I sent this to Brians website but considering that he probably is unable to read a fraction of the mail he is sent, I thought I would post it here also.
Brian
Got home to Gainesville today and read this review with much anticipation. link
I wrote the guy back and suggested that he watched a different show than I did or listened from the bar outside the arena. Of course most of the article focused on the now obligatory " Paul Rodgers is no Freddie Mercury" line. I took exception to the comment that the show was " unnecessary". I explained to this guy that I have seen Queen nine times since 1975, twice now as Q+PR, and that audience participation in Jacksonville was as fervent as I have ever experienced. Granted the audience was smaller than Queen are used to playing, but everone that I saw were in rapture and awe, singing, clapping, and dancing. He should ask the people I shared this experience with if they thought the show was "unnecessary". The concert was, in my opinion, better than the show I saw in New Jersey last year.
Brian, I am sure the vibe you got must have been really positive. These so-called "music critics" just seem so far removed from what people expect from a show like this, and seem to want to interject (is that a word?) their own idea of what it should or would have been like that they they lose sight of what it actually is. I am rambling, sorry.
Anyway, great show and keep it up.
Best, Lance.
If anything the review was unnecessary. May be Brian declined his interview request. You might be right that he left before the show started because of the delay. The show started slowly and picked up tempo towards the end.