Queen Etc
I saw Queen and Paul Rodgers last night at the NIA.
It was so cool. I havent really been to a concert at a big venue like that. Great atmosphere. Went with a few friends, and knew others in the audience. We had standing tickets, and were about in the first third of the arena, nearly level with where the stage runway bit came out. Meant the band kept walking down being about 20 metres away. They were really good. So skilled at their art.
An added element was my parents were at the gig too. They had seats in the raised balcony seating area, but they were right at the front of their section (and rang me 3 times to tell me where they were sat) so I could actually see them quite easily. At one point I rang them and was able to wave ( I think they liked the acknowledgment). It did mean during the concert I could turn round and seem them enjoying themselves, which was fun. Glad I wasnt too close though. They were the only onces dancing about in their section to the Cosmos Rocks (from Queens new album) which was cool of them, but everyone else was clearly a bit surprised by it.
One bad bit, is I still have my mad cough, and sadly gig atmosphere with artificial fog and stuff can set it off. So about halfway through I started to cough uncontrallably (during Its a kind of magic). I had to try and stay calm, use my inhaler a couple of times. When I cough that hard though, it makes me really dizzy and light headed, and I swear I nearly fainted. Being in the middle of a crowd, very hot room added to it. I just had to stay calm, concentrate on staying upright and let the inhaler kick in. I was quite shakey for a couple of songs, but it passed.
Anyway, more about the performance, so I can look back and remember in time gone by. Brian May is awesome at the guitar. Ridiculously good. When he first walked forward down the runway, he looked right over in our direction, causing Lizzie and I to scream "Brian May just looked as us!!". He's obviously pretty athletic, cos he kept running across the stage and things (side to side, down the front, climbing above it), and had about 4 shirt changes.
Paul Rodgers is a really good singer. Obviously everyone compares him to Freddie, which is always going to get people nitpicking, cos Freddie was awesome. If you listen to his voice without doing that, its really rich and rounded, and very nice to listen to. They did Bad Company and Free's Alright Now, and he seemed more relaxed on his old tracks. Cool microphone stand twirling and throwing skills.
Roger Taylor was a surprise. He's such an effortlessly good drummer. A lot of drummers I've seen throw themselves into their performance, thrashing around all over the place (Jukka from Nightwish stands out), but Roger taylor was so calm and collected. Very precise and you could see the extreme concentration on his face at times. They did a very cool drum solo section right at the front of the runway, so close to us. He actually drummed onto an electric double bass with one of the support band members fingering the notes. He played the opening bit to Under Pressure, though my brain always associates it with Ice Ice Baby, so it was kinda surreal.
Then he was playing a solo on a lone symbol, awesome rhythm and timing. Then a roadie brought up another drum, and he spread out onto that. Very gradually and seemlessly timed, they brought up bits of a drum kit one by one to the front, and he incorporated it into his playing. Really really cool. In the end he had a full kit and a microphone, and launched into I'm in Love with Car.
The lighting and back screen were of a very high quality, best I've seen. The lighting rigs were in strips above the stage, with swively multi coloured lights and stuff. However about a third of the way in, the lighting rigs started to dance! They were rhythmically lowering and lifting the end supports, in sequence, coming very close down over the band, very cool effect.
During two songs, they played video and vocals of Freddie, which was good. During Bohemian Rhapsody It started with his vocals, with Paul Rodgers taking over at the end, and a bit of audience participation.
All the clapping and arm waving was really fun. I didnt really know how many bones I have and how skinny my hands are until I started constantly slamming them together. Mum said from her seat, looking over the crowd, it was an awe inspiring sight. Thousands of bare arms, all clapping and waving in time. In her words, the Beijing Olympics ceremonies had nothing on us.
I should probably shut up now, and get ready for work and bore my collegues with talking about this all day. Heh.
P.s If anyones really interested (though I've probably bored you now), here's the set list http://www.queenconcerts.com/live/current-tour/2008-10-16.html
It was so cool. I havent really been to a concert at a big venue like that. Great atmosphere. Went with a few friends, and knew others in the audience. We had standing tickets, and were about in the first third of the arena, nearly level with where the stage runway bit came out. Meant the band kept walking down being about 20 metres away. They were really good. So skilled at their art.
An added element was my parents were at the gig too. They had seats in the raised balcony seating area, but they were right at the front of their section (and rang me 3 times to tell me where they were sat) so I could actually see them quite easily. At one point I rang them and was able to wave ( I think they liked the acknowledgment). It did mean during the concert I could turn round and seem them enjoying themselves, which was fun. Glad I wasnt too close though. They were the only onces dancing about in their section to the Cosmos Rocks (from Queens new album) which was cool of them, but everyone else was clearly a bit surprised by it.
One bad bit, is I still have my mad cough, and sadly gig atmosphere with artificial fog and stuff can set it off. So about halfway through I started to cough uncontrallably (during Its a kind of magic). I had to try and stay calm, use my inhaler a couple of times. When I cough that hard though, it makes me really dizzy and light headed, and I swear I nearly fainted. Being in the middle of a crowd, very hot room added to it. I just had to stay calm, concentrate on staying upright and let the inhaler kick in. I was quite shakey for a couple of songs, but it passed.
Anyway, more about the performance, so I can look back and remember in time gone by. Brian May is awesome at the guitar. Ridiculously good. When he first walked forward down the runway, he looked right over in our direction, causing Lizzie and I to scream "Brian May just looked as us!!". He's obviously pretty athletic, cos he kept running across the stage and things (side to side, down the front, climbing above it), and had about 4 shirt changes.
Paul Rodgers is a really good singer. Obviously everyone compares him to Freddie, which is always going to get people nitpicking, cos Freddie was awesome. If you listen to his voice without doing that, its really rich and rounded, and very nice to listen to. They did Bad Company and Free's Alright Now, and he seemed more relaxed on his old tracks. Cool microphone stand twirling and throwing skills.
Roger Taylor was a surprise. He's such an effortlessly good drummer. A lot of drummers I've seen throw themselves into their performance, thrashing around all over the place (Jukka from Nightwish stands out), but Roger taylor was so calm and collected. Very precise and you could see the extreme concentration on his face at times. They did a very cool drum solo section right at the front of the runway, so close to us. He actually drummed onto an electric double bass with one of the support band members fingering the notes. He played the opening bit to Under Pressure, though my brain always associates it with Ice Ice Baby, so it was kinda surreal.
Then he was playing a solo on a lone symbol, awesome rhythm and timing. Then a roadie brought up another drum, and he spread out onto that. Very gradually and seemlessly timed, they brought up bits of a drum kit one by one to the front, and he incorporated it into his playing. Really really cool. In the end he had a full kit and a microphone, and launched into I'm in Love with Car.
The lighting and back screen were of a very high quality, best I've seen. The lighting rigs were in strips above the stage, with swively multi coloured lights and stuff. However about a third of the way in, the lighting rigs started to dance! They were rhythmically lowering and lifting the end supports, in sequence, coming very close down over the band, very cool effect.
During two songs, they played video and vocals of Freddie, which was good. During Bohemian Rhapsody It started with his vocals, with Paul Rodgers taking over at the end, and a bit of audience participation.
All the clapping and arm waving was really fun. I didnt really know how many bones I have and how skinny my hands are until I started constantly slamming them together. Mum said from her seat, looking over the crowd, it was an awe inspiring sight. Thousands of bare arms, all clapping and waving in time. In her words, the Beijing Olympics ceremonies had nothing on us.
I should probably shut up now, and get ready for work and bore my collegues with talking about this all day. Heh.
P.s If anyones really interested (though I've probably bored you now), here's the set list http://www.queenconcerts.com/live/current-tour/2008-10-16.html