7.27.17 More great reviews for QAL Collaboration (and Adam)
Jul 27, 2017 9:33:30 GMT -5
Post by pi on Jul 27, 2017 9:33:30 GMT -5
nj.com
If you love Queen, you must see their triumphant '+ Adam Lambert' concert (PHOTOS)
NEWARK -- "I think a good song should never die," noted Brian May.
The venerable Queen guitarist was preaching to a literal choir in Newark Monday night, where a vast chamber of voices gleefully resurrected the band's catalog -- and made peace with the new man at the pulpit.
Adam Lambert, the fabulously gifted vocalist who first met the band as a finalist on "American Idol" in 2009, has toured with founding members May and drummer Roger Taylor since 2012, and has combined with new bassist Neil Fairclough, keyboardist Spike Edney and percussionist Tyler Warren to form "Queen + Adam Lambert," a supergroup succeeding Queen's collaboration with Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers from 2004 to 2009.
Lambert, 35, did well to honor his role as interim frontman and was welcomingly frank about the situation.
"There is only one Freddie Mercury ... I'm a fan just like you guys, I'm just up here in a really good seat," he told Prudential Center Monday, adding that before each performance he reminds himself he's "working with legends."
"Thank you for giving me the chance to keep this music alive," he said.
The graciousness ended there; Lambert spent the rest of the two-hour performance as an uber-flamboyant pop-rock sensation, belting with aplomb -- explain again how he didn't win his "Idol" season? -- and balancing brilliantly between the melodic blueprints to some of the best-known songs of the 20th Century and his own pop-leaning sketches.
Thank the rock gods he didn't sing every track note-for-note and beg comparisons: the delicately altered states of "Another One Bites The Dust," "Don't Stop Me Now" and a particularly chilling vocal performance on "Who Wants to Live Forever" all saw Lambert emerge from Mercury's encompassing shadow and all but scream "if Queen wants to keep going, I'm the man for the job!" With the inherent theatricality of the Queen songbook plus Lambert's penchant for a stagy performance -- he spent nearly a decade in musical theater before "Idol" -- such a concert could have easily devolved into a "Rock of Ages" jukebox dummy, but hand-over-heart, this felt like a true rock show, honest and worthy of the band's prolific career.
Though it was never explicitly mentioned, homage was paid all night to the band's 1977 album "News of the World," which celebrates its 40th anniversary in October. The album cover's famed sci-fi metallic head popping up on screen, as well as in a 10-foot statue form, on top of which Lambert sat to sing "Killer Queen."
May, 70, and Taylor, who turned 68 this night, were each given ample space to show off as well; from a raised platform May ripped a dynamic solo that morphed from atmospheric sounds to crunching, bluesy riffs, and also sang a solo acoustic rendition of "Love of My Life" with Mercury superimposed next to him on the large screen, to a swell of cheers.
More...
www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2017/07/queen_adam_lambert_2017_concert_review_nj_photos_v.html#
