Queen + Paul Rodgers concert review
Sep. 27th, 2008 02:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janie_tangerine.. and for once that I manage to be in second row my camera dies for good and there's too much going on to take pictures with the cellphone. So I don't have much, only the review, since the only pic I managed to take just.. well, sucks. I mean, it's just white light and you can't see shit. Pity because I was in a good position. And I enjoyed the hell out of it. And well, I've heard Brian singing 39, Roger singing I'm In Love With My Car and Paul Rodgers singing Bad Company. Now I only need to see BJ and I'll have my concert must-see acts done ;)
Though even if it was amazing, it probably was the most tiring concert of my life. I mean, I had a standing ticket, so I had planned to get as far as I could, but that meant going there soon so I arrived at three in the afternoon when they opened the gates at seven. The whole standing outside business wasn't actually the worst part of it, I mean, feet hurt and at one point I was so desperate that I just went and started reading American Gods and did a good fifty pages, but the main problem was that my only Queen clothing was a sweatshirt and I couldn't change with the shirt I bought there anywhere. And yesterday was the only day in the week when it wasn't cold, so it really wasn't the brightest idea ever.
Anyway, they opened the gates and after risking to get split over the barrier a couple of times, I ran in and did the second stupid thing of the evening, aka not stopping to buy some water. But after all I saved time and managed to earn myself a very respectful fifth row place kind in front of Brian. I hadn't realized that there was a catwalk because I suspect that those places were for the members of the fan club since a bodyguard directed me on the other side but anyway, the position was good.
Then after an hour standing there, an idiot four or five rows behind me who was kind of very drunk threw up on the floor before fainting and when they brought him out people had to move, me included, and I don't know why but I ended up in third row. At that point I used the remaining hour to make my way and I managed to end up in second. Which was really, really good.
It started at nine, thankfully punctual (hey, the only other concert that started punctual I ever went was Leonard Cohen's) and I guess that Brian May has passed the astrophysics virus to everybody else. The first four minutes were of a video on the screen behind the stage with.. well, asteroids, stars, galaxies, planets and whatever, but well, I thought it was adorable. And it worked on the visual level, so no complains.
Anyway, they all started soon after and opened with Surf's Up, School's Out which I thought was the weakest track of the last record but that really, really works well live. And allow me some swooning because:
1) Brian looks good. Really good. Really, incredibly good. And he was right in front of me. *dies* OMG. He sort of was tripping when he arrived on stage but God, that man doesn't age or what? I want to know how he keeps his hair like that, seriously. And he had the Red Special. Yeah, like, goodbye indeed.
2) Paul Rodgers is incredible. Now, I liked Bad Company before I was into Queen and I always loved his voice, so I never really had a problem with him being there. And apart from the fact that yesterday he was in excellent shape since he sang really well, forgive me the shallowness but he has a couple of hips to kill for. Especially when he wears leather pants *dies*. And he also has such a lovely smile.
3) Roger was... *dies all over again* apart from the fact that he was all dressed in black and was sort of making me melt there, he had this short beard which does indeed suit him and thankfully I was in a position that allowed me to see the guy perfectly even if I thought that Brian would have ended up covering him. Well, not that I'd have complained, sure, but you know. I have a favorite after all.
So anyway, the first track was all good and a lovely opener and thankfully I managed to actually hear Paul Rodgers for four minutes, because I barely heard him for the next songs ;) not that I was complaining, I mean, I knew that if I was going into the pit I wasn't going to hear much on some songs, but anyway ;) so, the next one was Tie Your Mother Down (and well, I heard him a bit on there) and there started the obligatory jumping. Because I had a serious moment in which I thought that if I didn't jump I was going to end up on the ground with my neighbor's feet on my face, but it was great. The following was Fat Bottomed Girls and there no, I didn't hear a thing apart from the music. And so I spent it waving at Brian and at Paul when he came our side. Same thing with Another One Bites The Dust and I Want It All, though the last one was awesome because since I had Brian in front of me I managed to hear all of the bridge and God, I love that man's voice. I really do.
Then they did I Want to Break Free and there was a problem because the guy next to me really lost it and he was way off key. Oh well, thankfully there was Brian waving at our side and I got pushed even more forward. I came veeery close to the first line at that point.
Then they played C-lebrity which I pretty much liked and I wanted to hear some of the last album anyway. And also, Mr. Rodgers gave an exceptional performance on that.
Then there was Mr. Rodgers alone playing Seagull, which was a Bad Company song and uhm, yes, I love Bad Company and I was really eager to listen to it. Thankfully no one knew it and so I could breathe a bit and enjoy the song which was really, really good and that he sang incredibly well, and then the fangirl went and ruined the ending. Because I had this idiotic Brian fangirl two people down the line who, whoever was on, kept on screaming 'Briiiiaaaan' as soon as he saw anything curly in the backstage. I mean, she did it on the end of this one and even when Roger was playing, for Christ's sake. And I really, really wanted to hit her but couldn't. Anyway, I tried to scream louder than her and then Brian came out and went on the catwalk. Which was a shame because from my position I could barely see his head and so I had to watch him on screen.
Anyway, he sang Love of My Life first which was incredible (and some pictures of Freddie appeared from time to time on the screen) and then pardon the squeeing but HE PLAYED 39 WITH ROGER NEAR HIM AND ROGER HAD THE TAMBOURINE AND THEY PLAYED 39 AND OMG YES. Because that would arguably be my favorite Queen song ever along with Hammer To Fall and ROGER PLAYED THE TAMBOURINE and even if they didn't do the harmonies because they presented the band instead it was great and I was sort of dying. Then there was MY moment and oh God.
Brian left (and of course the girl started with the 'Briaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan' even when he wasn't on stage anymore) and that left Roger on the catwalk with the bass player, where he started to play the bass with the drumsticks. I mean, the bass player was pressing the strings but he was playing them with the drumsticks and I kind of was orgasming by that point. After a minute or so he played Under Pressure and Another One Bites The Dust that was, then he sat and started with the drum solo. at the beginning there was only on drum and a couple of plates, but one guy was bringing him the drum set piece by piece and after five minutes that were making me seriously die he had a complete one and he played I'm In Love With My Car.
And seriously, I lost it there. I mean, just, he always has that voice and seriously, that song is an innuendo in itself but actually singing it out loud along with the guy has a whole load of other effects. I just wish the guy next to me hadn't started quarreling with someone in front of him at one point but whatever, if I wasn't feeling like my life was complete it was close.
Then he started Say it's Not True and then Brian joined in and then Paul joined in (wearing a lovely light blue shirt which did really, really suit him) and then they all did it together and it was incredibly good.
And then my life was definitely complete for the moment because hi, there was a piano on stage and Mr. Rodgers went and played Bad Company which is like, one of my favorite songs ever, and of course the idiotic fangirl was all like 'and what the hell is this?' and of course she was screaming 'Briaaan' when he absolutely rocked the solo, but whatever. Thankfully I could hear the song all the way and woah. Just woah.
Same thing for Feel Like Making Love, even if at least people knew that one more than the previous ;) then Brian had his moment and he soloed for at least five minutes, then started playing Bijou and the girl in front of me started crying as soon as the Freddie video where he sang the bridge came up and then he went with Last Horizon and thankfully the fangirl emptied her lungs there and didn't shout for the rest of the concert.
Then Paul came up on stage with an HIDEOUS pink/yellow/red shirt, but he wore leather pants and came on our side more than once so I just ignored the hideousness of the shirt and enjoyed the hell out of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which I think he interprets really, really well. I can't say the same for A Kind of Magic since I barely heard it ;)
Then they did The Show Must Go On and there I really need to give him credit because I heard him over the crowd and I swear that it was a hard thing to do. Also, him and Brian were all over the catwalk, which left me looking at Roger all the time, which definitely was a good thing. And I only heard his back vocals when they did Radio Ga-Ga, but there was also the hand clapping there. And I managed to do it wrong three times before getting it *headdesk* go for my sense of rhythm.
They closed the first part with Bohemian Rhapsody, with the Freddie video (also, hi John Deacon! He had a few shots in said video) for all the first part, the recorded one for the opera-bridge, Mr. Rodgers singing the final part and then again the Freddie video on the 'Nothing really matters..'. It was all a very touching moment and I thought it was also done in a very respectful way and maybe I would have teared up if Brian hadn't come out at the end with that red shirt with the sun he had in the Return of the Champions dvd. Because really, you can't stay serious at that one unless you had already started crying.
That was the last before the encores. The first one was Cosmos Rockin' which was great. Also, as soon as I had heard it I had thought it wasn't that masterpiece on record but it would have been a great live song and yeah, that was it. Then they played All Right Now and my inner Free fan was EXTREMELY happy. Also, all the stadium was standing that was really a great song. And I love it, yeesss. Then they went with We Will Rock You during which I only looked straight at Roger since Brian was on some sort of stairs thing in the center of the stage and Paul in the catwalk, so I took advantage. Then they closed with We Are The Champions which of course was great, not that I'm particularly fond of the song but done live it's a whole other thing; and then it was over, they bowed and I am 99% sure that when Roger's hand grabbed Brian's hip, it went that little necessary bit down and stayed there for all the time they were bowing and waving and stuff. Oh, Roger. *sigh*
Then the harsh reality came down on me because my feet hurt like hell, I hadn't drunk any water since I left home and I had wore a sweatshirt up to then, so I suddenly felt my throat burning. I managed to grab some water, then ended up in a bathroom stall changing the sweatshirt with the short sleeved one I bought outside. Except that as soon as I get out it was freezing cold and I couldn't put on the sweatshirt anymore *sigh*. Anyway, I managed to get home in a decent time and it really was an incredible show. I couldn't have wished for a better one, I saw the three of them and was darn glad of doing so, the show in itself was great, they played a lot and they did it exceptionally well, being in the snakepit was actually fun even if today my back hurts like hell and apart from the Brian fangirl and the quarreling guy everything went smoothly as ever. I wouldn't have actually minded if they did a couple more new songs (I was hoping for We Believe) I have to say, but overall I loved it. If I didn't already like Paul Rodgers he'd have won me over, but I just ended up liking they guy more than I already did. I just wish I could have taken some pictures because it was really amazing, but guess it will be for next time. Since they looked all great and like they were having a lot of fun playing, so I guess they'll be around for a while and I surely wouldn't object to go again. And uhm, this year I definitely hit the concert jackpot. And setilist just so that we made things clear.
Cosmos Rocks Intro
Surf’s up… School’s Out
Tie Your Mother Down
Fat Bottomed Girls
Another One Bites The Dust
I Want It All
I Want To Break Free
C-lebrity
Seagull
Love Of My Life
‘39
Roger and Dany electric Bass Solo incl Under Pressure/Another One Bites The Dust
Drum Solo
I’m In Love With My Car
Say It’s Not True
Bad Company
Feel Like Making Love
Guitar Solo
Bijou
Last Horizon
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
A Kind of Magic
The Show Must Go On
Radio Ga Ga
Bohemian Rhapsody
Cosmos Rockin’
All Right Now
We Will Rock You
We Are The Champions
God Save The Queen
Though even if it was amazing, it probably was the most tiring concert of my life. I mean, I had a standing ticket, so I had planned to get as far as I could, but that meant going there soon so I arrived at three in the afternoon when they opened the gates at seven. The whole standing outside business wasn't actually the worst part of it, I mean, feet hurt and at one point I was so desperate that I just went and started reading American Gods and did a good fifty pages, but the main problem was that my only Queen clothing was a sweatshirt and I couldn't change with the shirt I bought there anywhere. And yesterday was the only day in the week when it wasn't cold, so it really wasn't the brightest idea ever.
Anyway, they opened the gates and after risking to get split over the barrier a couple of times, I ran in and did the second stupid thing of the evening, aka not stopping to buy some water. But after all I saved time and managed to earn myself a very respectful fifth row place kind in front of Brian. I hadn't realized that there was a catwalk because I suspect that those places were for the members of the fan club since a bodyguard directed me on the other side but anyway, the position was good.
Then after an hour standing there, an idiot four or five rows behind me who was kind of very drunk threw up on the floor before fainting and when they brought him out people had to move, me included, and I don't know why but I ended up in third row. At that point I used the remaining hour to make my way and I managed to end up in second. Which was really, really good.
It started at nine, thankfully punctual (hey, the only other concert that started punctual I ever went was Leonard Cohen's) and I guess that Brian May has passed the astrophysics virus to everybody else. The first four minutes were of a video on the screen behind the stage with.. well, asteroids, stars, galaxies, planets and whatever, but well, I thought it was adorable. And it worked on the visual level, so no complains.
Anyway, they all started soon after and opened with Surf's Up, School's Out which I thought was the weakest track of the last record but that really, really works well live. And allow me some swooning because:
1) Brian looks good. Really good. Really, incredibly good. And he was right in front of me. *dies* OMG. He sort of was tripping when he arrived on stage but God, that man doesn't age or what? I want to know how he keeps his hair like that, seriously. And he had the Red Special. Yeah, like, goodbye indeed.
2) Paul Rodgers is incredible. Now, I liked Bad Company before I was into Queen and I always loved his voice, so I never really had a problem with him being there. And apart from the fact that yesterday he was in excellent shape since he sang really well, forgive me the shallowness but he has a couple of hips to kill for. Especially when he wears leather pants *dies*. And he also has such a lovely smile.
3) Roger was... *dies all over again* apart from the fact that he was all dressed in black and was sort of making me melt there, he had this short beard which does indeed suit him and thankfully I was in a position that allowed me to see the guy perfectly even if I thought that Brian would have ended up covering him. Well, not that I'd have complained, sure, but you know. I have a favorite after all.
So anyway, the first track was all good and a lovely opener and thankfully I managed to actually hear Paul Rodgers for four minutes, because I barely heard him for the next songs ;) not that I was complaining, I mean, I knew that if I was going into the pit I wasn't going to hear much on some songs, but anyway ;) so, the next one was Tie Your Mother Down (and well, I heard him a bit on there) and there started the obligatory jumping. Because I had a serious moment in which I thought that if I didn't jump I was going to end up on the ground with my neighbor's feet on my face, but it was great. The following was Fat Bottomed Girls and there no, I didn't hear a thing apart from the music. And so I spent it waving at Brian and at Paul when he came our side. Same thing with Another One Bites The Dust and I Want It All, though the last one was awesome because since I had Brian in front of me I managed to hear all of the bridge and God, I love that man's voice. I really do.
Then they did I Want to Break Free and there was a problem because the guy next to me really lost it and he was way off key. Oh well, thankfully there was Brian waving at our side and I got pushed even more forward. I came veeery close to the first line at that point.
Then they played C-lebrity which I pretty much liked and I wanted to hear some of the last album anyway. And also, Mr. Rodgers gave an exceptional performance on that.
Then there was Mr. Rodgers alone playing Seagull, which was a Bad Company song and uhm, yes, I love Bad Company and I was really eager to listen to it. Thankfully no one knew it and so I could breathe a bit and enjoy the song which was really, really good and that he sang incredibly well, and then the fangirl went and ruined the ending. Because I had this idiotic Brian fangirl two people down the line who, whoever was on, kept on screaming 'Briiiiaaaan' as soon as he saw anything curly in the backstage. I mean, she did it on the end of this one and even when Roger was playing, for Christ's sake. And I really, really wanted to hit her but couldn't. Anyway, I tried to scream louder than her and then Brian came out and went on the catwalk. Which was a shame because from my position I could barely see his head and so I had to watch him on screen.
Anyway, he sang Love of My Life first which was incredible (and some pictures of Freddie appeared from time to time on the screen) and then pardon the squeeing but HE PLAYED 39 WITH ROGER NEAR HIM AND ROGER HAD THE TAMBOURINE AND THEY PLAYED 39 AND OMG YES. Because that would arguably be my favorite Queen song ever along with Hammer To Fall and ROGER PLAYED THE TAMBOURINE and even if they didn't do the harmonies because they presented the band instead it was great and I was sort of dying. Then there was MY moment and oh God.
Brian left (and of course the girl started with the 'Briaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan' even when he wasn't on stage anymore) and that left Roger on the catwalk with the bass player, where he started to play the bass with the drumsticks. I mean, the bass player was pressing the strings but he was playing them with the drumsticks and I kind of was orgasming by that point. After a minute or so he played Under Pressure and Another One Bites The Dust that was, then he sat and started with the drum solo. at the beginning there was only on drum and a couple of plates, but one guy was bringing him the drum set piece by piece and after five minutes that were making me seriously die he had a complete one and he played I'm In Love With My Car.
And seriously, I lost it there. I mean, just, he always has that voice and seriously, that song is an innuendo in itself but actually singing it out loud along with the guy has a whole load of other effects. I just wish the guy next to me hadn't started quarreling with someone in front of him at one point but whatever, if I wasn't feeling like my life was complete it was close.
Then he started Say it's Not True and then Brian joined in and then Paul joined in (wearing a lovely light blue shirt which did really, really suit him) and then they all did it together and it was incredibly good.
And then my life was definitely complete for the moment because hi, there was a piano on stage and Mr. Rodgers went and played Bad Company which is like, one of my favorite songs ever, and of course the idiotic fangirl was all like 'and what the hell is this?' and of course she was screaming 'Briaaan' when he absolutely rocked the solo, but whatever. Thankfully I could hear the song all the way and woah. Just woah.
Same thing for Feel Like Making Love, even if at least people knew that one more than the previous ;) then Brian had his moment and he soloed for at least five minutes, then started playing Bijou and the girl in front of me started crying as soon as the Freddie video where he sang the bridge came up and then he went with Last Horizon and thankfully the fangirl emptied her lungs there and didn't shout for the rest of the concert.
Then Paul came up on stage with an HIDEOUS pink/yellow/red shirt, but he wore leather pants and came on our side more than once so I just ignored the hideousness of the shirt and enjoyed the hell out of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which I think he interprets really, really well. I can't say the same for A Kind of Magic since I barely heard it ;)
Then they did The Show Must Go On and there I really need to give him credit because I heard him over the crowd and I swear that it was a hard thing to do. Also, him and Brian were all over the catwalk, which left me looking at Roger all the time, which definitely was a good thing. And I only heard his back vocals when they did Radio Ga-Ga, but there was also the hand clapping there. And I managed to do it wrong three times before getting it *headdesk* go for my sense of rhythm.
They closed the first part with Bohemian Rhapsody, with the Freddie video (also, hi John Deacon! He had a few shots in said video) for all the first part, the recorded one for the opera-bridge, Mr. Rodgers singing the final part and then again the Freddie video on the 'Nothing really matters..'. It was all a very touching moment and I thought it was also done in a very respectful way and maybe I would have teared up if Brian hadn't come out at the end with that red shirt with the sun he had in the Return of the Champions dvd. Because really, you can't stay serious at that one unless you had already started crying.
That was the last before the encores. The first one was Cosmos Rockin' which was great. Also, as soon as I had heard it I had thought it wasn't that masterpiece on record but it would have been a great live song and yeah, that was it. Then they played All Right Now and my inner Free fan was EXTREMELY happy. Also, all the stadium was standing that was really a great song. And I love it, yeesss. Then they went with We Will Rock You during which I only looked straight at Roger since Brian was on some sort of stairs thing in the center of the stage and Paul in the catwalk, so I took advantage. Then they closed with We Are The Champions which of course was great, not that I'm particularly fond of the song but done live it's a whole other thing; and then it was over, they bowed and I am 99% sure that when Roger's hand grabbed Brian's hip, it went that little necessary bit down and stayed there for all the time they were bowing and waving and stuff. Oh, Roger. *sigh*
Then the harsh reality came down on me because my feet hurt like hell, I hadn't drunk any water since I left home and I had wore a sweatshirt up to then, so I suddenly felt my throat burning. I managed to grab some water, then ended up in a bathroom stall changing the sweatshirt with the short sleeved one I bought outside. Except that as soon as I get out it was freezing cold and I couldn't put on the sweatshirt anymore *sigh*. Anyway, I managed to get home in a decent time and it really was an incredible show. I couldn't have wished for a better one, I saw the three of them and was darn glad of doing so, the show in itself was great, they played a lot and they did it exceptionally well, being in the snakepit was actually fun even if today my back hurts like hell and apart from the Brian fangirl and the quarreling guy everything went smoothly as ever. I wouldn't have actually minded if they did a couple more new songs (I was hoping for We Believe) I have to say, but overall I loved it. If I didn't already like Paul Rodgers he'd have won me over, but I just ended up liking they guy more than I already did. I just wish I could have taken some pictures because it was really amazing, but guess it will be for next time. Since they looked all great and like they were having a lot of fun playing, so I guess they'll be around for a while and I surely wouldn't object to go again. And uhm, this year I definitely hit the concert jackpot. And setilist just so that we made things clear.
Cosmos Rocks Intro
Surf’s up… School’s Out
Tie Your Mother Down
Fat Bottomed Girls
Another One Bites The Dust
I Want It All
I Want To Break Free
C-lebrity
Seagull
Love Of My Life
‘39
Roger and Dany electric Bass Solo incl Under Pressure/Another One Bites The Dust
Drum Solo
I’m In Love With My Car
Say It’s Not True
Bad Company
Feel Like Making Love
Guitar Solo
Bijou
Last Horizon
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
A Kind of Magic
The Show Must Go On
Radio Ga Ga
Bohemian Rhapsody
Cosmos Rockin’
All Right Now
We Will Rock You
We Are The Champions
God Save The Queen
