Queen + Adam Lambert: Don't Me Stop Now!

Queen has been my favorite group of all time. The first memory I have of a song of Queen is when I was a child:, in a local television channel they gave the series "Highlander" (based on the film of 1986 of the same name) whose opening is the song "Princess of the Universe" and I loved it. I always waited until the night when they gave the series just to listen to the song and go to sleep. It was until much later that I knew that this group was Queen and that it was going to totally change my perception of music.

Later, at the house of a friend from my neighborhood, I had the first direct encounter with Queen's music. My friend's dad was a classic rock enthusiast and we always listened to the albums in his collection. One day we found the Classic Queen compilation album and the connection was immediate, it was love at first listen. The power of Freddie's voice, the complexity of the harmonies in the vocals as well as the guitar arrangements was something I had never heard before. At that time it sounded very much like the chamber music I played in the conservatory where I was studying transverse flute. That same year, if I'm not mistaken it would be 1998, I asked for the album "Greatest Hits" for Christmas with their respective discman and the rest is history.

When I learned a bit more about the members, I was surprised to learn that Brian was a doctor in astrophysics and from that moment, he became one of my role models. Being a musician and a science student too, Brian is still the example that both worlds can coexist simultaneously.

At that time, the idea of seeing live the remaining members of Queen (Roger Taylor, Brian May and John Deacon) was simply an impossible dream. I never imagined that at some point in my life I would be able to see Roger and Brian 2 times!

When Criss and I planned the countries we were going to visit, I reviewed the dates of the Queen + Adam Lambert Tour to see if we agreed, but unfortunately while we were in Europe they were going to be in New Zealand. Some time later, as if it were a miracle, Queen announced a small European tour in gratitude and reward to the people who couldn’t attend the successful previous tour of the year 2017. It was a gift from heaven, the first date that was published was in Cologne, Germany and I noticed that it coincided with the dates when we were going to be in Europe.

The logistics were for later! We didn’t think twice and bought the tickets for June 13, 2018 at the Lanxess Arena, the dream had come true! A few days later as more dates were published I noticed that there would be a concert in Barcelona for June 10th, just when we had planned to visit our friends Dany and Andreu who live in Blanes, a town near the city. When they confirmed that they would go to the concert I didn’t think twice and bought the ticket as well. In this case not in the first row like the one in Germany, but a cheaper place in the stands. I didn’t know what was going to happen.

Queen in Barcelona: Palau Sant Jordi: June 10th, 2018

After spending a few days in the beautiful town of Blanes, on the Costa Brava approximately 60 km from Barcelona, the long-awaited day arrived. We left early to enjoy the day visiting some famous places in the city. We did the traditional visit to the imposing Sagrada Familia, we also visited the Güell Park where it rained a little and then went to have a hot dog lunch near the Camp Nou, where a nice gentleman who claimed to be a singer attended us. When he saw our rock outfits he claimed to know all of ... Alejandro Sanz songs, it was a really fun lunch.

Finally we went to the Palau Sant Jordi, mythical place of concerts in Barcelona. I felt a little out of reality, as in a dream and still didn’t believe that in a few hours I would see my idols. The day was a bit cloudy but was just the preamble of a spectacular sunset with beautiful orange and red colors, better impossible. Finally we entered the premises and Dany and Andreu, who paid front row, went to find their entrance. They knew the importance of that day and they hugged me for a long time. I went to my sector that had numbered chairs in the highest part of the enclosure. I waited for the show to start.

Minutes later, another miracle happened: the girl who helped me in locating my seat, approached me and told me simply that if I wanted to see the concert from the bottom, right in front of the stage! Although I understood it perfectly, it took me quite a few seconds to process the information. I could not believe it and the girl, seeing my perplexity, thought I didn’t speak Spanish but when I finally got to talk, I said YES! I asked her if there would be any additional cost and she said no, they were simply choosing some people to relocate for space reasons, so I immediately went down with some other lucky ones to the front of the stage. I looked for my friends and when they saw me, they couldn’t believe my good luck.

Finally the concert began with "Tear it up" of the album The Works and I couldn’t contain the tears when Roger and Brian came out. Tears of infinite gratitude to have the opportunity to be in that place. It was so much emotion that I could hardly take pictures so my friend Dany, watching me in that state, took my phone and took care of the matter. I sang every song to everything that my lungs gave and finally came "I'm in love with my car" sung by Roger Taylor, his sharp and raspy voice has always seemed to me one of the best in rock and even in his 68 years he did it perfectly.

One of the most emotional moments was undoubtedly when Brian played the well-known acoustic version of "Love of my life". Brian started with an excerpt from the famous Concierto de Aranjuez by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo, a classic and the audience gave him a long ovation, probably this was the most hyped song by all in the middle of a galaxy of phone lights.

The concert took place with songs like "Radio Gaga" with the traditional game of palmas and raising the arms in the chorus, "Tie your mother down" and his famous guitar riff, "Do not stop me now" the official song of the party, "Somebody to love" and the well-known choirs at the end of the piece, was a parade of successes and each song was a different experience. The band said goodbye with the emblematic "God save the Queen" and again tears came when seeing Roger and Brian with the rest of the band saying goodbye to the audience. While they turned on the lights of the room, "Heroes" by David Bowie began to sound on the speakers. I really felt like a hero doing a giant check on the bucket list of my life with this concert.

Queen in Cologne: Lanxess Arena: June 13, 2018

After some incredible days in Catalonia we went to the beautiful city of Cologne in western Germany. Just when we arrived at the hostel we realized that Roger Waters played that day at the Lanxess Arena. The concert was sold out so I tried to go outside the place that was close enough to try to hear something. Unfortunately I didn’t but I wasn’t discouraged because I knew I would see him on November 24th in my own country.

We visited the city on the banks of the Rhine River, where I could taste the most delicious pretzels on the planet. I was impressed by the imposing Gothic cathedral that can be seen from every corner of the city, then we headed towards the Lanxess Arena to line up.

The theme of the concert revolved around Frank The Robot, this character appears on the cover of the album News of the world in 1977. In the intro of the concert, Frank appears curious looking at the audience from a gigantic screen on stage until it started "Tear it up" chords. The assembly of the concert in themes of image was really impressive, it would be necessary to be there to understand it.

As I listened and sang the songs for the second time, I took time to appreciate the excellent performance of Adam Lambert as Queen's guest musician. His wide vocal range and tone is perfect for Freddie's difficult melodic lines. Adam never tried to imitate Freddie, he printed on the pieces his own extravagant style that alternated with striking garments, in his own words at the concert: "I'm just a fan of Freddie and Queen like you".

In my personal opinion one of its highest points was with the song "Who Wants to live forever" from the album A kind of magic, a theme that Freddie never got to sing live. His performance was simply impeccable and with an incredible display of laser lights on the heads of the public, it was turned into an experience from another world.

Other songs to be highlighted were "Bycicle race" where Adam on a colorful bicycle, distributes roses to the public, and "Killer Queen", one of Freddie's favorites, where Adam appears from the center of the stage on the giant robotic head of Frank .

Brian's guitar solo was impressive, with the unmistakable sound of his Red Special made a display of all the features that have marked his style for decades, the mastery in the use of delay to interweave harmonies "canon" style left us open-mouthed. With background images of stars, planets and galaxies, while Frank from a side screen raised Brian with his robotic arm, he actually transported us to outer space.

One of the most anticipated moments at the beginning of the "encore" is when suddenly all the lights go out and only Freddie appears on the main screen with the excerpt from the Wembley concert '86 making his traditional interaction with the audience. With each response from their EEEEEO the public simply went crazy, it’s as if all hearts beated at the same time. For when when "We will Rock you" and "We are the champions" sounded, the audience was a single collective soul united by the chords. What incredible power music has! I could only think: God save the Queen.

Again with "Heroes" in the background and with the flag of Costa Rica on my back I was thinking about the experience I had, definitely a before and after in my life after those two concerts, and the next day, train to Paris to go see Guns n 'Roses, Foo fighters, Marilyn Manson and Ozzy Osbourne, among others ... The best week of my life!