Ok this recap will be a little longer due to more to tell and more than my reactions. My whole family went today. Just as we did 3 years ago to Uncasville.
Now some of you saw my initial issues during the thread.
PRESHOW STUFF - SKIP TO NEXT CAPS FOR JUST THE SHOW STUFF
My wife and son were in California this week for his 11 year old trip (in my family my kids all save up most of the money for a special trip with their aunt who lives in CA and then we help out some - my eldest went to Alaska with her, my middle child went to Hawaii, my son went to L.A. and visited movie studios and Harry Potter-world). Anyways. My wife had massive plane connection problems and honestly were at wits end. They were supposed to fly home and be home at 9:30pm on Saturday night and we would drive down to Philly on Sunday, but due to issues with planes, they missed their connection in Denver and the best they could do was fly her to Albany on Sunday and she wouldn't get in til 6pm...we would miss the gig. So she got them instead to fly her in to Philly and she would be in Philly by 4pm. Sweetness!
So I start driving down and here's where strike two happens. It's myself and my two daughters. About an hour south of Albany my car starts having issues. I suddenly realize it has no kick when I press on the accelerator. And I'm flooring it and it's crawling to get above 65. I'm like WTF. So I have to make a quick decision and I get off 87s at Saugerties. It's a Sunday so I'm scrambling to find anyone to look at it as I'm about 3 hours from Philly and already an hour from home. Luckily it seems to correct itself after a little rest and I realize that it most likely was too much drawing on the electrical system for the alternator to handle. I had the AC on, the phone was connected using GPS, and using it for music AND my daughters had their phones charging through a split charger.
I found a Monro open in Kingston (about 10 miles south) that I went to - Nicest guy there squeezed me into look at and he confirmed my diagnosis as all my fluids were good and the battery and alternator were a tad low but nothing terrible. So I took their chargers out and said no more charging your phones. I also went without AC and just had the windows open just to be sure...But the guy didn't charge me or anything - it was really cool.
BUT I'd get to the airport now by 5:30 or so so my wife and son just Lyfted to the hotel I had.
Now my wife was still kind of just in stress mode...and really just wanted to be home after 8 days without home, but she soldiered on and was going to go knowing she'd still enjoy herself. My son who 3 years ago at 8 didn't make it through the gig as it was too loud. This time I'm happy to say he made it through (despite being sick as I found out later...after the subway to the hotel when he puked in the station...and then puked every hour on the hour that night - so I had no real sleep before driving 4 hours back home!) The other 2, my eldest (16 this time, 13 last time) had clear recollections of QAL before. She loved the gig last time but shared my dislike of Adam's Christina Aguilerra type vocal runs on WATC but overall liked Adam and loved Queen. My middle child (13 this time, 10 last time) liked the gig last time and knew who Adam was but didn't say much about the last time.
OK SO SHOW TIME!What I found very interesting (as I did for my previous 4 QAL gigs) is I love seeing who the fans were there for...and yes I know a lot are actually for QAL but let's be honest, you were there from one side first...and at this gig for some reason I found a TON of Queen fans because they were wearing a ton of NON-conventional Queen shirts. For example I saw a "One Night of Queen: Gary Mullen and the Works" shirt which is one of the most famous Queen tribute bands this side of Queen Extravaganza. Then I even saw a Roger Taylor: Electric Fire tour t-shirt from Rog's 1998/99 solo tour in the UK...among others.
We got to our seats...Nosebleed central - against the wall, lol...but it's nice to get a full view of proceeding. We were surrounded by Queen fans - including some I could have sworn were going to be Adam fans - these young girls next to us but they were ended up seeming to be as excited for B&R as I was, lol...and then this very old guy who every time Adam swore, he'd say "Whoa!"...kind of funny.
ANYWAYS. My son really enjoyed the build up and was cheering for it to start. My girls were too...My eldest tried to predict what they'd open with - she first said Fat Bottomed Girls, and then said...or maybe that song (she imitated the Hammer To Fall riff)...i smirked and turned to the wife and said...she's kind of right...
They all loved the opening production (and the production as a whole)
I spent the buildup, excited but a little wistful - I couldn't help thinking that this could very well be the last time I get to see Brian and Roger...I re-focused a bunch of times but it kept sneaking up on me at weird times.
WWRY/Hammer To Fall - My eldest was excited she was right. My middle child was shrieking every chance she could get like the teen girl she was. She would shriek "Yeah Brian!" "Yeah Roger!" "Yeah Adam!" "YEAH QUEEN!"
SCC - A bit better tempo this time...too nice sounding still
AOBTD - My family loved this and danced into it.
FBG - Eldest loved hearing this one - in fact her favorite part...as did my middle child. I still think it's way undertempo but I might be over critical - people seemed to dig it.
KILLER QUEEN - This one started to get my wife stirring and a bit more out of her funk, the head popping up made her laugh. I like Frank better than the couch definitely...
FREDDIE SPEECH AND INTRO OF B&R - WOW. The reception that B&R got when introduced dwarfed almost any applause I've heard at any Q+ show I was at. It just kept going...
Then the I ain't Freddie bit, the kids looked at me and smiled (I think just the mention of Freddie)
TWO FUX - Again it was quietly but respectfully received. Most in my section sat and listened and clapped and cheered when it ended....But, here was the first split. I never did hear my eldest's opinion. My son tapped my shoulder and said..."Dad? That wasnt' a Queen song was it?" I said, "No that was one of Adam's own songs." He said "I could tell. It wasn't nearly good enough to be a Queen song." I said, "It's not that bad." He shrugged. On the other hand - the song gained a big fan from my daughter who related a ton to it and thought it was awesome and she was going to download it. My wife said "Is he trying to get that on the radio?" I told her mostly it was just for streaming I thought. She said it was catchy. Not sure she'll listen again (but I'll let you know
)
DON'T STOP ME NOW - My eldest loves this track so she was dancing and singing. This one misses the piano bits from Freddie more than anything which makes it a bit more unique....
BICYCLE RACE - Again got smirks out of the wife for the camp. She tends to like the more staged theatrical bits...that I'm a bit meh on....Kids seemed to enjoy it too...but they are all musical theater inclined anyways.
I'M IN LOVE WITH MY CAR - Kids were very happy to hear Roger singing...as they've heard it on tape a lot recently
It got a great reception
GET DOWN MAKE LOVE - My dirty secret was out...You see for a long time when my kids heard this song they thought the lyrics were Get Down Below. And I just let them think that of course. Well they got the point this time and my children were a bit "mad" at me. "DAD!!!! I thought it was Get Down Below!" I shrugged and grimaced and just kind of looked away blushing a bit.
I WANT IT ALL - Ok this is the real highlight for me every gig. Every. Single. Time. It just rocks all out. My favorite part is right after the guitar solo and Roger takes it into double time for Brian to shred. And they still got it. And did Brian get a big response to his vocal part....
LOVE OF MY LIFE - Perfect viewing. My son got into it again waving my cel phone light...and singing along. We all sang along and just showed a lot of love for Brian. It was nice. We were perfectly lined up for the Freddie video and it really looked like he was on stage with Brian. My daughters each had tears forming. It was a very nice moment. My middle child turned to me and said "I miss him so much. I didn't even know him...and he died 13 years before I was born! How can I miss him?" I just hugged her at that point, feeling a bit sad myself.
SELFIE STICK - Maybe my son's favorite moment, lol...Fair game he's not really into music too too much. He prefers instrumentals and video game music. He likes Queen as his only band with vocals...but he's very particular. SO he's definitely more of a Freddie guy. He absolutely hates the style of music Adam has made thus far....so Adam didn't stand much of a chance with him. That might change as he gets older...
SOMEBODY TO LOVE - My son actually got into this one -singing and dancing...My girls - well this is one of their fav Queen songs so it was an easy win. My wife too for that matter. I enjoy the new version...nice to have an alternative arrangement.
CRAZY LITTLE THING - Again - not much to say - Everyone enjoyed it.
DRUM BATTLE - My son plays percussion so he got into this a bit. I loved watching it....again those thoughts crept up...
UNDER PRESSURE - Again another highlight - and my family all love this one so they were singing along - very happy to hear Roger getting a second vocal.
I WANT TO BREAK FREE - The wife loves this one so she got into this one - seeing it live for the first time. I, of course, still listen a bit begrudgingly knowing it should be It's Late or Spread Your Wings...but again some nice work from Brian
YOU TAKE MY BREATH AWAY - My kids were in awe hearing all those Freddie's.
WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER - Hands down my wife's favorite moment - for the light show as much as Adam. She turned to me in the beginning and said..."Is that Freddie's voice?" She thought Adam sounded like Freddie in the beginning which was great praise in and of itself. My middle child loved this part as well. Her favorite. Might have been my favorite too. One of my favorite moments is that my wife turns to me towards the end and says, "Brian's solo here always makes me so sad...." I nodded knowingly - it's so evocative.
GUITAR SOLO - Again high praise from the wife. "Dr. Brian May, the only guitar solo I can listen too" And all of us enjoyed the solo and the production. I tried to soak it all in knowing the end was near.
RADIO GA GA - Family all loved doing the claps. Good performance. My middle child wished she was down where Adam was.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - Boy did they all love Brian coming up true rock star form...and they all got weepy at Freddie's reappearance but loved it.
WWRY/WATC - they all loved the encore, loved the build, loved the outfits and singing along. I watched as long as I could keeping my eyes on Brian as he left the stage and it was over.
Afterwards, the eldest said Adam did better than 2014 - less runs, more focused. "Still wish it was Freddie, but I like Adam." My middle child said "He's not as good as Freddie but he is awesome. I LOVE him." My son said he liked it pretty well...but liked the solos best of all. My wife said Adam did well though the Freddie moments were her favorite along with WWTLF.
And there it is...unless they decide to swing through with one more NA tour on a few years...