#review:live

[dailylambert-blog1]

Adam Lambert's Auckland therapy session

“I had to get some s**t out, I had to get it off my chest. It’s like therapy, this album,” Adam Lambert announced at the Civic Theatre last night.

Lambert is one of those performers who attracts an extremely devoted fan base - so much so, they were lined up around the block in anticipation before the doors’ opened.

Lambert was in Auckland for a special free show at the Civic, thanks to iHeartRadio and 2degrees mobile.

The venue was packed and buzzing from the start, a mixture of young, androgynous types and middle-aged mums out for a dance.

Opening with Evil In the Night from his latest album, Lambert prowled and pranced across the stage in outrageously tight pants, basking in the gaze of his “Glitter Tribe” in the front row.

Lambert’s cover of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Games was a real highlight and showed off his impressive vocal range, complete with soaring falsetto.

“I want to sing something from my new album,” is often the most dreaded phrase at a show but Lambert’s new tracks were well received.

It’s clear he’s been doing some soul-searching, having recently switched labels. “I’m a grown-ass man,” he declares moodily on There I Said It.

Tortured and yearning seemed to be a theme, with some old Hollywood glamour thrown in the mix.

Launching into Whataya Want From Me - one of his big post-Idol hits - straight after a new release brought us back into familiar territory and got the crowd dancing again.

His latest single, the Max Martin produced Ghost Town, was an even bigger hit with the crowd, who sang along enthusiastically. It’s such a catchy tune, with its whistling chorus and acoustic guitar strums. The line “my heart is a ghost town” can’t help but fill you with teen angst.

“Here’s an old song that… we kinda smoked it out,” Lambert announced before launching into a reggae version of If I Had You from his first album - and it really worked. Plus, it gave new meaning to the name of his latest album, The Original High.

For an encore, Lambert presented a foot-stomping cover of Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust. It was a great way to end the night, proving any doubters wrong regarding his secondment as Freddie Mercury.

[source]

[dailytovelo-blog]

Lollapalooza Day 1 Reviews: Paul McCartney, Tove Lo, DJ Snake and more

Tove Lo played Summerfest’s Emerging Artist Series last year like she was already a star; confident with out being diva-like, down-to-earth but never awkward.

A few months after that, the Swedish pop singer, who had already written songs for Icona Pop and Victoria Justice, had a huge radio hit of her own with “Habits (Stay High),” an atypically dark but colorfully written post-breakup pop anthem about sex clubs, Twinkie binges and “picking up daddys at the playground.”

Lo told the Lolla crowd Friday she had been dreaming of playing this festival, but from her perspective, it was probably better than she could have imagined. Thousands upon thousands of bodies stretched out in the field in front of her singing along to her sexy hit single “Talking Bodies,” and the presence of two drummers gave songs like “Got Love” and “Not on Drugs,” from her debut album “Queen of the Clouds” last year, more punch.

Perhaps too much punch, as Lo’s soft vocals were frequently lost in the mix. But her energy remained high, as she ran around the stage and into the photo pit for “Run On Love.”

Then, while lying on the ground, she cooed the familiar “unh unh” from the start of “Habits,” and it was just audible enough to prompt an ecstatic roar of cheers and the start of an intoxicating singalong. “Can you smell the weed?” Lo cheered delightfully, but you didn’t need any weed to get high in that moment.

[source]

[chloroformatic-blog]

FRNKIERO ANDTHE CELLABRATION @ The Key Club, Leeds 17/04/2015

“Ah, man,” Frank Iero croons, leaning back from his microphone, sweat stained and triumphant. He’s halfway through delivering an eclectic set of angst-soaked tracks from his most recent output, Stomachaches, to a venue so tiny that the whites of his eyes are visible. “It’s nice to see some familiar faces.”

Indeed, it is.

It’s his first UK headline tour post-My Chemical Romance, and the band are very much more in their comfort zone that they were in their previous UK support slot. This is obvious; Iero’s energy is palpable and contagious right from the first screeches of feedback. Of course, this is not a solo project, and every member of The Cellabration are captivating in their own right.

Support comes from Milk Teeth, a garage punk four piece from Bristol, and The Homeless Gospel Choir, an acoustic one-man band with a set so magnetic is almost steals the show.

The support is almost as unlikely as Iero himself; introverted and raw as hell, but those familiar with his frenzied live performance as part of My Chemical Romance were not disappointed. The guitarist-gone-frontman plays with reckless abandon, even leaping out into the crowd when the set peaks with Joyriding, an eclectic three minute experience.

It was a volatile and cathartic ending; fitting perfectly the brutal honesty that only few can pull off like Iero.

9/10

[dailylambert-blog1]

Review: Queen + Adam Lambert @ Manchester Arena

Queen blew our socks off with a special New Year's Eve show that well and truly established their new frontman Adam Lambert.

If people in the UK didn't know who Lambert was before the BBC concert, they were converted Glamberts by the end of the night.

It has been nearly a quarter of a century since the late great Freddie Mercury died but Queen has been reinvented again with an impressive new heir to the throne - American Idol runner-up Lambert – a fabulous, glamorous force of nature in skinny pants and a fantastic line in fingerless gloves and enviable eyeliner.

He isn't meant to be a Freddie clone. But here is a charismatic singer who performs and celebrates Queen's timeless back catalogue, including Another One Bites The Dust, Tie Your Mother Down and Fat Bottomed Girls, exactly the way they should be with added new electricity.

Legendary guitarist Brian May has claimed Lambert, who first sang with them on the American Idol final back in 2009, can sing even higher than Mercury could in a live situation and you feel Freddie would definitely have given his seal of approval. The 32-year-old American possesses a voice that reaches as high as his towering rhinestone-studded platform heels. He's a much better fit than previous frontman, Queen and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers.

Theatrical crowning moments arrive in a sublime Somebody to Love and Killer Queen – with Lambert seductively sprawled across a purple velvet chaise longue, spraying champagne from his mouth into the crowd. Guaranteed to blow your mind, indeed.

"We're in the presence of one of the greatest guitarists of all time," exclaims a woman behind me. And she isn't wrong.

Brian May and Roger Taylor showcase the talents that made them the rock gods that they are, Brian taking the spotlight for an acoustic set including a video screen duet with Freddie on Love of My Life and later a 10 minute guitar solo adventure.

Manchester bassist Neil Fairclough replaces John Deacon who retired in 1997 and Roger's son joins the fold to play throughout the concert on percussion, sometimes taking over the sticks from his dad.

Roger sings solo on These Are The Days as a video montage of Freddie plays behind him. And Freddie joins them again from the big screen to sing on the iconic Bohemian Rhapsody.

Asked what they think of Lambert the crowd gives a standing ovation. A frontman fit for a Queen.

One Vision

Stone Cold Crazy

Another One Bites the Dust

Fat Bottomed Girls

In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited

Seven Seas of Rhye

Killer Queen

I Want to Break Free

Don't Stop Me Now

Somebody to Love

Love of My Life

'39

These Are the Days of Our Lives

Under Pressure

Save Me

Who Wants to Live Forever

Last Horizon

Guitar Solo

Tie Your Mother Down

I Want It All

Radio Ga Ga

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Bohemian Rhapsody

We Will Rock You

We Are the Champions

God Save the Queen

[source]

[dailylambert-blog1]

Queen and Adam Lambert review – an unlikely union, but it works

As fanciful as it sounds, in Lambert the legendary rock band have found a flamboyant showman with the Freddie factor.

In 1985, when Freddie Mercury and Queen reigned over Live Aid, it would have seemed unthinkable that within just six years the great showman would be dead, never mind that in 2015 two of his bandmates would tour with an American Idol talent show runner-up performing the old songs. But the unlikely union works.

It helps that Queen’s back catalogue is so formidable that even a two-hour show isn’t long enough to pack in their best known songs (there’s no You’re My Best Friend or – irony of ironies – The Show Must Go On).

Surprisingly, though, this show succeeds because of Adam Lambert, not despite him. The 32-year-old has said he wants to celebrate the flamboyant, camp, gay Mercury rather than replace him, but he definitely has the Freddie factor. Where the band’s earlier tours with heterosexual, macho, ex-Free, bluesy shouter Paul Rodgers felt wrong, the black leathered, bequiffed, nail varnished Lambert is every bit the showman that was Mercury.

The American sips champagne while singing a camped up Killer Queen draped across a chaise longue and yells We Will Rock You wearing a silver crown. When Lambert claps hands, the audience clap with him, unprompted. His unusually wide vocal range allows him to hit high notes (notably Mercury’s famous one in Somebody To Love) which would normally require the assistance of even tighter trousers.

However, the Indianan is no mere talent show get-lucky. Like Mercury, Lambert paid his dues with opera training, theatre, singing in clubs and performing dance and rock, which has given him the dexterity to tackle a catalogue stretching from thumping grooves (Radio Gaga, Another One Bites the Dust) to blistering hard rock (Seven Seas of Rhye, Tie Your Mother Down).

Being the first openly gay man to go straight to a US No 1 (with 2012 solo album Trespassing) does matter. In more conservative times, Mercury sang about his sexuality by way of codes and hidden double entendres; Lambert turns the same songs into riotous celebrations.

There is poignancy, too, when Lambert sings Who Wants to Live Forever under lighting that makes him look like a ghost and in the touchingly warm reception given to May’s achingly sincere Love of My Life, for Mercury.

Because, in a way, this is still the late star’s gig: a homage to his music. It’s Mercury who provokes gasps when he appears on screen to “duet” with Lambert in a Bohemian Rhapsody so riotous one fears the venue may combust.

“There will only be one Freddie Mercury, ever,” Lambert declares, as people roar approval for “the new boy”. However, in Adam Lambert, the late star’s old bandmates have surely found the right person to honour his achievements.

[source]

[dailylambert-blog1]

REVIEW: Queen and Adam Lambert, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle.

QUEEN must be one of the only bands where being overblown, over-wrought and over the top are not criticisms, but the bare minimum of requirements when taking the stage.

And when you have to step into the shoes of arch prancer and showman Freddie Mercury, the pressure is most certainly pushing down on you.

That particular pressure has fallen upon Adam Lambert and I’m happy to report he’s no shrinking violet or pale imitation.

The American Idol runner-up has turned a thankless task into an impressive showcase of a voice that, if not matching Mr Mercury’s, certainly to gives it a run for its money.

Had Lambert flounced onto the stage in a leotard sporting a big black moustache and wielding a Union Jack cape, the game would be up.

As it was, the lead singer, while camping it up in a Freddie-esque style, had his own image … most of it gleaned from the all studs and leather cast offs from the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome costume wardrobe. Image-wise he appeared to be channelling George Michael during his Faith period.

Lambert has said he was there not to replace Mercury, but to remind people how amazing he was. A packed arena didn’t need reminding.

Nor did they need reminding of the talents of Brian May and Roger Taylor.

May ran the show from start to finish, and was as comfortable rocking out Fat Bottomed Girls and Crazy Little Thing Called Love as he was endearing himself to the crowd with an acoustic version of Fog on the Tyne or wringing out the emotion on Who Wants To Live Forever.

His guitar work was as note perfect as Lambert’s voice was pitch perfect, as they rattled through hit after hit from decade to decade: Another One Bites the Dust, I Want it All, Killer Queen, A Kind of Magic, I Want To Break Free, every one a winner.

A drum battle between Roger Taylor and his son Rufus and a soaring guitar solo from May mixed things up for the audience and there were some stand-out performances to be had.

Freddie Mercury joining in (via video footage on the big screen) during an acoustic version of Love of My Life brought huge cheers, and his reappearance for the classic Bohemian Rhapsody had the arena rocking, and for some, the tears flowing.

Lambert returned the stage in a leopard print suit with a glittering crown for encores We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions before milking the applause at the end as the national anthem played and gold glitter fluttered from the rooftops. A great night and a great show.

The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen.

[source]

[dailylambert-blog1]

Adam Lambert performs at AT&T Live Proud event

Adam Lambert took to the stage last night (October 13) for a special performance in aid of AT&T's Live Proud campaign.

The singer performed at the Highland Ballroom in New York as part of the finale of the project, which inspires the LGBT community to express their pride.

The vocal powerhouse ran through a short set alongside acoustic guitar accompaniment, kicking off with a cover of Queen's 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love'.

Lambert then took a moment to speak about love, saying: 

"I think the thing that binds together the LGBT community, the things that defines us, is sexuality. We all just want love, don't we? It's all about love. Or finding other things in the meantime when you're trying to find love, that's cool too. Love is a tough game."

The singer also performed tracks like 'Outlaws of Love', a 'Trespassing' and 'Another One Bites The Dust' mash-up and 'Whataya Want From Me'. [x]