OT Queen + Paul Rodger - Hollywood Bowl
Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 11:40 pmWe saw Queen + Paul Rodgers last weekend at the Hollywood Bowl.
I have been a huge Queen fan since 1975. I once camped out seven nights to buy tickets to one of their concerts. When I heard they were touring again with Paul Rodgers from Bad Co./Free I was interested but skeptical. Even though I consider Paul Rodgers to be one of the greatest English rock/blues singers, he would have to have some pretty big kahunas to fill Freddie Mercury’s shoes. They played a sold out tour across Europe this spring and summer and ended up doing just two shows in the states – N.Y and L.A. The reasoning was to test the waters in the U.S to see if there was enough interest for a full scale tour in 2006. My original idea was to wait until next year to see them. But when I saw that ticket sales seemed sluggish early on for the two U.S. shows, I made the decision to not take the chance on a tour next year and go see them now.
I am glad I bought the live CD a few days before the concert. Many of the songs were jarring at first. They just didn’t seem right without Freddie’s voice and style. But after a few listens Paul’s voice began to grow on me. He wasn’t trying to be Freddie Mercury. He made most of the songs his own.
My wife and I flew from Madison, WI to Hollywood, CA last Friday. We stayed at a hotel just a couple of blocks from the Hollywood Bowl. Saturday morning we walked up to the Bowl and were able to get in and find our seats. The place is huge. It was designed for classical music and I am not sure it is the best place for a rock concert. We watched them set up and were able to walk around back stage and we got a preview of the concert merchandise that would be for sale at the show.
We did some sightseeing around Hollywood during the day and that evening we walked up to the show. From our seats about 20 rows from the stage we couldn’t even see the top rows. They were that far away. The atmosphere was very unconcert like. People were dressed up and dining. Waiters were serving food and drinks right at your seat.
The place was sold out. When the show started, the atmosphere was electric. I was in heaven. Paul Rodgers owned the songs and the audience accepted him with open arms. In addition to the Queen songs, they performed 4 or 5 Bad Co./Free songs. These songs also got a great response. The light show was great, not Pink Floyd great but spectacular. It began to rain slightly and that just added to the light show and atmosphere. Much of the concert was a tribute to Freddie Mercury. During Bohemian Rhapsody, you heard Freddie’s voice singing and then saw him on the big screen performing the song at Wembley Stadium in 1986. The rest of the instruments were live. Paul Rodgers finished off the song as a duet with Freddie. It brought tears to my eyes. People everywhere were singing along to all of the songs. But due to the vastness of the place, you didn’t get the collective intensity of a proper rock concert. Brian May and Roger Taylor each got their moment in the spotlight. And the ending of We Will Rock You/We are the Champions and God Save the Queen made this one of the best concerts of my life.
It was recently announced that there will be a U.S. tour in 2006. I highly recommend going to see them. You won’t be disappointed.
I have been a huge Queen fan since 1975. I once camped out seven nights to buy tickets to one of their concerts. When I heard they were touring again with Paul Rodgers from Bad Co./Free I was interested but skeptical. Even though I consider Paul Rodgers to be one of the greatest English rock/blues singers, he would have to have some pretty big kahunas to fill Freddie Mercury’s shoes. They played a sold out tour across Europe this spring and summer and ended up doing just two shows in the states – N.Y and L.A. The reasoning was to test the waters in the U.S to see if there was enough interest for a full scale tour in 2006. My original idea was to wait until next year to see them. But when I saw that ticket sales seemed sluggish early on for the two U.S. shows, I made the decision to not take the chance on a tour next year and go see them now.
I am glad I bought the live CD a few days before the concert. Many of the songs were jarring at first. They just didn’t seem right without Freddie’s voice and style. But after a few listens Paul’s voice began to grow on me. He wasn’t trying to be Freddie Mercury. He made most of the songs his own.
My wife and I flew from Madison, WI to Hollywood, CA last Friday. We stayed at a hotel just a couple of blocks from the Hollywood Bowl. Saturday morning we walked up to the Bowl and were able to get in and find our seats. The place is huge. It was designed for classical music and I am not sure it is the best place for a rock concert. We watched them set up and were able to walk around back stage and we got a preview of the concert merchandise that would be for sale at the show.
We did some sightseeing around Hollywood during the day and that evening we walked up to the show. From our seats about 20 rows from the stage we couldn’t even see the top rows. They were that far away. The atmosphere was very unconcert like. People were dressed up and dining. Waiters were serving food and drinks right at your seat.
The place was sold out. When the show started, the atmosphere was electric. I was in heaven. Paul Rodgers owned the songs and the audience accepted him with open arms. In addition to the Queen songs, they performed 4 or 5 Bad Co./Free songs. These songs also got a great response. The light show was great, not Pink Floyd great but spectacular. It began to rain slightly and that just added to the light show and atmosphere. Much of the concert was a tribute to Freddie Mercury. During Bohemian Rhapsody, you heard Freddie’s voice singing and then saw him on the big screen performing the song at Wembley Stadium in 1986. The rest of the instruments were live. Paul Rodgers finished off the song as a duet with Freddie. It brought tears to my eyes. People everywhere were singing along to all of the songs. But due to the vastness of the place, you didn’t get the collective intensity of a proper rock concert. Brian May and Roger Taylor each got their moment in the spotlight. And the ending of We Will Rock You/We are the Champions and God Save the Queen made this one of the best concerts of my life.
It was recently announced that there will be a U.S. tour in 2006. I highly recommend going to see them. You won’t be disappointed.
