Has the current incarnation of Queen worn out its magic?

For as long as I can remember, I've been a superfan of the band, and every time I think about Brian and Roger going out on tour as 'Queen' with a stand-in vocalist, I shudder a bit; obviously the group can't relive its glory days missing its most valuable component, but I credit everyone involved in the current production for its success, staying power (heh) and especially May/Taylor for dealing with relatively grueling tour schedules at their age. I approached QAL with some reservations, and while the collaboration had a rocky start in 2012, I felt that it matured into an incredibly professional joint effort by the time the North American tour took flight. It eventually became clear that Adam was respectful of the band's legacy, and therefore that the mudslinging on our side (hardcore Queen fans) IMO was groundless on this reality.

Now, I didn't come here to start a fight or judge/compare Adam on his own merits, but rather to garner a discussion on the current state of the group. In the North American tour and the UK/Europe dates that soon followed, there seemed to be an energy relatively unseen in the revivals of great bands. Perhaps this could be attributed to Lambert and his youth and vitality, but the positive energy and passion were abound. Just look at this clip of BR from the South American tour as an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PG2CbUCMag

But as of late, it is starting to seem that this is waning. Of course, you can't make judgments based on one (or even just a handful) of the shows, but that same spirit is fading away. It was almost sad to watch Brian seem to labor through some of the solos he performed with ease not too long ago ([url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvgyNygAQbo]current Japanese tour version of IWBTLY[/url] vs. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnEdmosU-fA]last Japanese tour[/url]). Now this is just a single example, and of course we can't discount age, but watching the whole band (Adam, Spike and even Rufus included) fight to keep it together during the current tour has somewhat caught me off guard.

I'm glad Brian and Roger are happy and enjoy keeping the fans happy, but has QAL run its course, or is it just me? Reasonable discussion welcome...

I must agree on what I've seen of the latest trek so far - laboured and lacking in excitement.

I see Brian has given an interview saying something like 'we plan to do something different next year', so I wait with baited breathe; hopefully some scaled down shows playing the 'deep cuts' for fans, either with or without Adam....

Here goes the 'deep cuts'wish list thread again!Everything since 'Made in Heaven' has been a pale imitation,i made the mistake of seeing 'Queen + Paul Rodgers' live and it was just a pale imitation,'Freddie' would be disgusted(as is John) that 'Brian'&'Roger' have just prostituted themselves like so many other groups!They are 50% of (in our opinion) the greatest band in history,50% OF Queen + Adam Lambert, or Paul Rogers, is not worth spending £80-350 on seeing someone other than 'Freddie' sing the 'Queen' catalogue,and 'Brian' saying he(Adam Lambert') can hit the notes better than 'Freddie',what a cunt!

What fun is playing the same songs over and over again. Queen used to be all about creativity, they would always come up with something new and original.
Brian and Roger are not to blame. Most guys of their age are retired and are taking it easy.
I don't think they have a lot of tours left in them. Maybe we should enjoy it as it is, this may be their farewell tour.

I've also noticed that almost every time they try to experiment with something fresh, it gets dropped almost immediately. Earlier this summer, they tried "The Hero" for the first few shows, then it went away. This month, they added "KYA" and "Dragon Attack", then it was gone the next night.

[QUOTE] [b]Ivo-1976 wrote:[/b]

What fun is playing the same songs over and over again. Queen used to be all about creativity, they would always come up with something new and original.
Brian and Roger are not to blame. Most guys of their age are retired and are taking it easy.
I don't think they have a lot of tours left in them. Maybe we should enjoy it as it is, this may be their farewell tour.

[/QUOTE]

Queen used to be about creativity?

When it comes to setlists, that's factually inaccurate.

Work back on the tours.

86 - those AKOM Tracks that were played stayed in every show. Couple of them are regulars at the AL shows plus played with QPR.

84/85 - of The Works material played, Ga Ga, HTF and Break Free stayed until
86. Regulars on the AL shows, plus played with QPR.

81/82 - Under Pressure stayed in until 86. A regular on the AL shows, plus played by QPR.

Then look at stuff like Now I'm Here (QAL 2014 opener), TYMD (played at nearly every QAL and QPR show), FBG (as per TYMD, even if Queen dropped it for their final tours), LOML, Bo Rhap, Guitar Solo, WWRY/WATC. These were all played regularly on Queen tours, year on year on year once released.

Honestly, the most enjoyable thing about the recent QAL shows is those things like The Hero, Save Me and Stone Cold Crazy that weren't played by QPR/on the Magic Tour.

Then there's the fact the Japan ALWAYS gets Teo and Born To Love you.

I hadn't seen the footage of IWBTLY from the last Japanese tour. It's surprisingly good. However, Brian's solo on the current Japanese tour version of IWBTLY is laughably bad! He seems to have these brain farts every now and again e.g. a solo performance of STL in Holland a few years back, and further back, the terrible final solo he played on Save Me at Hammersmith 79.

For me there was no magic to start with.

..............exactly /\

Thousands love it, some hate it, some don't really mind either way. I'm glad Maylor are still doing what they love and are getting paid massive amounts of well-deserved money for that. That said, whenever I've had the chance to see them, I've passed, and I'm glad I did: that way someone else could take my place and enjoy the gig way more than I ever would. It's a win-win-win situation.

^^^
Bingo.

Valid points which I certainly don't disagree with. However I've seen this lineup and I have to say I enjoyed it more than the PR version.

My only criticisms are the, now boring, predictable setlist and the lack of genuine long rehearsal time

The Horse is dead !

The Q+PR shit was a complete disaster.

Nowadays they hit the the Broadway with a professional but boring production.

I haven't seen QAL live and never was interested to do that. Other cover bands are cheaper.

What about a "Cross" reunion?! Absolutely possible and a true fan thing....
Does Roger need any money? so....come on

^^^ why is Q+AL any more a cover band than Deep Purple after Gillan left or Sabbath when Dio and then Gillan joined or Steve Perry leaving Journey or Fish being replaced etc