Q+AL SET LIST: ROGERS ARENA,
VANCOUVER
28 June 2014
1. NOW I’M HERE
2. STONE COLD CRAZY
3. ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
4. FAT BOTTOMED GIRLS
5. LAP OF THE GODS
6. SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE
7. KILLER QUEEN
8. SOMEBODY TO LOVE 9
. I WANT IT ALL
10. LOVE OF MY LIFE
11. ’39 – BRIAN
12, DAYS OF OUR LIVES – ROGER DRUM SOLO
13. UNDER PRESSURE
14. LOVE KILLS
15. WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER
16. GUITAR SOLO
17. TIE YOUR MOTHER DOWN
18. RADIO GAGA
19. CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE
20. THE SHOW MUST GO ON
21. BO RHAP
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22. WE WILL ROCK YOU
23. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
PRESS:
CALGARY HERALD
REVIEW: QUEEN’S BRIAN MAY SHOWASES DOCTORATE OF RIFFOLOGY IN VANCOUVER
29 June 2014 by Stuart Derdeyn
Guitarist backs Adam Lambert to the hilt with a 20-plus song set didn’t miss a moment in the band’s history
Queen and Adam Lambert
Saturday night | Rogers Arena
For all the operatic flourishes, U.K. dance hall ditties and disco funk offs, Queen was always about epic arena rockers. The English quartet’s canon is loaded with the crunchy goodness every hard rock act wants. Add in the unparalleled vocal chops of the late Farrokh “Freddie” Bulsara, a.k.a. Mercury, and it’s no surprise why Queen ranks with the Beatles in all-time sales.
Mercury’s passing from AIDS-related complications in 1991 put the remaining active members in quite a fix. Who were guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor going to hire to fill the spot? Legendary Free and Bad Company shouter Paul Rodgers was a marquee name but lacked any of the required range and both the tour and studio albums were weak. Enter American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, 32, a guy with serious range and the requisite glam sense to do the flamboyant material justice.
From the opening quartet of Now I’m Here, Sheer Heart Attack and Fat Bottomed Girls, the singer was on. But May’s guitar-tistry overshadowed all. The PhD in Astrophysics was showcasing his doctorate of riffology at Rogers Arena and the lecture was brilliant.
Lambert hit his stride with Lap Of the Gods/Seven Seas of Rhye, bringing his own soaring range to hit notes almost as high as his platform boots. Somebody To Love was huge, right down to his bluesy take on the final chorus. The singalong to May’s solo rendition of Love Of My Life proved this was an audience of faithful fans. A good thing as the guitarist honestly noted he isn’t a singer. Guess that explains why footage of Mercury played for the final chorus.
May followed with a folky ‘39 and Taylor rasped out These Are The Days Of Our Lives as more vintage footage played across the screens. Even on this somewhat twee number, May dropped some killer licks.
The Taylors — Roger and son Rufus — provided the short drum solo before Lambert returned to wail through Under Pressure and it was back to the races.
But not before the singer urged around of applause for Mercury and introduced a new song, Love Kills, to be featured on the coming new Queen album. Assembled with old recordings of Mercury, the idea seems a tad weird. But if the roar for the late entertainer was any indication, the market is there. The 20-plus song set didn’t miss a moment in the band’s history and certainly delivered the hits. While I would have relished Seaside Rendevous, you don’t complain when the version of Don’t Stop Me now bounces that hard. That song and the Show Must Go On might be apropos to Queen version 2014 on the whole. Their show was a far sight better than the perfunctory cash grabs many of their peers are presenting.
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