| Jeff Silveira 06.04.2006 18:24 |
link |
| Donna13 06.04.2006 18:41 |
Truly nasty. |
| jchensf 06.04.2006 21:18 |
The highlight of Queen's first show in San Jose, and its first U.S. tour in 26 years, was the night's strangest moment, and the solution to its biggest problem. How was this band, with two original members and fill-in singer Paul Rodgers, going to do its most bizarre opus, the goofball rock operetta ''Bohemian Rhapsody,'' which was deceased frontman Freddie Mercury's biggest and most florid signature piece? <<BoRhap is a goofball rock operetta? It's consistently ranked as one of rock's greatest songs? What have you written, besides drivel like this??>> The answer, was for drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May, and a cast of extras, to play it along with a video of Mercury performing in a live concert. Voila! That was the Queen we remembered. That was real original Coke; that was classic, classic rock, as opposed to reinterpreted classic rock. That was James Bond played by Sean Connery, not the faceless guys who followed. <<We all enjoy the classics, but welcome to 2006! Whether it is Queen 2006, Coke with Lime, or new action heroes, time marches forward. It's good to pay respect to the past while pushing things forward no matter what it is. Consider the Star Wars 1977 vs Star Wars 2006. Sometimes newer may or may not be better, but it is going to be different. We always want our artists to progress based on their age and experiences and not get stuck simply rehasing what they did on their last album.>> And as morbid as this might sound, maybe they should have played the whole show along with video of Mercury. <<While not a bad idea, it seems that only Elvis Presley Enterprises has been able to successfully mount a show with a dead artist and the remaining living band members with Elvis - The Concert. It played at Davies Symphony Hall to a sold out crowd.>> It got the night's biggest response and was somehow more true to the original Queen concept than dressing up Rodgers in white flowered bell bottoms and a red tank top and expecting us to imagine him as a charismatic, flashy gay man. <<Paul Rodgers is not a Freddie Mercury impersonator nor is he a flashy gay man. You obviously came to the show with your own homophobic sterotypes which clouded your judgement in writing a successful critique of the show presented to you.>> He still looked like a bricklayer, and his voice, best suited for the blues-based beefy rock he played with Bad Company, could never catch the pirouettes and trills that Mercury wrote into his songs. <<Paul Rodgers comes from the rock/blues genre and interprets the Queen catalog with his own style. If you were looking for the exact interpretation of Queen, you should have seen them pre-1985.>> That said, the night was hardly a total loss, for a mostly full HP Pavilion. In fact, there were moments when the power of the songs rang as true as when they were debuted decades ago. On the mid-range vocal numbers, ''Crazy Little Thing Called Love'' and ''Radio GAGA,'' it was easy to forget that Mercury wasn't there. Taylor started the vocal on the latter, joined by Rodgers. <<Why didn't you say something about the show standing up on the basis of the music and musicianship alone? No need for sexy dancers, busy choreographed bits, overblown stage effects, flashpots, flames, etc.>> On ''Under Pressure,'' the rest of the band did the high Mercury part, while Rodgers filled in the lower lines David Bowie sang in the original. A chorus of voices did fine on ''Tie Your Mother Down,'' the show opener, after the band came out to what might be the most unlikely classic rock opener ever, Eminem's ''Lose Yourself.'' Mercury, who helped pioneer hip-hop crossover with ''Another One Bites the Dust,'' would have approved. It's hard to imagine, however, that he was happy with his bandmates backing Rodgers on the unironic meat and potatoes Bad Company and Free songs, ''Can't Get Enough of Your Love,'' ''F |
| Donna13 07.04.2006 04:07 |
Bravo, James! You should send your comments to the writer and his boss. |
| AlexRocks 07.04.2006 09:43 |
Obviously if he knew anything about Rock N' Roll he would know how much of it is re-interpretation but since he doesn't his agenda to hurt doesn't so much. |
| goinback 07.04.2006 22:37 |
Yeah send those comments to him :) As Brian has said, how would people like this critic know what Freddie would think?!? Critics like that didn't even like Freddie when he was alive in the first place. Tell him next time he oughta let all those stupid inhibitions go and just have a good time :) Freddie's been my idol for 28 years since I was 5, but I love the rest of the band too...I told Paul Rodgers (after Anaheim) that I'm so glad he's doing this and I think he's doing a fabulous job. |
| jchensf 08.04.2006 00:01 |
Contact Brad Kava at bkava@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5040. Fax (408) 271-3786. Read his radio and music blog at link I emailed my comments to him and left him a message at his desk phone number listed above. Let's see if he responds. Send your comments to good, old Brad and let's see what he has to say for himself. It's one thing to be a biased reporter, but this one just seems misinformed. |
| jchensf 08.04.2006 00:19 |
link I just posted my comments on the Mercury News website. You can also see what others thought of BRA-A-A-A-D's review. (Say it just like Lisa Lubener.) |
| goinback 08.04.2006 01:37 |
I just put my $.02 on there too. :) Anyone forward that link to Brian? Everyone's sticking up for Queen :) By the way, I just really liked Javier's comment on that page (whoever that is) which I'm posting below...you really get the sense of joy he had: I was there!! Flr 1, 6th row and I am in awe of the night! My one wish was to see Queen bandmates!(I was an infant the last time Queen + Freddie played in the states.) I am crazed today because last night I could see Brian May and Roger Taylor up close. They passed as they walked on the catwalk and around the stage. I waved at Brian and he smiled. I shook my "I LV U QUEEN" banner at the end of the show and Roger smiled at me. It was a night I'll never forget. I just remember that guitar solo with the tribute to Freddie, the secret track on the Made In Heaven album, and the mirror ball with all the simulated stars around, it gave me chills and I cried. I cried as Freddie sang "Bo Rap" because the song means so much to me, the "mama" lyrics just say how I feel. I sang and did my "Radio Ga Ga" claps on time and I paid tribute to the greatest rock band EVER!! QUEEN! It was the best! I'll never forget the lights shining down on my face as I sang queen songs with the best guitarist and drummer in the world! WOW! |
| jchensf 10.04.2006 13:12 |
Brad insinuates that Paul Rodgers is only valid in the mid-range vocals. "That said, the night was hardly a total loss, for a mostly full HP Pavilion. In fact, there were moments when the power of the songs rang as true as when they were debuted decades ago. On the mid-range vocal numbers, ''Crazy Little Thing Called Love'' and ''Radio GAGA,'' it was easy to forget that Mercury wasn't there. Taylor started the vocal on the latter, joined by Rodgers. On ''Under Pressure,'' the rest of the band did the high Mercury part, while Rodgers filled in the lower lines David Bowie sang in the original. A chorus of voices did fine on ''Tie Your Mother Down,'' the show opener, after the band came out to what might be the most unlikely classic rock opener ever, Eminem's ''Lose Yourself." According to Brian May (someone who should know), Paul has good abilities in the upper vocal ranges also. This comes from his interview on his website with Cynthia Fox, one of the nicest and intelligent DJ's in Los Angeles. "Well, he's sort of put himself on it really. It is amazing. It's interesting that you have observed that in Paul. Yes, he has changed. He's really come out of himself. And we've changed too. It's a very good kind of interaction. We've discovered things in each other, and yeah, I notice it in Paul. There's this kind of fallacy out there. Some of the reviews - actually most of the reviews have been very good, but some of them say "Oh well of course Paul has a lower voice than Freddie." Well it's actually not true. He's singing some higher lines than Freddie ever sang, in some of the songs we do and he just chooses different moments, but boy, he's got an amazing voice. Incredible, you know. And Freddie loved him. I've no doubts about that. Freddie really regarded him as a great hero and a great influence." |