Birmingham 11/06/2022
BIRMINGHAM LIVE
Queen + Adam Lambert blast Utilita Arena fans into emotional universe and beyond
The rock show that had almost everything sent more than 15,000 fans home happy after two nights at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena.
5* / 5*
Who needs Elon Musk or Sir Richard Branson to blast you into space – just rock up at a Queen + Adam Lambert concert and hold on to their coat tails for the rock-it powered ride of a lifetime, via a dazzling digital backdrop of eye-popping special effects.
Exactly a week after they opened the concert for the Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and fresh from four nights at the O2 Arena in the capital, singer Adam Lambert declared in the birthplace city of heavy metal “You’re louder than London” and said he was honoured to have spent more than a decade contributing to “the greatest rock and roll band of all time”.
On the first of two consecutive gigs at the Utilita Arena with another to follow on Sunday, June 12, the Saturday night concert began with a giant crown rising above a stage that would be fit for guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor to showcase their extraordinary work as two of the original four kings of Queen.
Their own national anthems, thunderous riffs, screeching solos, towering vocals and a brief return on screen by the late Freddie Mercury (1946-91) all combined to send the Utilita Arena crowd into Bohemian raptures during a 21st century Queen show which had everything but the Bear and jokes about Paddington’s marmalade sandwiches. Read in full
