Rolling Stone: "Inside Queen's Huge Summer Tour With Adam Lambert"

[Miguel]

By Andy Greene
June 18, 2014 3:00 PM ET

Like a lot of fans under a certain age, Adam Lambert first learned about Queen when he saw the "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene in Wayne’s World in 1992. "I said to my dad, 'Who's that?,'" Lambert says. "He was like, 'You know those songs 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are the Champions?' That's the same band.' I had no idea."

It took another few years for Lambert to really delve into their catalog. "When I was older I got more into the history of rock," he says. "I fell in love with the 1970s and I discovered more about Queen. The genius about the band is that they're so versatile. There are songs in their catalog that are like beautiful lullabies, and then on the same album they can flip to a hardcore, more aggressive sound."

By the time he auditioned for American Idol in 2009, the 26-year-old was such a huge fan that he performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the judges. "What's happened since then is just surreal to me," he says. "It's so crazy that this came out of American Idol. I don't think I would have seen it coming back then."

...Filling Freddie Mercury's shoes is an enormous task, but Lambert feels up to the challenge. "It's not an easy feat," he says. "I think a lot of the apprehension has faded because we've done this a number of times in the past couple of years. That's not to suggest I'm getting cocky at all, because I will never compare to Freddie Mercury. He's one in a million. At this point, I know how to strike a balance between honoring the way these songs were originally meant to be sung and my own instincts, my own choices."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/i...picks=true

[midnightblues]

Wow what cool opportunity to be able to sing with a band that he was such a huge fan of.

[mercfan3]

I don't think there is another entertainer out there that could sing the lead for Queen as well as Adam does.

[My Alter Ego]

I don't think there is another entertainer out there that could sing the lead for Queen as well as Adam does.

Mercfan, I agree completely. Adam's vocal training shows. In addition, because of his theatrical background, Adam can provide a show, maybe not ala Freddy, but still big, histrionic, etc. Hopefully, during the North American tour, there will be fewer comparisons to Mercury (we know they're bound to happen) than before. Here's the headliner title to the RS review of North American tour: Queen and Adam Lambert's Tour Opener: 5 Things We Learned
Regal rock band and their new frontman make a grand U.S. debut at Chicago's United Center

Go here for the review:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q...d-20140620

[Miguel]

Adam Lambert is no Freddie Mercury, but the man sure can sing.

...From his cheeky call-and-response during "Another One Bites the Dust" to his outsize take on "Killer Queen," spreading out on a purple lounger and fake-chugging champagne, Lambert proved as brilliant a fill-in as you're bound to find.

It's a shame he wasn't given more a cappella turns, however: "Somebody to Love" was goose bump-inducing thanks to Lambert's vocal acrobatics. And that's to say nothing of his vocal magic during "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are the Champions."

[My Alter Ego]

Miguel, among all the things you are doing right now, thanks for taking the time to read the review and post an excerpt.

Adam Lambert has a "killer" voice and everything that Queen's Dr. (Brian) May and Roger Taylor said regarding having Adam sing with them during the short tour they did a couple years ago bordered on effusively complimentary, if you take into consideration the well known British "reserve." (Tusk may very well disagree and, if so, I'll learn from that.)

But I'm hopeful that we'll soon see some good videos posted of the current tour. There are some vids uploaded on YouTube, but I find them unimpressive. The audio quality is poor and the overall impression is of the visual rather than the audio. (Given what we've learned from
Tusk -- and others -- that's probably a result of terms and conditions between performers/venue: taping is not allowed. It will be done, but..)

[mercfan3]

I'm hoping to see some video too.

Adam Lambert is just pure talent, in every sense of the word. I'm glad he's these opportunities.

[My Alter Ego]

There are now more vids posted. I'm still not pleased about the audio, but perhaps in a show like this (where Adam is moving around a great deal and the video recorder is in one place), it's not really possible to obtain a solid quality audio. To quote Sergeant Schultz (Hogan's Heroes), "I know nothing" when it comes to this kind of recording.

I had read about Adam's mic going dead during a song during the first concert (in Chicago). Just watching how he dealt with it is interesting. I hope Haley knows how to deal with such a dreaded situation in the way that Adam did. Here's the video of that song:

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qdV87neUC4 [/video]

Not something that anyone would wish on someone. And just how/why this might have happened is mysterious to me. Adam seemed to have an obviously designated mic/mic stand (gold).

It seemed to have been quick fix. But ultimately, I think an indication of all of Adam's skills as a performer.

[john]

MAE I would never have imagined you quoting Sgt. Schultz. LOL.



Not Freddie Mercury but reasonable. Lambert glams it up a lot.



The real deal

[My Alter Ego]

MAE I would never have imagined you quoting Sgt. Schultz. LOL.



Not Freddie Mercury but reasonable. Lambert glams it up a lot.



The real deal

Yes, but the difference is the vocal quality (at least in your example). Freddy sounds hugely forced and his mouth is right next to the mic, while Adam's performance is effortless. An therein lies the musician.

John, I don't want to discount your preference (and Freddy was extraordinary), but Adam has vocal chops that go beyond ---- and he does it effortlessly (as I've mentioned).

Look and listen again to your own above listed vids. Ciao.