stage was phenomenally well done. I didn't expect any less from Queen. Adam Lambert really proved himself after Now I'm Here was done, because the way he sung it, and hit each note perfectly memorized everyone in the audience. - Stone Cold Crazy was played at a quicker speed that heard on most recordings so far, which was nice. Brian and Roger were in top form, despite playing on both the 12th and 13th. Maybe that helped, who knows. - Another One Bites the Dust was great. Very well done. - Before Fat Bottomed Girls, Brian played a tiny bit of White Man (or It's Late, I was unable to tell) and Headlong (also unsure), the latter of which was utterly amazing to hear live. If someone can figure out exactly which songs, I would really appreciate that. FBG was done great, and Lambert nailed those vocals. A real rock song, it got the whole place going. Brian had a go-pro camera on his guitar, which although wasn't the best quality, and messed up now and then, it was still cool to see, and fun to watch. - The "oldies" medley was great. In The Lap of the Gods... Revisited was a delight to see, it being one of the first Queen songs I played on repeat. Seven Seas of Rhye was got a bigger audience reaction, as it's more popular, but both were done extremely well. Killer Queen, the song following, was just great. I don't know how to describe it, I was in shock for how well it was done. - Somebody To Love was one hell of a crowd pleaser, and was great. Lambert's song intros are hilariously cheesy. - I Want It All was also a delight to hear live. It was just great. They played the "Queen Rocks" hybrid version, which was a great thing to do, because Brian's solo after his singing solo was my favourite guitar solo in any song done that night. - Love of My Life, as the song, was beautiful, as the crowd sung each verse, with Brian guiding us along the way. However, as beautiful as the song was, what I believe everyone enjoyed almost as much as the song itself was the introduction to the song, where Brian spoke about how he and Freddie would be right next to each other performing it, "back in the old days". You could tell that he really spoke from his heart. After Freddie sang the last verse, and the song was over, Brian wiped his eyes, and thanked the audience, saying that he never thought he could feel that again, or something along those lines. My brother-in-law told me that it was the first he ever got emotional at a concert. - '39 was great, and a fun one to sing along too, although most of the audience didn't really know the song well. - These Are The Days Of Our Lives was a major emotional point in the evening as well, and was the first time I ever got tears in my eyes during a performance. It was just amazing. - The Bass Solo was great, and Nevermore was so unexpected! I only realized what song it was at the end, unfortunately. However, Neil then switched to the "stand-up" bass (don't know if that's what it's called) and played parts of Don't Try Suicide, Body Language (which everyone cheered for, as it's on the North American "Greatest Hits"), and Dragon Attack. - The Drum Duel was also really great, and I wished it would have gone on for longer. - When Roger sat down to sing Under Pressure, with the mic and all, a part of me was hoping he'd do I'm In Love With My Car, but he didn't. Oh well, I guess Rock Montreal will have to do. However, Under Pressure was really amazing, and although Adam Lambert was singing, Roger was really the lead on that one, with Adam singing only the higher stuff. - Love Kills was for die-hards (like my family), which everyone did end up enjoying. If you were in the "club" section on the right hand side of the stage, I was the one who yelled when Adam said "new Queen album". - Who Wants To Love Forever is Adam's best song. Period. He does no other song as well. Although they could have chosen Princes, or AKOM for the North American tour, as they're more "North American" tracks, this was the best song to choose from the AKOM album, and a great segue into the next performance. - Brian's solo, although I could have personally listened to it for another 10 minutes, was too long for many people, including 6 of the 7 other people I was with. Maybe he should do a shorter solo before doing Last Horizon, which was beautiful. - However, Tie Your Mother Down could have gone on for longer, because that brought the house down. - Radio Ga Ga was great, and is definitely a fit for Adam's voice. - Before Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Adam was saying how stupid he thinks his verbal transitions between songs are, to which Brian said "why don't you just tell them what a crazy little thing called love is?", to which everyone began cheering and laughing. The performance itself was good. - When TSMGO started, everyone realized that the end of the show was near. Despite that, Adam sang with as much heart as he did the other songs. - Bo Rhap was no surprise to anyone, but the crowd went wild when they heard the piano. However, that "wildness" was nothing compared to the noise made when Freddie appeared. The opera section was done perfectly, again. How do they do that? All in all, Bo Rhap was one of the best performances of the night. - We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions may have cause mass sing-along, to the point where Adam stopped singing, because we were too loud. And yes, we may have been stomping and clapping and yelling loudly too. However, the main reason everyone in the audience cheered when the group came back for the encore was because Brian was wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey. It was #19 (I would guess because he was born on July 19th). - When it was all done, and God Save The Queen played, they showed some fans holding up a British flag in the audience. Good for them for doing that in Quebec (it's a political thing). So. To sum up: Highlights of the show: - Every song without Adam was great, and not because he was bad; it's because it was a different vibe, and a different performance, that's all. - Who Wants To Love Forever - Procession/Now I'm Here - what I think is part of "Headlong" - I Want It All - Bo Rhap - Every time they spoke to the audience. Things that upset me: - The fact that they were an hour late. However, it was worth it in the end, because the show was phenomenal. - No song from Queen or Made In Heaven. I know, I know, they're trying to appeal to everyone. However, I think Keep Yourself Alive could have been slipped in there after Killer Queen for the "oldies" medley. I guess Love Kills could be a replacement for any MIH track, as I don't see them performing any song on that album other than I Was Born To Love You or Made In Heaven. Maybe Let Me Live? Who knows. - Adam, as much as he's a great singer, and has a great vocal range, and is great for this band, needs to get his f--king lyrics right. Don't Stop Me Now wasn't performed because he screwed up on the lyrics too many times, and he replaced "heartache" with "doorway" in TSMGO. What the hell? Also, he switched up the first two lines in Crazy Little Thing, which everyone noticed. - (not related to the concert) I was really disappointed with the merchandise. Yes, I got two awesome Queen t-shirts, and the programme, but I was expecting more. What do I mean by more? I mean maybe selling albums. More specifically, vinyl. If they did, and I was just late, scratch this last complaint out. |
| MadTheSwine73 15.07.2014 20:40 |
Continued from the previous post: All in all, I'm convincing someone to come with me to go to the second Toronto show, because I don't want to go alone. As you can imagine, I enjoyed the show very much, and I have a significant amount of respect for Adam Lambert now. Although I always thought he was good, I only realized how good he was once I saw him live. In fact (and this could be QZ suicide), I'm actually open to them recording new material with him. No, not dueting with Freddie on Queen Forever, or replacing Freddie on Queen Forever, but having a real Queen+ Adam Lambert album, just like the Queen+ Paul Rodgers album. I just hope it would be better that The Cosmos Rocks. Also, the file attached (in the previous post) is the guitar before Fat Bottomed Girls that Brian did. If someone can point out exactly what songs were referenced, I'd really appreciate that. Thanks in advance. |
| queenUSA 15.07.2014 22:44 |
I liked reading this. Very cool! Thanks for all the great detail. They were also an hour late at the Houston gig last week, but may have gotten caught out with traffic visiting NASA. I didn't mind it, got a good look at all the stage trappings and Brians many guitars lined up. Have fun in Toronto on your second pass, that's gonna be awesome! |
| Gregsynth 15.07.2014 23:18 |
MadTheSwine73 wrote: Continued from the previous post: All in all, I'm convincing someone to come with me to go to the second Toronto show, because I don't want to go alone. As you can imagine, I enjoyed the show very much, and I have a significant amount of respect for Adam Lambert now. Although I always thought he was good, I only realized how good he was once I saw him live. In fact (and this could be QZ suicide), I'm actually open to them recording new material with him. No, not dueting with Freddie on Queen Forever, or replacing Freddie on Queen Forever, but having a real Queen+ Adam Lambert album, just like the Queen+ Paul Rodgers album. I just hope it would be better that The Cosmos Rocks. Also, the file attached (in the previous post) is the guitar before Fat Bottomed Girls that Brian did. If someone can point out exactly what songs were referenced, I'd really appreciate that. Thanks in advance. I'm seeing them again in Toronto as well! The 28th is gonna be my 3rd show on this tour! |
| inu-liger 16.07.2014 02:19 |
They were also an hour late starting in Edmonton and Calgary |
| MadTheSwine73 16.07.2014 05:55 |
Well, I guess they're basically always an hour late. Maybe it's because they don't want anyone to be late? I don't know. And I should have written "trying to convince" as in, not 100% sure I'm going. I really hope I can, though, because it's the last show on the North American tour. So maybe they'll do Don't Stop Me Now...? Who knows. |
| Wiley 16.07.2014 07:27 |
Great, very thorough review. Thank you for that. I was there too and it was a great show. Loved the Nevermore bit in the bass solo. Can anyone confirm if Spike played the chords to No-One But You in the background while Adam was introducing Somebody To Love? That's the impression I got when I was there. I could be wrong, though, but he was certainly playing something. Not on Piano but with a soft, warm synth pad sound. Did my ears play tricks on me? |
| The King Of Rhye 21.07.2014 08:39 |
MadTheSwine73 wrote: Continued from the previous post: All in all, I'm convincing someone to come with me to go to the second Toronto show, because I don't want to go alone. As you can imagine, I enjoyed the show very much, and I have a significant amount of respect for Adam Lambert now. Although I always thought he was good, I only realized how good he was once I saw him live. In fact (and this could be QZ suicide), I'm actually open to them recording new material with him. No, not dueting with Freddie on Queen Forever, or replacing Freddie on Queen Forever, but having a real Queen+ Adam Lambert album, just like the Queen+ Paul Rodgers album. I just hope it would be better that The Cosmos Rocks. Also, the file attached (in the previous post) is the guitar before Fat Bottomed Girls that Brian did. If someone can point out exactly what songs were referenced, I'd really appreciate that. Thanks in advance.It's Headlong followed by White Man (but I think the first 30 seconds is just Brian randomly messing around)......he's been doing that before FBG at least since the Paul Rodgers tours..... |
| winterspelt 23.07.2014 00:13 |
Great review! |
| The King Of Rhye 23.07.2014 07:02 |
The King Of Rhye wrote:And I think Brian was doing that on his solo tours as well............but I think he actually played Headlong then!MadTheSwine73 wrote: Also, the file attached (in the previous post) is the guitar before Fat Bottomed Girls that Brian did. If someone can point out exactly what songs were referenced, I'd really appreciate that. Thanks in advance.It's Headlong followed by White Man (but I think the first 30 seconds is just Brian randomly messing around)......he's been doing that before FBG at least since the Paul Rodgers tours..... Hmmm..............I wouldnt mind seeing that song played live...........but I think that song would be more suited to Paul than Adam......... |