#queen15

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adamlambert: #queen

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Queen with Adam Lambert still champions at Sheffield Arena

Legendary rockers Queen - together with flamboyant new US front man Adam Lambert - wowed a sell out crowd at Sheffield’s Motorpoint Arena on the final night of their European Tour.

To a sell-out 13,000 strong crowd the band belted out a barrage of hits during an electric two and a half hour set.

It can’t be easy to fill the mega boots of someone as big as Freddie Mercury but US front man Adam Lambert - a former runner up in American Idol - pulled on his platforms before pouting, prancing, flirting and thrusting his way through the set, much to the delight of the crowd.

He was clearly honoured be fronting the tour telling the audience :’It’s a very special night and to get this kind of feedback and warmth from you guys is amazing. Tonight is about celebrating Freddie and this band, will you do that with me?’

The unusual partnership came about after Lambert performed with Queen during the US talent show’s 2009 final.

The flamboyant singer, every ounce the rock star in tight leathers, shades, tattoos, and studded jacket was born to be on the stage.

He isn’t Freddie Mercury, but he doesn’t pretend to be - he’s a star in his own right, a camp-as-Christmas Killer Queen, bringing a fresh injection of youth, energy and amazing vocal talent to the proceedings - and the fans loved him.

The line up included original Queen members - guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, along with Taylor’s talented son Rufus who played percussion and bassist Neil Fairclough, replacing John Deacon.

One Vision got the show off to an energetic start and there was a lot of love in the air for guitar supremo Brian May as he jogged down the catwalk for his first incredible solo of the night during Fat Bottomed Girls. He may be a pensioner and his trademark mop of black curls have greyed with the years but there’s no sign of him slowing down and he’s as nimble-fingered as ever.

Killer Queen saw Lambert reclining on a chaise longue, fanning himself and drinking champagne which he cheekily spat over the audience asking coquettishly: ‘Are you wet?’

After I Want to Break Free, Don’t Stop me Now and Somebody to Love there was a change of tempo for May’s poignant acoustic version of Love of My Life.

The crowd roared a collective ‘Ahh’ and May wiped away a tear and raised a fist to the ceiling when footage of Mercury singing the same track flashed up on the giant screens above and to the side of the stage.

The moment was followed by May jokingly encouraging the crowd to perform a Mexican wave while he filmed it using a selfie stick.

Every member of the band was given a chance to shine: the Taylors in an impressive family ‘drum off’; May, whose solos were simply a masterclass in guitar playing with a cool bass solo from Fairclough preceding the classic riff of Another One Bites the Dust.

Taylor showed off his own talents singing lead vocal on Days of Our Lives, while footage of the band in their youth appeared on the screens, followed by It’s a Kind of Magic.

Under Pressure, Save Me and Who Wants to Live Forever followed - as Lambert said: ‘There are so many hits’.

The entire stadium got to its feet for Radio Gaga as the show crescendoed towards its Bohemian Rhapsody climax - a stunning end to the main set.

Lambert’s powerful vocals sung in harmony with Mercury on the big screen provided a fitting tribute to the man taken so cruelly and so young 23 years ago.

Encores We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions topped off a simply incredible show with May resplendent in shimmering gold cape and Lambert positively regal in leopard print suit and diamante crown

Queen and their new front man rocked the Arena - it really was magic.

The fans approved and no doubt Freddie would too.

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Review: Queen and Adam Lambert rock a sell-out Sheffield Motorpoint Arena at close of European tour

It was one of those ‘I’ve Never Seen Star Wars’ moments. I’d never been to a live rock concert, and now here I was at Sheffield Motorpoint Arena with my favourite rock band of all time.

It was an experience to remember and treasure. The sell-out last night of Queen’s European tour, with America’s new superstar Adam Lambert filling Freddie Mercury’s shoes. Not that anyone could replace Freddie, but the boy came very close.

The songs about life, love and the universe proved as fresh as ever. Mostly the two-and-a-half hour set (with no interval!) consisted of familiar sounds, and the 12,000 fans

packed into the Arena knew all the words and joined in with gusto.

Clad by turns in leather and studs, gold fringing, tartan trews and leopardskin with a diamante crown, Adam Lambert is as much of a showman as Freddie ever was. Original band members Brian May and Roger Taylor stuck to sober black and let the music do the talking, while the other band members just quietly got on with it. Well, maybe not quietly...

Everyone got a moment in the spotlight. The Taylors, father Roger and son Rufus, played a thundering drum duet. Bassist Neil Fairclough had an intricate solo. As well as making

his iconic red guitar scream and sing, Brian May gave a short acoustic set including Love of My Life, one of my all-time Queen favourites.

And they saved the best till last. Bohemian Rhapsody (amazingly it’s 40 years since it first set the charts on fire) was the finale, with Freddie making a guest appearance on the big screens, and when the crowd demanded an encore, they gave us We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions.

It wasn’t just a concert; it was a spectacle, with dramatic lighting effects and three screens for inventively fractured images and close-ups of May’s flying fingers as well as a visual aid for the people at the back. Full marks to the unseen techie guys who made it all happen.

What a night it was. Long may Queen reign over us; after four decades, they still make the rockin’ world go round.

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Press Release: Queen + Adam Lambert to Rock in Rio

Queen + Adam Lambert to Rock in Rio

Thirty years on, Queen return with Adam Lambert to scene of history making 1985 Rock in Rio Concerts for ‘Rock in Rio 30 Years’

Following 67 sold-out concerts performed together around the world, Queen + Adam Lambert head to South America to top the opening night at Rock in Rio Brazil “30 Years  Celebration” edition on Friday September 18.

Rio de Janeiro, February, 26th, 2015 - Says Rock in Rio President and Founder Roberto Medina: “30 years ago, Queen performed in front of 250,000 people who fell in love with the band, and it became one of the most iconic moments of Rock in Rio. I am positive that the moments from 30 years ago will be rejuvenated and rejoiced with Queen + Adam Lambert, making it again a moment no one will ever forget."

The 70’s saw Queen ascend to rock royalty. With the arrival of the 1980’s they were undisputedly one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. But living up to their own mantra ‘I want it all, and I want it now’, Queen were determined to push the envelope to its limits. Taking an unprecedented path, Queen became the first act ever to undertake a stadium tour of South America, playing world cup stadiums in Argentina and Brazil, culminating in two nights at Brazil’s Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo on March 20 and 21st, 1981.  Over those two nights, Queen drew a staggering 250,000 people, at that time the biggest paying concert audience the world had seen.

But Queen was to create even bigger history in South America when in January 1985 the band returned to Brazil to headline two nights, including the opening night concert, at Rock in Rio, an awesomely ambitious new music festival invented by advertising mogul Roberto Medina that had set its sights on establishing itself as the biggest new kid on the global block, not only for Brazilian eyes to see, but throughout the world

Queen’s opening night January 11, 1985 at Rio’s custom built City of Rock exploded the record books, drawing an audience of over 250,00. The band’s second appearance on January 18, brought their total Rock in Rio audience beyond 500,000.  Televised to over 60 countries across the world, Queen’s shows were watched by nearly 200 million people. Queen albums occupied all top ten places in the Brazilian album chart and “Love of My Life” became a new Brazilian anthem.

Billboard magazine headlined the event: “South America Bites the Dust!”. “We came to South America originally because we were invited down. They wanted four wholesome lads to play some nice music. Now I’d like to buy up the entire continent and install myself as President," quipped a thrilled Freddie at the time.

Now, three decades on from those historically enshrined shows, Queen are later this year to return to perform at the Rock in Rio festival, now unquestionably one of the  world’s biggest annual events.  Queen + Adam Lambert will headline the main stage on opening night of  Rock in Rio’s 30 Years edition on Friday September 18, 2015.

Queen and Lambert made the announcement at the closing of their recent sold-out 26 date UK and European tour which ends February 27 with three extra UK shows and had seen the band play to over 300,000 people.“We’re Back !  Rockin’ in Rio !  Can’t wait !  See ya there, guys !!”, announced  Queen  guitarist Brian May.

Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor said: "How great to be coming back to Rio to rock you even harder than before.”And singer Adam Lambert added: "I'm so excited to be joining Queen at Rock in Rio! This will be a triumphant return for them, and my first time in South America!"

The full Rock in Rio 30 Years festival runs for seven nights over two weekends - September 18,19 and 20 and September 24, 25, 26 and 27.  Other artists already announced to appear include Katy Perry, System of a Down, Slipknot, A-Ha, Queens of the Stone Age, Faith No More, Hollywood Vampires, Metallica and John Legend. More information at www.rockinrio.com.

- Queen + Adam Lambert -

Queen first teamed up with Adam Lambert in 2009 to perform the band's rock anthem "We Are the Champions" on "American Idol's" season's eight finale. Lambert and Queen partnered again in 2011 at the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast. In the summer of 2012 they performed their first live concerts together with three sold-out shows in the UK at London's Hammersmith Apollo as well as concert appearances in Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

A further one-off performance together at the IHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas in September 2013 at which they effectively stole the show triggered a conversation between Adam, Roger and Brian to take the show on the road.

The following June /July saw Queen + Adam Lambert play 24 sold-out arenas across North America, as well as sold-out shows in Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

They topped off 2014 by performing to an audience of over 12 million TV viewers when they were especially selected to perform live for UK BBC Television’s New Year’s Eve spectacular Queen + Adam Lambert Rock Big Ben.  In the subsequent 24 hours ‘Adam Lambert’ was the top of the trending searches on Google in the UK with more than 500,000 searches for his name.  Queen’s latest album Forever leapt back up the charts and the band’s Greatest Hits album returned to the Top 40 album chart.

Entering the New Year, Q + AL kicked of 2015 in almighty fashion with 26 sold-out concerts in 10 countries throughout the UK and Europe taking their critically acclaimed show to France, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Poland bringing their world tour which began in the US in June 2014 almost to a complete circle.

Now, charting southward, Queen + Adam Lambert head for Brazil with the band’s biggest show yet. "On the technical side, it's definitely more of a production than two years ago," says singer Adam Lambert. "We've had a lot more cities to visit and so I think we all decided to build up the visuals and the stage accordingly, and of course we do all the hits".

"We have a very interesting set design,” says Brian May. “It's big and daring. We're going to do it to the max." he says. "Each time we've worked with Adam with our music, he's just the most incredible front man", Roger Taylor says. "He's sensational. He has this amazing range, 'cause Freddie had a great range. Adam can really cover it. He's an extraordinary singer and a real talent. I feel he fits into our sort of theatricality. It is very comfortable”.

Queen has amassed a staggering list of sales, awards, and hall of fame inductions that is second to none. Record sales in the hundreds of millions of units, including an unprecedented string of number one albums and top-charting singles, continue to put Queen in the top ten of all-time iTunes sales. Last year Queen were officially recognized as the first artist ever to sell over six million copies of an album in the UK with their Greatest Hits album, beating out even the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper by close on a million copies, pointing to the astonishing fact that at least one in three households in the UK now own a copy of the band’s original Greatest Hits collection.

Adam Lambert’s stunning performances on the eighth season of American Idol are still widely regarded as some of the most riveting moments in the show’s history. His debut album For Your Entertainment earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. His second album, Trespassing, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. His subsequent tour took Lambert from Australia to South Africa, throughout Asia and Eastern Europe and culminated in a sold-out arena show in Helsinki, Finland. In 2013, Lambert appeared as a guest star on the hit TV series, GLEE.  He is currently in the final stages of writing and recording his third album, ‘The Original High’ for release this summer with a first single released in April.

Footnote Freddie in Brazil: "It’s wonderful. The sunshine makes such a difference. People are allowed to flower here. They’re a wonderful audience and I love their displays of emotion. They get over excited sometimes but I can bring the whip down and show them who’s in control."

- About Rock in Rio -

With its 30-year history, Rock in Rio is the world's biggest musical and entertainment event for a number of reasons. Of the fourteen previous editions, five were in Brazil (1985, 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2013), six in Portugal (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014) and three in Spain (2008, 2010 and 2012). In 2015, Rock in Rio will take place in Las Vegas (USA), in May, for the first time. In September, the sixth edition in Brazil will be staged at the City of Rock.

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