A dream come true. A concert-ticket with 'Queen' printed on it ! And it's in my hometown, Cologne !
I saw Bri in '93 - great !
I saw Rog in '87, '90 and '94 - fantastic.
But the name "Queen" does so much more, even if "only" 50% of the band were on stage. I couldn't wait. Yesterday was THE day !
What can I say ? It was WONDERFUL !!! A dream come true and the band was in great shape ! I went there with four friends and we had one hell of a party ! It was U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E !!!!!
Paul Rodgers has a stunning voice and performs with a lot of respect for the Queen material. His own songs are nicely received as well.
Respect is the key word: All those who think this whole thing is disrespectful... Freddie is always present, but it's no kitsch, it's humourous, it's not too much and not too little - and it's honest !
What about Rog ? A bit chubby, yes. But old or even sick ????? NO WAY, the guy drummed as if there was no tomorrow ! Absolutely impressive !!!
Brian still has his wonderful tone, and can rock an audience with one chord. And he is as fast as ever, listen to the solo in 'Alright now' (which was fantastic, by the way).
If I am THAT fit when I am in my late 50s, then thank god.
Jamie, Danny and Spike did a good job, but all eyes on the three protagonists of course.
The first bars of 'It's a beautiful day' with an unusual dancebeat, and the tension grew. It stopped and hip-hop took over - Intro with Eminem ? Worked great, Queen have arrived in the 21st century. Then the courtain opened a bit and Paul Rodgers received a warm welcome for 'Reaching out' - man, the guy can sing ! Then suddenly, the curly one with his fireplace-wood jumped on stage and the audience went nuts !!! 'Tie your mother down' and the curtain falls... QUEEN are rocking the world again !
IWTBF, AOBTD - a party with 30.000 friends. Fat Bottomed Girls - dirty, mighty chorus and pumping. The first songs blew me away !!!
Roger singing 'These are the days' was especially moving, as was every song that was released after '86 - 'I want it all' and 'The Show must go on', the latter with a great performance by Paul Rodgers, considering the key of the song with those high tones - cristal-clear and powerful ! All treasures that had not been played live on a regular Queen-Tour before.
'39' was special, as Bri played a few bars of that song in 1986 in cologne, 'cause the concert back then was on the day he turned 39. 'Love of my Life' was breathtaking, and the audience sang every word. 'Hammer to fall' with the slow beginning (I've read about that before, but it was a first for me to hear it) sounds fantastic, and the rock ending made people jump and dance and simply get crazy !
AKOM was very similar to the Magic-Tour Versions and was enthusiastically received. The audience in the infield was great, the seated audience needed a while, but from Ga-Ga on they were as enthusiastic as the rest. Very receptive. To join in the hand-clapping together with thousands of people in Radio Ga Ga for the first time in concert was a special moment for me.
BoRhap was the emotional highlight of the show. The band performing with Freddie on the screen was just so wonderful, and Freddie bowing at the end brought tears to my eyes.
Okay, the stadium was not sold out. Lissabon wasn't either. In 1986, when they played cologne with Freddie for the last time, 60.000 people were there. But that was the old stadium, which was much bigger anyway, (the new one has a capacity of only about 40.000 in concerts, because it is a pure football-stadium, with no track) and it was Queen's heyday with AKOM selling phenomenal in europe. And Freddie of course. Consider several things: it was a wednesday - many people turned up shortly before the show, right after work. But a lot of people don't go to concerts during the week. Another point: it was raining. And very important: it was the start of school-summerholidays in northrine-westpha
Thanks a lot for this review. I wish I coud have been there. It looks as if the set list has not been changed for the open air.
Strange but doesn't matter that much, does it? Well, it would have been nice to hear some different songs than on the past gigs. Thanx anyway. Keep on rockin'.
A great review! You are right about musicians needing to play. As Brian once said: "That's what we do!". I play the guitar at home and if I don't do it for two days in a row I start getting nervous! What about them?
I am very upset, that I couldn't come, but Wednesday at the end of the semester is not the best time to go to a concert from Bremen to Cologne... but I was there in Munnich - the first of the Germany concerts, and it was simply magnificent. The highlight of the concert for me were the guitar solo with the joke about the roof of the Buckingham palace, and the moment Freddie came on the screen.
That's from me folks, keep queening!
About new songs..
Is this the world we created WAS on the auto-cue, right after LOve of my Life. The cue was stuck, but you could just see the title. And then it went straight to Hammer to Fall. So i'm sure we can hear Is this the world in London or Arnhem
FriedChicken<br><font size=1>The Almighty</font> wrote: About new songs..
Is this the world we created WAS on the auto-cue, right after LOve of my Life. The cue was stuck, but you could just see the title. And then it went straight to Hammer to Fall. So i'm sure we can hear Is this the world in London or Arnhem
The screens at the front of stage with the lyrics on them, so the artist can look it at when he forgets the lyrics. You can see the auto-cue at the end of the catwalk very well, when you are standing on the side of the catwalk.
By the way, "Is this the World we Created?" would be very fitting, in the light of the events in London yesterday. If they don't perform it in Arnhem they certainly should play it in London next week.
Still, I'm hoping for UP to return, or for Now I'm Here.