Killer Queen, Now With New Lead Singer

by Justine

The arena was packed to capacity. Young and old, everyone was there. My brother and I sat together in the right section of the arena, me in my darker-than-normal eyeliner, (p)leather jacket and with a bottle of coke in hand (as always), and my brother as expressionless as ever. The stage was bathed in a purplish glow with the Queen logo printed on the sheet that was hiding the stage from view.

Our view of the stage!

Despite being quite high up in the stands, the view was something (although I could have done without the speakers blocking some of the screen). With a crowd of uh...older...people who possibly haven't been to a concert since the 80s, there was some unrest at around 8pm when the band was supposed to grace the stage. They clearly aren't used to the waiting game artists like to play with us. We even had a delightful older gentleman (who was probably drunk before he got there) who began to shout very loudly "WHY ARE WE WAITING?"...stay tuned, this guy becomes important later.

Absolutely packed arena!

Rocking out on the extension stage.

Queen decided not to have an opening act but that doesn't mean we weren't treated to a, shall we call it, side show. A very excited gentleman (also older, also very drunk) displayed some inspired dance moves including some Michael Jackson-esque steps and even a few pirouettes. Needless to say, we were tickled.

The show started with a bang and the sheet covering the stage been sucked up into goodness knows where. Adam Lambert burst onto the stage decked out in the first of his (I counted 6) swanky outfits alongside the amazing Brian May shredding it on the guitar. Roger Taylor was seated at an exquisite drum kit while his son played a second set of drums. The stage itself was fantastic. There was a large O shaped screen with an extended ramp running from the top of a set of stairs by the screen to a second, small circular stage, forming the tail of a large Q. Lambert's vocals were something to behold - strong, powerful and absolutely on point all the while making it look as easy as singing in the shower.

So many light effects! (Also some epilepsy inducing strobe lights...)

Their performance of Killer Queen involved a very purple, decorate chaise longue on which Lambert lounged while singing and sipping from a champagne bottle. Despite all this, the singing was exceptional. Despite assuming the role of lead singer, Lambert did not take away from the Queen members who proved, that even at their age, they can put modern artists to shame. May took a moment to commemorate legend Freddie Mercury while playing acoustically and accompanied by Taylor on drums and also took us on a strange journey through time and space...yeah not quite sure what that was about. What really got me was the ease with which he played the guitar, almost as if it was something you just did. It was incredible. Taylor even treated the audience to a drum-off with his son which was nothing short of enthralling.

Now, only knowing about 4-5 Queen songs myself (I really only went for Adam Lambert because holy hell that voice...) I got pretty damn excited for Bohemian Rhapsody, notoriously the hardest song in existence with no apparent meaning whatsoever. Lambert began the song but was soon taken over by Freddie Mercury on the large screen while May and Taylor played. It was a fitting tribute that had veteran fans very excited.

They sealed the show with We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions topped off with Lambert with a royal robe and crown. It was spectacular. Auckland, NZ was their last show of a very long tour and it was apparent that they gave it their all right to then end. I loved that it was never made to seem that Lambert was replacing Mercury. He didn't try to emulate or sing like him, he did his own thing and the audience appreciated it.

Now, I promised a story about angry drunk guy sitting two rows above us, let's call him Angry Joe. He was there with what I assume (and hope) were his daughters who were equally as drunk and very obnoxious. He was screaming quite loudly and most unnecessarily (yes I know it's a rock concert but believe me, it was out of place). Much to my horror he got into some kind of altercation with the couple in the row below them which involved actual physical contact and a few fists being thrown - along with some vulgar words I won't be repeating. We were high up in the stands and I honestly thought someone was going to fall. In fact, the fight got so out of hand that the couple stormed out of the arena leaving most people in the immediate vicinity craning their necks to see what was going on.

About a song later, the couple returned with some Vector Arena staff who ushered Angry Joe's whole family out of the arena. They reappeared later much to the dismay of the couple but they quietened down significantly. Anyway, that was my story about Angry Joe.

All in all, the concert was fantastic. There were a few moments of obvious time wasting, such as the bass player's extended solo or Brian May taking the stage for an unnecessarily long time, but they did play for almost 3 hours straight so it is to be expected.

KEEP

7/10