inu-liger 14.09.2005 15:29 |
Yes indeed, later tonight I will be attending the first of two shows the tribute band is performing at the Winspear Center tonight, here in Edmonton. I'm bringing my MP3 player/recorder to record the concert, so hopefully I'll have at least an OK quality recording to share with ya guys via BitTorrent tomorrow or Friday. I'll also be writing the set-list as they perform it, for any of yas that want to know what's performed tonight once the performance is finished. |
inu-liger 15.09.2005 02:20 |
I just got back! Oh man, that show was AWESOME!!! Too bad my MP3 recorder wasn't good at all, since it can NOT handle bass frequencies at all (so all you'd hear is booming throughout pretty much the whole recording, unfortunately - hence I'm NOT even going to bother with a sample MP3 at least) That means I will have to look into investing into a MiniDisc player/recorder set for Queen and Paul Rodgers next spring, as it is. (Any advice on that would be appreciated)) But the setlist...I forgot to bring my notebook, so I'm going to go off my memory (and my shitty recording to help me with this as much as possible). I think this is accurate: -Soundcheck setup- (I think - this was right when I arrived at Winspear Centre, and I know they were playing the Queen version of BohRap to check the sound system) -Freddie Mercury Video Collection (video and audio playback)- -Led Zeppelin - A Whole Lotta Love- (playback) -???- (playback) -DJ introduction- Bohemian Rhapsody (Symphonic Version - taped intro) One Vision (taped intro - remixed Queen version) One Vision A Kind Of Magic Radio Ga Ga (interrupted after the intro intentionally for the lead singer to get everyone to stand up (it was a seated event) and clap along, and then performed again in its entirety) Another One Bites The Dust (including bass solo, incorporating "Under Pressure", "Smoke On The Water", "Beat It") Day-O Don't Stop Me Now Crazy Little Thing Called Love Fat Bottomed Girls Drum Solo / I'm In Love With My Car ('Roger' on lead vocals!!!) Hammer To Fall I Want It All Killer Queen Bicycle Race (with footage of nude bicycle race from Wimbledon Stadium - taken from GVH1) Save Me I Want To Break Free Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy Guitar Solo (incorporating "Now I'm Here" and "Dragon Attack") Keep Yourself Alive Love Of My Life (picture montage of Freddie plays on video 'screen') Somebody To Love We Are The Champions We Will Rock You (Slow) -encore- Bohemian Rhapsody We Will Rock You (Fast) God Save The Queen (Queen version - taped outro) - band says goodbye Somewhere in the set, there was a band introduction where all the Queen members are introduced (by Queen member names), which I think comes before "Don't Stop Me Now", but the recording is SO shitty, you wouldn't believe! (In case I haven't said it enough, lol!) During the GSTQ outro, the band members were introduced again with their real names, followed by "playing... (insert Queen member name)" And now my review: Performance: 8/10 While the vocal performances were very spot on (and then more, since they used backing tapes during a lot of the songs, to great effect!), and the guitar playing was good (I think the guitar's Red Special guitar is custom made, because I could not recognize it against any of the official and unofficial commercial copies out there! It kinda looked like a Guild '93 model, but there was no logo on the headstock from what I COULD see!), I felt the guitarist should've done more to attain a more Brian May-like sound, especially by using a treble booster at the very least (and the guitar solo wasn't very inspiring to say in the least, partly because of that). The lowest points IMO were: -"Killer Queen" (a little bit, because it sort of sounded out of tune, and the performance after this starts to slightly degrade and lose steam, although IWTBF was wonderful and very surprising (you'd have to have been there to see why I say "surprising" ;-) ), but picks up again during "Somebody To Love", and is in full swing with WATC and the remaining songs) -"Save Me" (the singer apparently forgot some of the lines, but then again, I think they said that this was the 2nd time they were performing the song on the Canadian tour, so I can see why) -"Love Of My Life" (OK, I'm sorry, but even though the picture montage was very touc |
tia 15.09.2005 08:16 |
Thanks for the review. Ill be seeing the show on Sept 28 in Ottawa. Looking forward to it. |
The Real Wizard 15.09.2005 10:50 |
Don't Stop Me Now and Save Me... interesting! |
Penis - Vagina 15.09.2005 12:00 |
Sounds like a fun night! Thanks for such a detailed review. That was fun to read :) I would love to hear the convo with Freestone when you get a chance. |
john bodega 15.09.2005 12:19 |
Oh cool, an actual thread about these guys. The singer isn't half bad - but can I ask: is the guitarist better live? The samples at the site make him sound, well, not good at all. Maybe he's holding back or something. |
Suigi 15.09.2005 13:05 |
MUST. SEE. TORONTO. SHOW. *kicks self* But it's nice that they played IWIA. Truly an underrated live tune. And what about Headlong? Has anyone thought of playing that live, and maybe a little more uptempo? |
kagezan1313 15.09.2005 15:26 |
I was gonna go see them in Vancouver, but there was no way I'd pay $70 + tax per ticket for a tribute band, no matter how good. Cool that you got to meet Peter Freestone though. |
Penis - Vagina 15.09.2005 15:53 |
He won his ticket free though, through a radio station.. so it was even cooler :) |
PieterMC 15.09.2005 16:22 |
Inu-Liger<h6>-a.k.a. Richard Guilbault- wrote: "Love Of My Life" (OK, I'm sorry, but even though the picture montage was very touching on the video screen, the performance sucked. Hardly any heart put into it. And the guitar sounded horrible. This song was the only one that did not hold a candle light to its original version or any of Queen's or Brian May's own live performances of it!)I have never seen a tribute band that has managed to pull off Love of My Life. It just never seems to work. |
boy of destiny 16.09.2005 13:33 |
Thanks for the review. They're playing here in Calgary soon... oops! actually they just played here on Monday and Tuesday. Oh well. From what some of you said re. 'Brian May', I'm not too disappointed about missing them. The lack of 'Tone' would have kind of wrecked it for me. Glad you had a great time and you can't beat free tickets! |
deleted user 16.09.2005 18:42 |
Inu-Liger<h6>-a.k.a. Richard Guilbault- wrote: I just got back! |
inu-liger 16.09.2005 20:59 |
Ah! But the "day-o's" were very spot on! Even complete with a "fuck you" at the end(!!!) I swear, this singer's the absolute closest you'll get to seeing AND hearing Freddie live. He really DOES sound a lot like him! And yes, I'll post the audio clips of me and Phoebe online sometime this weekend. I forgot to mention, I did get him to say "Hi" to you guys "on Queenzone" when I got the autographs! You'll get a kick out of that, I'm sure! And also, would anyone like to help me auction off the ticket stub he auto'd, on eBay towards the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts? I don't have a credit card, so I can't do it myself, unfortunately. I can get a scan of it if you guys want. |
inu-liger 16.09.2005 20:59 |
Wigglepuppy wrote: He won his ticket free though, through a radio station.. so it was even cooler :)Exactly! And 5th row tickets at that! (IMO better than 1st row!) |
inu-liger 16.09.2005 21:01 |
Zebonka12 wrote: Oh cool, an actual thread about these guys. The singer isn't half bad - but can I ask: is the guitarist better live? The samples at the site make him sound, well, not good at all. Maybe he's holding back or something.He sounds better live than on MP3, yes, but he does seem to hold back. Like I said, he could've sounded at least better by using a treble booster. That, and actually DO stereo effects on the guitar solo (I forgot to write that I could NOT hear any left to right effects on the echoes in the guitar solo, which also killed it for me) |
inu-liger 16.09.2005 21:03 |
Oh, also I forgot to include this in my "Lowest points" part of the review: -NO songs from "Innuendo" or "Made In Heaven"!!! (Not even the songs "Headlong" or "The Show Must Go On"!!) |
deleted user 16.09.2005 21:30 |
Inu-Liger<h6>-a.k.a. Richard Guilbault- wrote: Oh, also I forgot to include this in my "Lowest points" part of the review: -NO songs from "Innuendo" or "Made In Heaven"!!! (Not even the songs "Headlong" or "The Show Must Go On"!!)keep in mind this post has a TON of sarcasm in it but if they had performed songs from innuendo or made in heaven live, then it wouldnt be EXACTLY like queen since they never performed any of those songs live, and its not worth the money if im not convinced that the band that is performing is queen themselves, right? they do everything else EXACTLY like queen, even the name of the "band", but if they did this they simply wouldnt be the queen they are |
john bodega 18.09.2005 13:22 |
"but if they had performed songs from innuendo or made in heaven live, then it wouldnt be EXACTLY like queen since they never performed any of those songs live, and its not worth the money if im not convinced that the band that is performing is queen themselves, right? they do everything else EXACTLY like queen, even the name of the "band", but if they did this they simply wouldnt be the queen they are" You raise a fine point sir, sarcasm or no. But basically, it's fair to assume certain things about how they might have done the latter tracks Live. Anyone with a vivid imagination can already hear a crowd boogying to Headlong - I imagine one would just use their instincts. heck, I would. As for the guitarist, what I said earler - I wasn't referring to his guitar sound, because that's not so bad. I just meant his actual playing. He had interesting ideas for the Bo Rhap solo but he felt a little too behind the beat (Brian usually plays a little bit behind to build up that bit of speed, it's cool). |