I am sorry I missed that. Of course, I am not sure it was on here because they have already done their fundraising drive.

How did Freddie look?

Going to see Brian & Roger tomorrow!!

You will have to let us know how Queen sounds with Paul Rodgers.

Molly, if you go to Walmart, I picked that concert up a while ago for 9.72

Molly I thought the same thing- but I saw clips from a show on VH1 classic and it STILL looks awesome. I am not even a Paul Rogers fan! It looks more like a celebration of the music of Queen, like a Queen party, but the crowd was still so into it; arms doing the thing for "radio ga-ga"; brian may just wailing on the guitar. We got the nosebleed seats, which I wanted anyhow, to see the crowd spectical and the full stage lighting.

Anf, I totally agree! I don't see any problem with the remaining band members touring with a new lead singer under a different name. In fact, I think I'd be more likely to go. Like I said, I'm sure they rock, but without Freddy, the sound will change, and it just won't be Queen.

If to you, Freddie "was Queen", you probably don't know Queen very well. Freddie was a miracle, and I can't imagine what life without him would’ve been like, nor do I want to! But the beauty of Queen was that there were 4 amazing songwriters, each equally talented, and each being equally represented on the albums. And 3 lead singers all with great, distinctive voices. Queen was an amazingly well-rounded band – Saying Freddie WAS the band would be like saying "John Lennon WAS The Beatles."

As far as it not being "Queen", I agree. And so do they. And ya gotta realize, I'm the girl who refused to go see Motley when they did that tour without Tommy Lee, in spite of being offered (good) free tickets, because I'm a total hard-ass when it comes to that sort of thing. And if they called this touring band "Queen", it would've bugged me, too. But this is not the same situation as INXS where they’re saying “We’re INXS & this is our new singer.” Paul Rodgers has not joined the band, Queen. This is more akin to when Billy Joel & Elton John toured together, playing each other’s songs- two great artists joining each other for a tour. "Queen + Paul Rodgers".

Paul Rodgers didn't “take Freddie’s place” on the songs – in fact, he didn’t sing lead on all of the songs Freddie sang, or even do all of Freddie's vocal parts on the songs when the other guys were singing lead. And it was really cool to see them playing on the Free / Bad Co. songs. Brian May seemed to really enjoy playing those. It was cool to hear his feel and solos on the old songs you know so well.

That off my chest, I will post my review once I get it typed up...

there's only been two cases of "replace the lead singer" that to me didn't hurt one bit,  AC/DC and Genesis (well, when they switched from Gabriel to Collins, not when they went from Collins to Wilson), and even then, a lot of old-school fans of both bands hate the Brian Johnson and Phil Collins eras.    I know some cite Van Halen, but they were never the same band without Roth and to this day, a lot of people hate Van Hagar.  I saw a "Real" Van Halen fansite where everyone hates Hagar and everything they released after Roth's departure.   Whereas Genesis and AC/DC saw their biggest success with their second lead singers.

-- Edited by anf at 17:32, 2006-03-11

anf wrote:

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I also can't stand Sting's music as a solo artist, yet at the same time, The Police wouldn't be the same if they tried to reunite without him.  To me, Sting WAS The Police but I also accept Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland as the reasons the band was so great, because Sting's never been as good without them.  At least they are all still alive so a reunion could happen if they ever put egos aside long enough.   But if Sting died and Copeland and Summers decided to resurrect the Police logo, people would be pissed off and rightfully so.

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Absolutely, people would be upset. I once saw an interview with Sting, like within the past 5 years or so, saying that Stewart WAS The Police, which was interesting, especially since the ego thing you mentioned has been known to be strong with Sting. The drum sound truly did have a lot to do with their unique sound, but it was cool to hear him say that.

anf wrote:

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there's only been two cases of "replace the lead singer" that to me didn't hurt one bit,  AC/DC and Genesis (well, when they switched from Gabriel to Collins, not when they went from Collins to Wilson), and even then, a lot of old-school fans of both bands hate the Brian Johnson and Phil Collins eras.   


I know some cite Van Halen, but they were never the same band without Roth and to this day, a lot of people hate Van Hagar.  I saw a "Real" Van Halen fansite where everyone hates Hagar and everything they released after Roth's departure.   Whereas Genesis and AC/DC saw their biggest success with their second lead singers.-- Edited by anf at 17:32, 2006-03-11

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AC/DC changed quite a bit once they lost their personality-filled lead singer. The vocals were very different, and so were the lyrics, and the stage personas. But being as he was dead and all...

One thing about Genesis when Peter Gabriel left - at least the "new" lead singer was already in the band! At least it was someone the fans already knew and liked. But what the old-school fans will complain about most is that when Phil came into the lead singer slot was that this once prog band became commercial. Yes, they were more successful, but they weren't the same band, and not just because they switched singers - even musically. They were sort of "weird" and outside of the box, and then they became a band everyone's mom loved to sing along with. I can certainly see their point.

VH Vs. Van Hagar is a huge issue to a lot of people. I feel like that one will continue to be debated 100 years after we're all dead!

-didn't like the whole van hagar thing till i saw it live in 1985 or 6. Lamented that I would not see the dave van halen. but I "got it" I got the van hagar. the next best thing, and better in some ways than the dave thing would have been, as far as melodies and double guitar work went. seeing that live got me over the mourning of dave van halen being gone. 5150 is a solid album to this day.

I agree that Van Halen and Van Hagar are like two totally different bands. But, tthat's the problem with using your last name for a band. Van Halen was Eddie and Alex really, just because it's their last name. Hence, where the egos come in. But, I think they've proved they can't do it on their own, just look at VH with Gary Cherone!

But I agree that you can't have Queen without Freddy. When it comes to the music itself, you couldn't have Queen without Brian May, Roger Taylor, etc. either. I'll admit, I'm basing this on limited knowledge, but when it comes to a live show, I think it would be safe to say that Freddy was Queen; he was the one providing the entertainment, and the rest supplied the kick ass music. But you do have to give them credit for billing it as Queen + Paul Rogers, and frankly, "The remaining members of Queen + Paul Rogers" really would be a bit too long and confusing.

MzHartz wrote:

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But you do have to give them credit for billing it as Queen + Paul Rogers, and frankly, "The remaining members of Queen + Paul Rogers" really would be a bit too long and confusing.

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Wouldn't fit well on a poster headline, right?

So, here is my short review:

A KIND OF MAGIC – LS’S REVIEW OF QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS IN MASS

I can say with no exaggeration that this was truly one of the most magical concerts I've ever seen, and I've seen hundreds.  The last several years of Queen’s existence, they didn't tour the states, and I was pretty young the last time they did tour here, and therefore never had the opportunity to see them live, which has always bothered me.  Although I've had the privilege of seeing Brian live a couple of times, I had never stood in the same room with the phenomenal Roger Taylor.  And it was so awesome! 

To top it all off, we had 8th row on the floor, and there was a cat walk, which security was fine with letting us stand up against, so it was more like having front row a lot of the time.  We could see everything well, and got some great pictures.

 

-FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN’T SEEN THIS TOUR YET, BUT PLAN TO, AND DON’T WANT ANY SURPRISES RUINED – SKIP THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH-

 

The show started with the band onstage, but with a curtain hiding them.  Paul Rodgers made his entrance on the catwalk, and the crowd went wild, then the curtain came down revealing the band on stage- VERY cool! 

 

One of the highlights was Brian sitting on a stool at the edge of the catwalk, and doing a beautiful solo acoustic version of "Love of My Life" with the audience singing along - pure magic.  (I swear, I didn’t bring near enough tissues.)  Undoubtedly, the best part for me, though, was when Roger came out from behind the drum kit to sing “These Are the Days of Our Lives,” a song which has always just floored me, and should’ve been a much bigger hit.  Hearing it in his voice, with the screen behind the stage, showing old footage of the band, was just so touching!  This was followed by “Radio GaGa,” which Roger also sang lead on (very cool!), although surprisingly, not everyone in the crowd was ready with the clapping thingie during the chorus.  ???

 

I should also add that it’d been a few years since I’d seen Paul Rodgers perform live, and let me say that there is a really huuuuge reason that he is a famous rock star.  Aside from the talent (He is one of my husband's all-time favorite rock singers, and he's a terrific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist...), he has great stage presence. All of his moves were great, and he looks fabulous.  Yeah, the wig is a little weird, but he is in fantastic shape! He is a rock star- and a very classy one at that.  He blew me away as well.

 

Totally worth the 3 hour drive!