Hammersmith

[QUOTE] [b]AdamMethos wrote:[/b]
Does AL have a problem with ear monitors? He was constantly touching his ears in Kiev, so I thought there might be a problem with the monitors which accounted for the off singing. But I'm watching some Hammersmith vids now (where he sounds fine) and he's still doing it. It's gettin' distracting! However... it does make for a great drinking game for those who need to down a few in order to get through the AL parts of the concert. ;-)[/QUOTE]

Um yep, I noticed that every vid I watched and it is very distracting.Just another part of the visual assault. I did go watch his audition for AI again and Simon nailed it by saying he was "theatric". Funny how Freddie could pull that one off and not be annoying to me. Each to his own I spose.

Went to the show thursday night, I thought they were amazing, and to be fair Adams voice is fantastic. Great show, superb lighting, great set list and I loved Brians guitar cam !!! Fireworks never seen before in a Queen show !!! Have seen all tours since 77 and this show blew me away. Freddies gone but if this is all we can get then I'm a happy man. To all the Adam bashers the crowd gave him a great reception and songs like WWTLF got a standing ovation. Nice touch was when Adam did a vocal bit with the crowd and Brian just stood there smiling...I think he was pleased. I was.

Just back from Thursday's gig. What a fucking blast we had. The atmosphere was absolutely electric, my legs are sore from dancing. I was in the seating area right at the back, everybody in the balcony stood, cheered and danced for most of the show. I was standing on the armrest of my seat! Well done to the staff at the Apollo, they let people have fun, the balcony was mental.

Adam Lambert was fantastic, great chemistry with Brian, Roger and the audience. He is not as good a singer as PR, but it was more of a Queen show than the +PR tour IMHO. He has a fantastic career ahead, I pray he will play live with Queen again.

Would do it all again Saturday night if I could.

Brian playing and singing Somebody to Love! Acoustic version! Yesterday:

http://youtu.be/COF2U31bgqc

[QUOTE] [b]brunogorski wrote:[/b]
Brian playing and singing Somebody to Love! Acoustic version! Yesterday:
http://youtu.be/COF2U31bgqc[/QUOTE]

Yes! I saw that and thot it was the best minutes of the tour.

Really cool! :)

[QUOTE] [b]brunogorski wrote:[/b]
Brian playing and singing Somebody to Love! Acoustic version! Yesterday:
http://youtu.be/COF2U31bgqc[/QUOTE]

That is truly amazing!

[QUOTE] [b]brunogorski wrote:[/b]
Brian playing and singing Somebody to Love! Acoustic version! Yesterday:
http://youtu.be/COF2U31bgqc[/QUOTE]

That was great! Aren't moments like that worth having AL bookend the concert? ;-)

Actually, I like AL's voice fine in small doses. So the way the concert is structured -- where Brian and Roger do a mini-set in the middle, just when I'm starting to tire of AL's voice -- really works for me.

[QUOTE] [b]someonewholikesadam wrote:[/b]
Even the squirrels are simultaneously and spontaneously orgasming at this. What Adam and Freddie have that Martel and Rogers lack is sex appeal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IskeNNrMKAw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
[/QUOTE]

"Sex appeal" doesn't automatically gives you strong vocals and appropriate singing style. I have nothing against Lambert on his solo work, but for Queen songs, hah nope. I pick boring unsexy Martel.

Fabulous.  A fraction of AL's range, a ton more honesty and emotion.

I went Thursday and my observations are:

Lambert was better than I'd expected, and the earlier YouTube stuff showed. Some really good (WWTLF), and some that he wasn't so great on (Radio Ga Ga). It has worked for this, but I hope nothing further after - whilst he has the essential range for Queen, his voice is too thin in general to front a rock band, and whether his fans like it or not, his tone, style, stage presence and delivery belong 100% in musical theatre. Him and Kerry Ellis should do a duet!

The lack of a second guitar was not noticeable, and actually seemed to give Brian more freedom- he was even putting in little trills, fills and 'fiddly' bits from the records that he hasn't bothered with before.

Highlight for me was an almost impromptu Somebody To Love acoustically by Brian before Love of my Life, in which the crowd sang the 'at the end of the day' harmony backing vocal in verse 2 which seemed to really hit Brian and he stopped singing and seemed to genuinely well up - really nice moment.

I am the biggest RT fan, do what I'm about to say saddens me, but I can't see many more shows in the future as Roger simply diesnt seem fit enough to do it now. At Brixton in 2005 I was actually taken with how powerful his playing still was, then in 2008 I noticed a small decline, but this time it was very noticeable, to the detriment of the show. He doesn't hit his snare now bur more just places the stick on it, and has copped out of playing quite a few of the key fills in some songs. The drum sound improved noticeably when Rufus was playing, and my thought was that the front of house sound guy needed to sort himself out because when Roger was playing the snare and kick were barely audible at times due to Roger's light playing, and so should have had the levels turned up. Noticeable rhat Roger didnt even play Tie Your Mother Down - Rufus did. Also eveident that from mid way the show was very much driven by Brian energy and performance wise. The only real downer of the gig, and nothing to do with Lambert.

Lights were superb! Live Killers era red and green moving banks of lights, and really reminiscent of a Queen show. The had smoke/steam jets, flames, pyros etc, but all complemented the show and weren't overused. Again I can't praise the lights highly enough.

There was a main film camera at the back behind the mixing desk, and a couple on stage and possibly one in the pit at the front, but none on the balcony that I could see, which would be usual for a filmed gig. However, the onstage ones seemed to be on the go all the time and not just when they were being used to project onto the screens (which again were very good), so some stuff was almost certainly filmed, if only for the archives. They may see what they get from all three nights and edit together into a releasable edit.

Hope this helps give some further info on a few points.

Cheers

Nice review cmsdrums. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Roger stopped playing drums and took over main vocal duties. Lambert really nails WWTLF, but -- like Paul Rodgers before him -- his voice isn't suited to many other Queen songs. And the moment you mentioned with Brian singing STL is on Youtubeand it is indeed emotional. He seemed surprised at first then touched. wow. Maybe moments like this might encourage him to do more live stuff, hopefully without Lambert. Then again, he seems to begin tours full of enthusiasm and then gets very jaded. He's getting on a bit too. And there's always the call of the badgers to draw him back to the Soapbox ...

Tarabostes
I was all ears to listening and re-listening to my favs., and I didn't pay attention to other gems, the intro or I Want It All.
Darkness, then the flickering, voices singing in perfect harmony behind the "curtain" , Adam adopting one of his famous postures and the craziness begins. With Seven Seas..., Keep Yourself.. one of the most difficult songs to sing
We Will... a fast version , an avalanche of rhythm
and energy, all announce that the show goes on and it will be different. Great intro! I Want...is
one of the most rock-ish songs in Queen repertoire, and it is sung/played in the most rock-ish way.
I know it is trendy to dig at the base of the statues, to try to demolish legends , but Brian and Roger sounded perfect, powerful as usual, and to haters' regrets Adam helped them in their endeavour.

The Thursday show was amazing, none of the footage so far has really captured how good they are.

Roger and Brian seem to be more at home with Adam Lambert than they were with Paul Rodgers, the show felt more like a Queen show. Maybe it's down to the setlist, the lighting who knows.

When the news of these shows first broke I was unsure, but remained open minded. Seing the footage from Keiv I wasn't so sure, but having seen the show on Thursday night I am more than happy. Yes Adams voice doesn't suit everything, but Paul Rodgers didn't either.

Queens songs are so wide ranging in style, because of Freddies vocal abilities, that I don't think any one could hope to match up to him. Adam Lambert however does have range and a certain showmanship that was part of what Queen were about.

He also connected with the audience really well which added to the atmosphere, which is something not very apparent on any YouTube video.

The sound and lighting were amazing, the lighting was much better than the Q+PR tours and looked more Queen like. The audience were into it too, people who were obvious Queen fans, not just Lambert fans.

[QUOTE]

[b]Tarabostes wrote:[/b] I know it is trendy to dig at the base of the statues, to try to demolish legends , but Brian and Roger sounded perfect, powerful as usual, and to haters' regrets Adam helped them in their endeavour.[/QUOTE]

That's an interesting and thoughtful comment Tarabostes.  It would appear that a lot of QZ'ers and people in general take delight in cutting others down to size.  As it pertains to what is left of Queen, some people are adamant Queen expired in 1991.  Some have no issue with continuing to keep the music alive, while others are ambivalent about it, but don't want it with certain people involved.  None of us are right, as it is Brian and Roger's right to do what they want.  But, if you didn't have the opportunity to see Queen when they were on form, then you'd have no idea of the quality difference.  So your opinion of Roger sounding perfect may not jive with a LOT of the people here who have commented on how Roger's playing is pretty substandard.  If it's your first time hearing/seeing Brian's solo live, then you'd be blown away.  For people who heard it 37 years ago and have heard it for the millionth time, where's the excitement and what's the point of doing what's been done before, and better?