Queen + Adam Lambert, Boston 2017

There are no words that can convey the joy and thrill of seeing Queen and Adam Lambert AGAIN!

My friend George (hi, George!) was originally planning to come with me, but that couldn't pan out, so my friend Allison and I sat together instead. But George and a few of my other friends were definitely there with me in spirit!

I bought two tickets back in February and was fairly certain that me and George would have been at the very last row of our section (Section B), but fate decided to smile upon me again and... well, this was how close me and Allison were to the end of the catwalk!

I had an amazing time seeing them back in 2014, and I really enjoy the pictures I took, but I felt like I had focused too much on getting pictures and not just enjoying the show. So I vowed to do that this time! I took some shots with my cell phone, and they're blurry, but I like them!

One of my favorite parts of the show was Adam calling out the Bastard Queen Fans who like to be pissy because "Adam's not Freddie Mercury." His eloquent response to that was, "Yeah, no shit!" I personally ran into two of those folks before the show. One of them was behind me and Allison at the concert, and he saw my phone's wallpaper (Wembley Freddie) and said, "That's the real singer! Adam's not the real singer!" At some point Allison and I had to turn to correct him when he told the people he was with(?) that John Deacon had died. I was super worried this guy was going to be a repeat of the fucker from 2014 who kept spouting incorrect trivia and talking through "Love Of My Life".

Thankfully, he was very easy to ignore during the show!

To help myself prepare for maximum fun for the concert, I avoided reading setlists, only stuck to reading review headlines (all of which are overwhelmingly positive), and didn't listen to any Queen for a little over a week. I was torn about whether to listen to Adam's new single, "Two Fux", because I didn't know if I wanted to be able to sing along or not. I chose to not listen beforehand in case I'd fall into a tour news rabbit hole. It's a fun track! Give it a listen if you haven't yet!

When Brian made his way to the end of the catwalk and was handed his acoustic, I was able to move a bit closer. I had been waiting for so long to feel that connection between Brian and fans during "Love Of My Life" AND I FINALLY GOT IT! I was finally right in it! And while he wasn't looking my way, I didn't feel any separation from the experience! In between verses, he noticed some folks had their phone lights on, so jokingly asked, "Did some of you bring your mobiles?" and the next thing I knew, fucking EVERYONE'S phones lit up! It's not the same as using a lighter, but it's a different kind of beautiful.

Brian didn't bring out his selfie stick in 2014, and I had thought that was indication that he wasn't having a good time at that show. But when he addressed us this time he spoke with such warmth and sincerity, that I probably worried for nothing. I can't wait for him to post the picture!

I didn't get a super great look at Roger last time, so I made sure to get plenty of shots this time! It was so great getting to actually see him!

The whole show was amazing! I'm so glad I got to go and share it with people!

Brian and Roger are going to dress as Freddie

This makes me way too happy. Can you imagine just how fucking epic and amazing this is going to be??

I'm a bit underwhelmed by the yellow jacket look, though. Freddie had some really amazing costumes outside of the Magic Tour. Like



and



and



... Just a few examples.

Freddie For A Day is around the corner and I cannot wait. I will dress as best as I'm able. There will be pictures. Oh yes, there will be pictures.

Happy birthday Roger!

I saw that picture in this article and thought it would be well worth linking to!

These days I wouldn't say I'm a fan of Scrabble. But if Brian, Roger or John wanted to play a game with me, I wouldn't say no. I used to like playing, but my then-Scrabble buddy was way too into it, and it became the only thing we'd do together, and I had to back away. (three games in a row would be more than enough for most people, but this guy could probably play for 24 hours straight)

It's too bad Queen didn't play Monopoly - although maybe they did and things got way out of control. I wouldn't be surprised if that game caused many romantic partners to break up, so maybe if Queen played, we would have missed out on a lot of what's currently available to the public (bootlegs included)... But I'm always looking for an excuse to use this picture:



But I digress! I went a bit out of my way to find a more recent picture of Roger in my Google Image search. Don't get me wrong, Roger wasn't bad looking in the 70's, 80's or 90's... but I honestly think he looks way cuter now than he did back then. ANYWAY! Congrats on the Big 6-2, Roger! I promise I'm not stalking you!

Dear Mr Murdoch 2011

I listen to the Japanese promo version a lot (from Roger Taylor's 1994 release, Happiness), but I like this 2011 version a lot as well. I pretty much like anything where Roger's overall message is an eloquent, perfectly-stated fuck you.



Click here for the lyrics.

The film crews for Lifetime will be knocking down Roger's door any minute

... Because there is clearly nothing more tragic than Roger Taylor having hearing loss! Oh noes!

Being d/Deaf isn't a problem. And Roger has access to the best hearing aides money can buy, he can still write and perform music, so I'm not seeing how this qualifies as a "dark secret" or suffering. A dark secret would be if Roger had eaten babies and kept the inedible parts in a storage facility. To be disabled (feel free to substitute that word for whatever works for you) in any way is not suffering. I can imagine that it's a bit of an adjustment on his part, but he isn't writhing in pain or crying himself to sleep every night so... the fuck?

Able-bodied privilege breaks my heart. Roger's "suffering" from being d/Deaf, people in wheelchairs are "confined" to them, and there are billions of other conditions that would take the rest of my life to list, and in Western society we are taught to pity and fear people who cannot do certain things, or have to do them differently, or whatever. And yeah, some people really do see whatever they've got going on as this Horrible Thing, but I just can't. The guy's been playing ridiculously loud drums at ridiculously loud concerts for most of his life, this cannot be filed under "I just don't know how this could have happened!"

I won't lie, I have days where I pretty much say "fuck cerebral palsy! This fucking sucks!" But I'm really just blowing off steam. It's fucking exhausting being treated a little less than just because I use forearm crutches (which, by the way, I've tried to see if I could use one of them as a Freddie mic, but it just doesn't work). At the end of the day, it's never really my CP that makes me angry, it's how I'm treated by everyone else as a result of having CP.

So Rog, congrats on making your deafness public. And wow! I had no idea how different American Sign Language and British Sign Language alphabets are!

Great King Rat

I've got so much going on this week that I will not be able to post on the 21st, so I wanted to acknowledge Great King Rat early rather than late.

I probably first heard this song when I was about 13, and I remember being in complete shock that I heard Freddie sing the word "whore." Not that I hadn't heard swears before. Cursing runs in my family, but there was a point where I had it in my head that the band were somehow above using such language (some used to argue that swearing meant low intellect - which is fucking horse shit). I was also convinced that Queen didn't do drugs of any sort.


Those are the collective glossy eyes of sobriety!

I think it's not too far from the truth to say that Freddie's not completely fucked up during this performance, but isn't it pretty fantastic? Admittedly it gets weird in the middle.

And Freddie's totally not coked out of his skull in the Las Palabras De Amor video. Nope. No sir. And Roger was just tired. Yep, that's right. Just tired. Yes, kids - Freddie was a fan of cocaine, though I cannot say to what extent. And Roger... I'm not totally sure about him. But hanging out with Steven Tyler can only weaken the case.



Anyway, happy birthday and RIP to Great King Rat!

Moral of the story: Don't piss off Roger Taylor

--

"Queen On 'Rolling Stone'
Stunned, shocked, amazed and asleep upon perusal of your "in-depth" story of Queen in South America ("Queen Holds Court in South America," RS 345). I am a member of said group and extremely fucking proud of its music (not all) and its achievements. I don't even write to my mother, since the written word seems worth less in this day of the telephone and publications such as yours and the National Enquirer.
Your peculiar 1970-time-warp attitude, coupled with an innate, congenital miscomprehension of rock & roll, continues to fascinate and annoy. Thank you, oh thank you, for the pseudopolitical slant and personal dishonesty that you continue to peddle in your outdated, opinionated, down-home rag.
Thanks also for the finely tuned musical assessment of my group from our sound check! Grow up. You invented the bitterness. I pity you. You suck. You are boring and you try to infect us.
Awaiting your charming review of my current album in about eight months!

Roger Taylor
London, England

This letter was written on an airline motion-sickness bag. - Ed.

--

I read this a long time ago, but it's still one of my favorite things in the whole world.

Intelligent people write intelligent music. Duh.

I happened across this article and thought I should share it with you. I don't say it often enough but I've always enjoyed Roger's wit and words, from his sense of humor to his... uh, everything else he says! And Brian as well, but I think I have a preference for Roger in this category because he's similar to my genuine writing style (you are aware that this blog is sort of a front, right?). But here are the quotes that really jumped out at me in the best ways:

"Respect is a funny thing, if you look for it, you'll be forever disappointed." - Brian May.

“Oh God, we’ve always got stick for everything. People say, ‘You’re mistreating the legacy’, and I think, well, thanks for your concern, but it’s my [fucking] legacy.” - Roger Taylor. Can this please be considered one of the best quotes of all time??

In other news, why do I have the feeling that a musical based on the life of Freddie is going to suck really hard? I mean, I'll definitely see it if the opportunity presents itself, but I'm very jaded and cynical. The promotional poster I've linked to seems to be completely lacking in imagination and doesn't convey just how fucking amazing Freddie was, especially on stage. Not to mention they got to fucking jacket color wrong.



Also, I'm getting really tired of him being considered "The Great Pretender." Yes, he did a fantastic cover version. Yes, Freddie has referred to himself as a great pretender. But frankly, I'm really over it. Although I'm glad he isn't referred much as a gay icon these days. He wasn't necessarily in or out of the closet, but he sure as shit shouldn't be recognized as a gay icon because as far as I know, that's not what he wanted to be known for. Also, he got ripped apart by the critics back in the day. When he was alive, he was considered a talentless, fruitcake hack, but then he died and he was suddenly a fucking genius and a gay icon.

And while I'm at it, when are the journalists going to stop sensationalizing his death? When will Brian and Roger be able to make it in the news without the news mentioning Freddie or asking them questions about him? These guys have been busting their asses for 20 years without Freddie, can they get some fucking accolades without being reminded that their colleague and arguably most interesting co-worker kicked the bucket in 1991? Can't we be happy for what's been accomplished in the last 20 years (even if we cannot agree if those are good things) by the remaining, active members of the band? Shit, there's a fucking musical, they've toured, released albums and songs, etc. all without Freddie and I think that's to be commended. Especially when you consider that most bands can't keep going once key members drop out or die.