Queen

Was gonna say something about the Queen concert a short time ago but....well....I haven't. Anyway, probably better I had a bit of time to reflect on my thoughts about the gig. When I saw them I literally had to pinch myself to convince myself that I really was seeing Queen live. I actually didn't know that John Deacon wasn't involved in the tour and even in spite of my binoculars (though I was quite happy with my seats) I didn't realize it for a while-mainly coz I wasn't expecting that he wouldn't be there. Still, it was great to see Roger and Brian who really seemed, well, just what you'd expect from them. They seemed very energetic and Brian's solo guitar, well, I believe he is very under-rated, let's just say that. He was incredible and all his solo runs, perhaps most energetically his heavy though fairly simple solo in We Will Rock You, really resounded with the crowd and the crowd was definitely open to being entertained. Roger pounded the skins passionately and his song "Say It's Not True" is a gorgeous ballad, in the mold of Love of My Life or The Days of Our Lives, at least musically. The song was written in response to the tragedy of AIDS and for Nelson Mandela's organization working to eliminate, or at least address it. It was also a lovely surprise to hear I'm In Love With My Car, an ode to Taylor's love for cars, and plays on the sexual language that writing about cars can allow ("with her pistons a-pumping", "with my hand on her grease-gun"). Paul Rodgers was totally inadequate as Freddie's sub. I don't know if I would have had this reaction to anyone, but I really don't think so. He was a poor tele-prompt reader. Obviously he had to learn a lot of songs and he was a game participant, but really, while he may be a Queen fan, he didn't seem to have any color or any of Freddie's verve. I know Dave Grohl is a huge Queen fan and I don't think I would have been unhappy with him filling in, but then again, perhaps more than any other band, Queen, in spite of the co-operative nature of the group and the fact that Brian and Roger did lead vocals on more than a few songs and that they all wrote significant numbers of songs, the band's public face was Freddie. Although I enjoyed the concert, it just wasn't Queen.