Queen with Adam Lambert

 

We have seen Queen and Adam Lambert twice this year, and both times were terrific. This really doesn't fit in the trail run, hike, jog, or long walk category, which is the main purpose of this blog, but I like to keep track of these things here. 

The first time we saw them in Tacoma with Deb's brother and wife. They played their full set. There's only one Freddie Mercury, which Adam Lambert concedes early on in the show, but he does a great job filling in, just the same. Brian May has a few songs which really feature his guitar licks, and they have great video and pyrotechnical support. Mid-show, they all travel to the center of the arena to play. Queen has a very large catalog of songs everyone knows, and they played most or all of the big ones, plus a few other surprises. Long show, big sold-out crowd, and horrible drive. Worth it.

 Then, I won tickets to the Global Citizen Festival in New York, and Queen + Adam was the headliner. They did not dissapoint. We were much closer for this show--on the rail at the side. Rami Mallek, the Oscar winning actor for his role in Bohemian Rhapsody, introduced the band. The set was shorter, as is typical with festivals, but it was the longest of the night and they played all the really big ones. 60,000 attendees plus an international audience on live television--it was a New York thing, for sure.

Am I big Queen fan. Maybe moreso now than ever, but I have clear memories from the 1970s of staring at the News of the World album among rows of albums, thinking it looked pretty cool. Then, purchasing The Game and Live Killers. I was probably more a Led Zeppelin/Who guy, but Queen has held up well. Fan.