Karen and I drove from St. Louis as well, and what a show! Well worth the 5 hours in a car, the $7.00 for a pack of smokes in Chicago, the snow after the show....and going broke buying merchandise! Brian was in great form, Roger never better and Paul was awesome!
I gotta ask Bigten and The Classic...why haven't you guys been to Breakthru?? We've been to every one and it is a weekend you'll never forget.
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Brian... I would love to go, but for some reason, I have never been able to go. Is it (or has it) ever been in St. Louis? One thing, I haven't been paying that much attention to it... but man, are my eyes open now! Later my St. Louis brotha...
john
john
John,
Breakthru has always been in Cleveland except for one year when it was in Dallas. Before Breakthru was organized, there were Royal Vision conventions...I never attended any of those because I never knew about them. But I gotta tell ya, Breakthru is awesome. A weekend of nothing but Queen...Queen music, Queen videos, Queen memorabilia, Queen swap meets...and the folks you meet quickly become dear friends.
Check out this link: www.queenbreakthru.com
and check it out. Would really like for more St. Louis people to show up. We have people from all over the world attending. Give it a thought!
Brian
Breakthru has always been in Cleveland except for one year when it was in Dallas. Before Breakthru was organized, there were Royal Vision conventions...I never attended any of those because I never knew about them. But I gotta tell ya, Breakthru is awesome. A weekend of nothing but Queen...Queen music, Queen videos, Queen memorabilia, Queen swap meets...and the folks you meet quickly become dear friends.
Check out this link: www.queenbreakthru.com
and check it out. Would really like for more St. Louis people to show up. We have people from all over the world attending. Give it a thought!
Brian
I will keep my eyes upon this. I gotta see if the wife lets me go... hehe. But this seems to be a grand way of spending our vacation this year. Thanks for the info man...appreciate it.
I was there in Chicago and IMO the crowd looked to be about 90% full. I was shocked, GREAT turn out!
Highlights for me, "dragon attack", "under pressure", "we will rock you" (I didn't know they started it with the album beat and lead into Roger playing it.)
Got that great silver/black tour shirt too.
The crowd was pretty into it I must say and on the way home, as I was thinking about clapping to "Ga Ga", shouting " we will rock you!", I got choked up. It was an experience I'll never forget.
Highlights for me, "dragon attack", "under pressure", "we will rock you" (I didn't know they started it with the album beat and lead into Roger playing it.)
Got that great silver/black tour shirt too.
The crowd was pretty into it I must say and on the way home, as I was thinking about clapping to "Ga Ga", shouting " we will rock you!", I got choked up. It was an experience I'll never forget.
I had a great time at the Chicago show! And had fantastic seats in the 4th row on the right side. Paul is no Freddie, but he is still very enjoyable to watch and seems like such a great guy. Was sooo moved by Brian's performance of Love of My Life and Roger's vocals on These are the Days of Our Lives. Other favs were: Under Pressure, Show Must Go On, All Right Now, Bohemian Rhapsody, & Fat Bottomed Girls. But, really enjoyed the whole thing.
Submitted a couple pictures for the photo gallery.
Submitted a couple pictures for the photo gallery.
Loved the reviews for this show, you guys ROCK!!!
This was, without question, the greatest night of my life. The band and the audience far exceeded my expectations, which were already very high (for the band anyway, I have read mixed accounts of audience reaction). I never got to see Queen in their prime because I didn't become a fan till 1992 when I was only 12. The band rocked. Under Pressure and Bad Company blew me away. My sister, who is not a fan of rock music, was completely enthralled...even with the guitar solo which is something I even get bored with sometimes. The audience sang along with Love Of My Life.....everyone knew their clapping cue in Radio Ga Ga. You would've thought their popularity never waned in America. And, from my vantage point, the arena looked packed. We couldn't even see empty seats up in the "cheap seat" area. Definitely a night I will never forget.
Arriving at the Allstate Arena (formerly known as the Rosemont Horizon), me and my friend weren't sure what to expect. Do people in the Chicago area still remember Queen? Not having tickets, we arrived about an hour before showtime. We quickly spotted a scalper and got some $125 tix for $45 a pop, than headed on in.
Back when I was a teen, I used to see shows there all the time. Hell, it was 21 years ago, that I saw Paul Rodgers at the same venue when he fronted the underwhelming Firm. Even had backstage passes to that one, and talked to a very grey and disheveled Pagey. Anyway, it was an interesting crowd. As expected, there were a lot of older rockers, but there was also a lot of families, as well as a smattering of teens. There were also a lot of White Sox fans. I never thought that the Queen and the south side would be a match.
We got to our seats, which were three rows up from the main floor and about halfway back from the stage. The Horizon (sorry, I still can't refer to it as the Allstate Arena) was still only half full, and the outer concourse wasn't nearly as packed as I've seen it before. They launched a coupla Black Sabbath (one of Bri's favs) classics through the PA, than it started. Most folks seemed a bit confused at the Emminem intro, than the boys came out a rawkin' with Tie Your Mother Down. \m/ 0 \m/. I looked around the stadium and suddenly the place was pretty damn packed. Everyone must have arrived in those last few minutes.
The stage setup was nice. Great lights, and the center walkway. I can't believe how in shape Mr. Rodgers is. The man looks like he can bench press over 500 lbs. Roger looked a bit older than I expected, and Mr. May, er looked like who else, but Brian May. Each band member had a wicked smile on their mug. You could feel their joy at playing to a packed house again.
The sound and mix was clear, but pretty loud. My friend wore ear plugs, but I went au natural. The crowd was really into it, and stayed on their feet throughout the entire show. No small achievment for many of the old timers. What was really great, was to see so many kids (I'm talkin' single digit ages in some cases) sing along to all the songs. Obviously, ma and pa played them a healthy dosage of Queenage around the casa.
The setlist was the same as the other North American shows, and since I'm a 70s Queen guy, I was dissapointed that their was nothing from the first three royal jewels, but I still enjoyed the whole production. As Brian requested in his press interviews, I kept an open mind, and both my friend and I agreed that it exceeded our expectations. The song overview, the pacing, the lights and production, all worked really, really well as a whole. The show was just over 2 hours and I didn't have to waste my ears on an opening band that I didn't care for. Also, after seeing dozens of their peers on tour, one thing that really stood out, was that unlike those others, I could close my eyes, listen and be fooled into thinking that it was back in the day. Their voices were all amazingly intact!
Highlights for me included, the rockers (Tie Your Mother Down and Fat Bottom Girls), Love of my Life (with full audience participation), I'm in Love With My Car (I got a sweet new ride last year), Dragon Attack (yes!!!!), Bad Company and All Right Now (extended guitar soloing with Bri nailing Kossoff's vibrato).
Thanks to Brian, Paul, Roger and the rest of the band for the great time!
Back when I was a teen, I used to see shows there all the time. Hell, it was 21 years ago, that I saw Paul Rodgers at the same venue when he fronted the underwhelming Firm. Even had backstage passes to that one, and talked to a very grey and disheveled Pagey. Anyway, it was an interesting crowd. As expected, there were a lot of older rockers, but there was also a lot of families, as well as a smattering of teens. There were also a lot of White Sox fans. I never thought that the Queen and the south side would be a match.
We got to our seats, which were three rows up from the main floor and about halfway back from the stage. The Horizon (sorry, I still can't refer to it as the Allstate Arena) was still only half full, and the outer concourse wasn't nearly as packed as I've seen it before. They launched a coupla Black Sabbath (one of Bri's favs) classics through the PA, than it started. Most folks seemed a bit confused at the Emminem intro, than the boys came out a rawkin' with Tie Your Mother Down. \m/ 0 \m/. I looked around the stadium and suddenly the place was pretty damn packed. Everyone must have arrived in those last few minutes.
The stage setup was nice. Great lights, and the center walkway. I can't believe how in shape Mr. Rodgers is. The man looks like he can bench press over 500 lbs. Roger looked a bit older than I expected, and Mr. May, er looked like who else, but Brian May. Each band member had a wicked smile on their mug. You could feel their joy at playing to a packed house again.
The sound and mix was clear, but pretty loud. My friend wore ear plugs, but I went au natural. The crowd was really into it, and stayed on their feet throughout the entire show. No small achievment for many of the old timers. What was really great, was to see so many kids (I'm talkin' single digit ages in some cases) sing along to all the songs. Obviously, ma and pa played them a healthy dosage of Queenage around the casa.
The setlist was the same as the other North American shows, and since I'm a 70s Queen guy, I was dissapointed that their was nothing from the first three royal jewels, but I still enjoyed the whole production. As Brian requested in his press interviews, I kept an open mind, and both my friend and I agreed that it exceeded our expectations. The song overview, the pacing, the lights and production, all worked really, really well as a whole. The show was just over 2 hours and I didn't have to waste my ears on an opening band that I didn't care for. Also, after seeing dozens of their peers on tour, one thing that really stood out, was that unlike those others, I could close my eyes, listen and be fooled into thinking that it was back in the day. Their voices were all amazingly intact!
Highlights for me included, the rockers (Tie Your Mother Down and Fat Bottom Girls), Love of my Life (with full audience participation), I'm in Love With My Car (I got a sweet new ride last year), Dragon Attack (yes!!!!), Bad Company and All Right Now (extended guitar soloing with Bri nailing Kossoff's vibrato).
Thanks to Brian, Paul, Roger and the rest of the band for the great time!
For me, it was the greatest to see these guys GENUINELY ENJOYING playing for the crowd, May & Taylor particularly. Brian was the consummate showman and has seldom played better, I think.
Hate to say it out loud, but despite a undoubtedly solid and stylish vocal performance, there is still room for Rodgers to get more involvement from the crowd. He's kind of into the "watch me perform" thing, which I think comes off just a smidge arrogant. Not bad or inferior in any way, just not as "inclusive" or "engaging" as Brian, Roger, (or Freddie), by comparison.
I SOOOOOO loved Hammer To Fall (slow/fast) - what a brilliant reinterpretation that just sounds GREAT live.
I also thought Brian's playing on Last Horizon was IMMACULATE. Do they give Grammy's for concert performances??? They should!!! I never once heard fret/string noise - just pure, piercing, singing tone. DAMN!!! The solo was fully charged with energy, too, with the Brighton Rock "chugga-chugga-chuuug" pattern returning.
Roger unfortunately did pull some high notes in IILWMC, which kind of bummed me out, 'cuz with the absence of SINT, we just didn't get enough of his upper range, I don't think. Lucky for me, the ROTC DVD's got 'em. ;-)
Ya talk about yer warm fuzzies... wow! what a great feeling after that show. One of my friends who went with (a casual fan, not like me...) who can seldom be bothered to show real interest in Queen just couldn't stop talking about the show on the way home... it says a lot about it, I think. <grin!>
p.s. the main floor never sat down the whole time.
Hate to say it out loud, but despite a undoubtedly solid and stylish vocal performance, there is still room for Rodgers to get more involvement from the crowd. He's kind of into the "watch me perform" thing, which I think comes off just a smidge arrogant. Not bad or inferior in any way, just not as "inclusive" or "engaging" as Brian, Roger, (or Freddie), by comparison.
I SOOOOOO loved Hammer To Fall (slow/fast) - what a brilliant reinterpretation that just sounds GREAT live.
I also thought Brian's playing on Last Horizon was IMMACULATE. Do they give Grammy's for concert performances??? They should!!! I never once heard fret/string noise - just pure, piercing, singing tone. DAMN!!! The solo was fully charged with energy, too, with the Brighton Rock "chugga-chugga-chuuug" pattern returning.
Roger unfortunately did pull some high notes in IILWMC, which kind of bummed me out, 'cuz with the absence of SINT, we just didn't get enough of his upper range, I don't think. Lucky for me, the ROTC DVD's got 'em. ;-)
Ya talk about yer warm fuzzies... wow! what a great feeling after that show. One of my friends who went with (a casual fan, not like me...) who can seldom be bothered to show real interest in Queen just couldn't stop talking about the show on the way home... it says a lot about it, I think. <grin!>
p.s. the main floor never sat down the whole time.
Very cool review.
Does anyone have a recording of this show?! I really need this one! Best show yet! Will pay!! I also didn't bring my camera in for fear of being kicked out...anymore great pictures out there?! Thank you!
I NEED a copy of this show also...
Me too. One of only two I got to see. Will do just about anything...