Yes I know how late
this is, life got in my way of my writing for a while there. Anyway late or
not, I still had to share.
A few months ago I had
the absolute privilege to go to the “Once in a Lifetime” Queen & Adam
Lambert concert in Sydney. I wasn’t going to go. I am a true Queen devotee, and
thought there was no space in my heart for any Freddie Mercury wannabe. I
grew up listening to my Dad’s favourite LP “A Night At the Opera” and had been
burned before with Queen tributes and imitations. Even my love for musicals
couldn’t override my need for Queen songs to be treated the way I wanted them
to be. We Will Rock You the Musical is forever despised. (Rational? No. Unfair?
Quite possibly). I wasn’t sure anyone could ever compete with
Freddie, and I was pretty sure I didn’t want to bear witness to their
attempts.
My good friend Amanda
loves Adam Lambert, and having been my theatre companion for We Will Rock You,
she knew enough of Queen’s music to suggest the concert. After some
serious debate I agreed to go, after all I still owed her one for
making her sit through Titanic the Musical.
When we took our seats
I realised I was nervous. I had sensed that I wasn’t the only Adam Lambert
skeptic in the crowd. Here and there I caught snippets of conversation. The
critics were there, and most of them were eager to judge and find him
lacking. I held my breath as he walked onto the stage.. and then he opened his
mouth and all my doubts went away.
Adam Lambert can
sing. 
o say the concert was fantastic was an understatement. Queen was brilliant. Brian May proved as amazing as ever on guitar. When we sat front of stage and sang "Love of my life" and the audience sang the beautiful ball ad along with him, I couldn't help but think how grateful I was to be there.
Thanks to the big screen, Freddie was still part of the show, sharing the
stage and vocals with Adam. The night gave me my first experience of
Queen’s music live, and gave me the opportunity to discover a new and
incredible talent in Adam.
Of course it also gave
me my first live exposure to Lady Gaga as she made a surprise appearance.
She joined Queen and Adam on stage for Another One Bites The Dust and strutted
in true diva form. I am still unsure as to why she wouldn’t have come out for
Radio Gaga (given that’s where she got her stage name) but the crowd were happy
to have her there anyway.
It truly was a once in
a lifetime experience.
I tweeted as I left
the show “Arrived as a Queen devotee and left as a new Adam Lambert fan”. His
multitude of loyal followers quickly corrected me. Not just a fan, I was now a
Glambert, and they welcomed me with open arms.
Now I wait with
bated breath for the hopeful release of the DVD so I can share this
extraordinary concert with my Dad.
Photos sourced
from www.facebook.com/queenbert.rocks
