Queen + Adam Lambert: In Concert!

I wrote on my personal Facebook page a few weeks back that every four years in July, Brian May and I get together to celebrate his birthday. Obviously this post wasn't entirely true: alas Dr. May has no idea about the interesting timing of our two encounters but that doesn't change the fact that on July 19, 2014 (Dr. May's 67th birthday and nearly four years to the day from the time I had the amazing opportunity to meet him), I saw Brian May and Roger Taylor performing as Queen in concert!

Rumors of this current North American tour began to circulate ages ago. You may recall that as early as 2010, Foo Fighter and massive Queen fan, Taylor Hawkins started talking about a tour. Unfortunately that particular matchup didn't come to pass but the whispering continued. I caught wind of them early on and vowed right then and there that if they scheduled a date anywhere near me, I was going. I missed out in 2005 when I was on my "but it's not Queen without Freddie" high horse and then their 2008 tour didn't even include a visit to the States. Honestly, Brian and Roger could have announced that they were touring with a bunch of singing rattlesnakes and I'd have made it my business to be there. (Although blech - maybe not rattlesnakes!)

As it turns out Brian and Roger decided to connect with American Idol veteran Adam Lambert for a North American tour, which began earlier this summer. Reception to this news on the major Queen fan front was - to put it mildly - mixed. Many felt that touring with anyone besides Freddie (and, of course, reclusive bassist John Deacon) was blasphemy. Others felt that a tour was fine but just not with someone whom they considered the very embodiment of a "C-lebrity", a song from the Queen + Paul Rodgers album released a few years back. Then there was the contingency of which I was a part: generally younger fans who sadly had no opportunity to see Queen in their heyday and realize that with both Brian and Roger firmly into their 60s, the reality of a tour is rapidly decreasing by the day.

When they released the dates, I was ecstatic: Madison Square Garden in NYC, TD Garden in Boston, and - ohmygosh, in my very own backyard - Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut! I dug out my rarely used American Express card to qualify for presale tickets and tasked ever-humoring Husband to purchase three tickets to the show. Presale, unfortunately, did not go smoothly. Tickets had been released in groups of 2 so a request for 3 was downright impossible: the system kept saying "none available"! Eek! Finally Husband snagged 2 tickets for me and a fellow fanatic friend and set out to find a single ticket for himself. The whole process was ridiculously nerve-wracking and made worse by the fact that tons of VIP tickets were available for several hundred dollars a pop. If it had just been me and Husband I probably would have paid the premium to get floor seats but I wasn't sure how high my friend was willing to go so we stuck with the regular seats. Finally, Husband got a ticket for himself and all systems were a go.

Of course literally the next day they announced a second date in Connecticut to account for the unexpected demand: that show is next Friday and tickets are still available. Argggg!

We booked a babysitter and made reservations to eat at Bar Americain (Bobby Flay's restaurant) before the show. To say I was nervous on Saturday was a bit of an understatement! I knew for sure that this concert was a once in a lifetime experience and I hoped everything went off without a hitch. Thankfully, it did! Dinner was delicious and just the right amount of food. I even treated myself to a frosty beverage to hopefully take the edge off a bit! We explored the casinos a while and I found my favorites: penny slots! I'm just about the cheapest person in the world and the idea of plopping down money that I'm just going to lose in five seconds makes me ill. With penny slots, I played the same $20 all evening before I lost it!

When it was time to go to the arena, there was a huge crowd gathered. Security was kind of a mess: they had male officers frisking male attendees and female officers further up the line frisking the ladies and checking bags. Seems like it might have made more sense to split up men and women or at least have some sort of signage indicating that was the procedure. While we waited, I checked out the makeup of the crowd which was very interesting. There were lots of older folks, but not older in the sense that "Brian and Roger are in their 60s and still awesome older"; it was more like "I'm going to hit the buffet at the golf club before nap older". I also spotted a fair number of families: parents in their 40s-50s with teenage-ish kids. The older generation definitely had the biggest showing though.

My shirt, which I will rarely wear lest it get worn!

The admission line basically lead straight into the merchandise line, which was fine because I knew I wanted a shirt. I'd scoped them out online earlier in the week and had narrowed it down to a particular style. My friend liked another style better (and I actually did too), but it didn't have the concert dates on the back and I really wanted that feature on the shirt. Otherwise it's just a Queen shirt that I could have bought anywhere! I also wanted to snag a program for a friend in Canada who visited the Montreal show but the programs were sold out.

So we waited...and waited...and waited.

Oh my gosh we were in this line forever! The shirts were all numbered and displayed on the wall so all you had to say was, "Number 3, size Medium" and then pay, but people were taking forever! One lady in front of us would say, "Number 12, size XL", the lady would get the shirt and then the first lady would say, "Number 30, size XL." You seriously couldn't order all the styles at once?!?!! Another two ladies stood there for ten minutes holding shirts up to their backs to figure out sizing as if they had never purchased t-shirts before. And I can't even count the number of people who asked, "What's on the back of Number [whichever]?" If the back isn't displayed on the wall, it's blank, people! Geesh!

We made our way to the front and at that point had decided to combine our orders to save time. My friend dealt with the lady for literally 45 seconds and 30 of those seconds were the lady fetching our two shirts. Everyone is seriously lucky that the show didn't start in the meantime or else I think we would have totally freaked out!

View from our seats. There were two giant television
displays and then a Q in the center with a video screen.
Unfortunately, our view of the Q video was blocked by
a piece of sound equipment.

Afterwards we found our seats. I've been in this particular arena before, but I was pleasantly surprised at how small it seemed. Suddenly our seats in the middle of nowhere didn't seem to terribly far from the stage. And even better, there was a catwalk and second smaller stage well within our view!




At this point it was past 8pm and I was ready for the show to start! I was definitely a little nervous and was bouncing around in my seat trying to contain my excitement. We did use the time to take a selfie photograph since Husband wasn't sitting with us to be official photographer of the night! We also chatted up the folks next to us: the couple to our left claimed to be big fans, but didn't know it was Dr. May's birthday so we weren't sure what to make of that and then man to our right said his brother was a big fan but he didn't do much squealing so who knows! (Obviously I'm being silly with both those statements: I don't go around judging whether someone's Queen fandom is adequate...or do I?)

The show itself was, in a word, amazing. Completely and utterly amazing. The set list was perfect: a combination of tried and true classics (Another One Bites the Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and Killer Queen) and more obscure tracks that separated out the real from the casual fans (Seven Seas of Rhye, In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited, and Now I'm Here). And more importantly, the boys sounded great. Dr. May and his Red Special were in rare form and good ole Roger thundered through the songs like a drummer half his age! He did have some assistance in the form of his youngest son, Rufus, who has been performing with the band as a percussionist for the past few years. Rog definitely held his own though and it was only during one song (Tie Your Mother Down, which came very late in the set list) that he completely handed over the drumming reigns to Rufus.

I'd made a very conscious decision that I didn't want to see any video of Adam Lambert performing with the band prior to the concert. You have to understand that this meant restraining myself for ages as Adam has been performing in one-off shows with Brian and Roger for several years now. For me, I felt very strongly that I needed to make my own opinion about the collaboration and I hoped that someday I'd be able to form that opinion after watching them perform together live. That said, I thought Adam did a fine job. He very clearly understood and made it clear to the audience that he understood that the show wasn't about him. I read a review that questioned why the boys didn't throw Adam's fans a bone in the form of one of his solo songs, but I think the answer is obvious: this wasn't Queen AND Adam Lambert. This was Queen + Adam Lambert. Of all the merchandise for sale outside the arena, there was ONE Adam Lambert shirt. Out of nearly 30 different Queen variations, including several that featured Freddie Mercury. Yes, Adam Lambert's fans may have come to the show to hear him sing, but there was no question that he was there to sing Queen songs and rather proud and honored to be doing so.

Adam's certainly got a flamboyant personality, that's part of the reason why many felt he would be a good fit for a band once fronted by Freddie Mercury, one of the most outrageously flamboyant frontman ever.  He was cheeky and wore some wild costumes, but remained respectful of his stagemates the entire evening. At one point, Dr May asked the crowd how we liked the "new guy" and his bashfulness at our polite applause seemed rather genuine.

Speaking of bashfulness, however, I'd be lying if I didn't say that my favorite part of the show was the middle section where Adam took a lengthy break. It began with Adam announcing that it was Dr. May's birthday and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him. I'm including Husband's videos because he had a slightly better position in the crowd and has a better camera on his phone (and if you listen closely to the second video below, you can hear him singing along!!) Oh my gosh I seriously could not love this man more! As we sang, he made his way down the catwalk to the smaller stage and I knew immediately that some wonderful things were about to happen!

I was not disappointed. The next song was one that I've always wanted to see performed live because of its sing-along component: Love of My Life. The history behind this song is that Queen embarked on a world tour in 1980-1981. When they arrived in South America, this song (though released several years prior on the Night at the Opera album) was a huge hit and audiences demanded that the band play it. They complied and the crowd would sing along, often drowning out Freddie himself. When the band returned to North America (to film their iconic Queen: Rock Montreal concert), they included it in the set list, not realizing it wasn't quite the hit up north. This led to a very sweet exchange between Freddie and Brian about one verse into the song where Freddie says, "they don't know it!" From that point on, however, the song became fan favorite all over the world and has been a staple in the band's set list for decades. Now, of course, Dr. May both sings and plays guitar on this song and the emotion in his voice is evident. He asked us to sing along and promised us a "treat" at the end if we performed well. I'm not ashamed to admit that I definitely shed a tear while singing along to this one and I was horrified to see how many people made a beeline to the restrooms during this song! I think we should have locked them out! How could you walk out on this beautiful moment?

Although it was rather predictable, the "treat" at the end was a video of Freddie singing the final portion of the song. Yup, the tears were definitely flowing at that point!

The mini-set ended with Roger joining Dr. May for another one of my favorites: '39! Oh how I love this song and I greatly enjoyed singing along to this one as well. It really is a perfect example of what a dork Dr. May is though: he went into this whole elaborate explanation about how the song is a folk song set in outer space and then said we were going on a mission into space. Oh my gosh - talk about adorkable! Then they headed back to the main stage where Roger sang his signature contribution: Days of Our Lives, another one that tugs on the heartstrings of those fans who remember and loved Freddie so much.

Overall, I was very pleased with the concert. I was thrilled when later (on the closer stage, no less) they played Under Pressure. I didn't recall that one being on the set lists and as you may recall it holds a special place in my heart for being the song that showcases what an amazing musician Roger is. He sang his part as strong as ever and I swear for a minute it sounded like David Bowie had shown up! I was a little sad that Rog didn't get to sing lead on Radio GaGa, but I greatly enjoyed his dueling drum solo with Rufus! That was definitely not on the set list!

The one song I really did wish they had played was It's Late, my absolute favorite Queen song. They only ever played it live a few times in the 1970s so I knew this one was a long shot but I think it would have been amazing to hear. Maybe next time, eh boys?

I don't regret for a minute going to the show and several times just closed my eyes and enjoyed the fact that I was in the same room with Dr. May and Roger Taylor listening to them play music. It was completely surreal. And, again, I shed another tear during the encore as they played We are the Champions and I realized that this was the last song I'd likely ever hear them play live. (Unless I go back for tonight's show, which I totally might skip town and do!) It was truly a magical evening with two of my favorite musicians!

**NOTE** I've linked to my previous posts for each song on the set list that I featured as a Queen Song of the Week. I highly recommend that you go back and listen to the original recordings and live versions of those songs as they really are masterpieces that showcase the talents of four of the most iconic and diverse musicians of the 20th century!

Going Under: IVF Retrieval Process

Once I gave myself my HCG/Lupron trigger, I ventured into uncharted IVF territory. From that point on, everything I was about to experience was brand new to me and unlike anything I'd gone through with my three IUI cycles. I have to admit I was a little nervous about those next three steps: retrieval, progesterone in oil shots, and transfer.

Retrieval is the process of removing the follicles which (hopefully) contain eggs. My biggest fear regarding retrieval was that it requires general anesthesia so I was going to be out cold.

Luckily I've been under general anesthesia before. When I was 11, I had oral surgery and the doctor only used a topical anesthesia. I talked through the entire surgery, "What's that?" "What are you doing now?" So when I returned 8 years later to get my wisdom teeth out, the doctor basically said that he wouldn't do the surgery unless I was completely unconscious.

Seriously.

I remember feeling a cold tingly feeling in my arm, then the next thing I knew, the nurse was trying to get me to stand up to walk to another room. My first thought was, "Why the heck didn't they put me under in the room where they were going to do the surgery?" Just as I was about to vocalize this very complaint, I realized I had a mouth full of gauze and that the surgery was apparently over. Oh.

Another concern is that I my veins are very thin and tend to float around. The medical term for this is, and I'm seriously not kidding, princess veins. This causes quite a bit of anxiety while the anesthesiologist is poking around trying to find a usable vein and I'm already panicked about the surgery in the first place.

My doctor had given me a full page of instructions for the day of my surgery. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight (Husband joked that I was like a Gremlin.) and I couldn't wear jewelry or anything scented. Even contacts were prohibited so I had to bust out my brand new glasses. We were told to arrive 45 minutes early so they could prep me for my 8:30 am appointment. I said goodbye to Husband, who wasn't allowed into the surgical suite, and hoped that I would wake up at some point later that morning!

This particular anesthesiologist was great. She introduced herself and told me that she had Pandora radio on her iPhone and said I could choose whatever band or type of music I wanted to listen to while she administered the anesthetic.

Any guesses as to what band I picked?

It sounds so stupid, but seriously sitting there, listening to Somebody to Love while the anesthesiologist tried three different spots to inject the IV calmed me so much! Unfortunately with Pandora, the play list tends to deviate a bit so by the time we were in the procedure room, Hotel California was playing. My anesthesiologist asked if there was a second band I liked and I requested Neil Diamond so I got to drift off to sleep to the sounds of a live version of Sweet Caroline. Very nice!

The next thing I remember was lying in the recovery room with a nurse standing over me. I asked for Husband and they brought him in right away. Later we heard a woman next to me waking up. Several minutes went by and finally the nurse asked, "Do you want me to get your husband?" I told Husband that I had specifically asked for him and he felt very special!

Because I still had the IV port in my arm, they were able to administer pain medication directly into my system. I was experiencing a significant amount of pain so they increased the medication and ultimately gave me a narcotic-based pain medication, which helped. The pain was similar to really bad premenstrual cramps and lasted for about a day.

As I rested, the nurse came out to tell us that they had managed to retrieve 33 eggs! The norm is 8-10 so I'm definitely an overachiever!

I went home and was on bed rest for the rest of the day. Husband stayed home from work because I wasn't allowed to be alone after being under anesthesia. Most of the day I spent sleeping, but I did watch some television and play on our netbook computer.

The next day I was back at work though still feeling a bit of pain. I was allowed to take Extra Strength Tylenol which helped tremendously. Ultimately I ended up having a complication from my retrieval that landed me in bed rest for nearly a week, but since that happened six days after the retrieval, I'll write about that then.

Overall the retrieval was not as scary as I imagined it would be. About a week before I went in, I saw another couple in for their retrieval and just seeing them made me so nervous and panicky. The whole procedure went very smoothly (once they got the IV in) and I didn't feel or remember a thing about the actual procedure itself. Anyone who has a retrieval in their future should definitely relax: the unknown of it is a thousand times worse than the actual experience!

Queen Song of the Week: We Will Rock You & We are the Champions

The next song in the set list of Queen's 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl is Sheer Heart Attack. Read my review of that song here.

Following Sheer Heart Attack, the band launched into the two songs which ended their concerts for nearly thirty years: We Will Rock You and We are the Champions. These songs are played together, not only in concert, but on most radio stations as well!

We Will Rock You was written by Dr. May and appeared on the band's 1977 album News of the World. The song was the B-side to the We are the Champions single in the U.K. and released as a double A-side in the U.S.. I've already written about the fast version of the song here and, of course, all of the details about the song's inspiration and recording remain the same.

Video courtesy of queenofficial.

Perhaps one of the most recognizable songs in history, and a stadium favorite to this day, We Will Rock You has certainly taken on a life of it's own, both within Queen fandom and with the general public.

We are the Champions was written by Freddie Mercury. It also appeared on the band's 1977 album News of the World. It was released as a single in the U.K. and the U.S., charting at #2 and #4, respectively.

Video courtesy of queenofficial.

Freddie also was looking to write an anthem-type song, though he specifically had football in mind. Despite the slightly ego-centric theme, the song became the band's third biggest hit (after Bohemian Rhapsody and Another One Bites the Dust). Though I've personally never been a huge fan of this song, being able to sing it on Rock Band 3 has brought me newfound appreciation for this song, particularly Freddie's vocals.

Ironically though the songs became staples at the end of the band's set lists, the songs actually lead off the News of the World album.

So with that, we end the set list of the 1982 Milton Keynes concert. I've just acquired the second (and hardest to find) CD by The Cross, RT's side project, so perhaps we'll spend some time on solo CDs next.

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Another One Bites the Dust

The next song in Queen's set list at their 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl in 1982 was Another One Bites the Dust, which I must admit as far as Queen songs go is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Another One Bites the Dust was written by bassist John Deacon. It appeared on the band's 1980 album The Game and was released as a single peaking at #1 on the U.S. charts and #7 on the U.K. charts. Surprisingly this was not the first time that a Queen single charted higher in the U.S. than in the U.K.: Crazy Little Thing Called Love had faired the same way just one year earlier.


I've been rather vocal in the past on my feelings about John Deacon. His musical tastes are light years away from mine: he was very interested in the funk sound. He tended to minimize (or even eliminate completely) RT's trademark drumming and most of his songs lack the layered harmonies which make Queen's music instantly recognizable. Heck, the man even included a synthesizer solo in one of his songs as opposed to using amazing Dr. May's guitar playing!

But, oh my gosh readers, I love this song! I can't help but sing along and I'm convinced that should ever RT and Dr. May come to New England in search of the next great female vocalist, I could totally wow them with my rendition of this song. That is, if my Rock Band perfromances are to be relied on: the first day I had the Queen track pack (back in October 2009), I sang this song something like four times in a row!

In 2009, RT explained, "I remember laying down the backing track with him [Deacon] and it was... he really wanted the drums as dry as they could possibly be, so I just stuffed it all with blankets and made it as dead as I possibly could and very low tuned and... but it’s that thump that... We never really liked that kind of thing. But this actually turned out... we weren’t going to release this as a single and I think it was Michael Jackson that... actually who actually suggested that we release it as a single and I thought he was nuts, but..."


Supposedly when Deaky first presented the song to the band, the lyrics told a cowboys with each verse ending as that cowboy "bit the dust." Oh dear. Luckily Freddie took over and changed the lyrics, making them slightly more contemporary and less...oh shall we say...ridiculous.

As much as I do like this song, I think I like it outside the realm of Queen. It's not an accurate reflection of their music or what they were about as a band, but the fact of the matter is: it's a great song!

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Tie Your Mother Down

Next in the set list of the band's 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl was Bohemian Rhapsody. Check out my review of that song here. Now, of course, Bohemian Rhapsody on stage is quite different from Bohemian Rhapsody in the studio: the band never performed the entire song on stage until 2002 when RT and Dr. May performed at the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Following BoRhap, the boys played Tie Your Mother Down...

Video courtesy of queenofficial.

Can I make a confession?

I actually hate this song.

Now, there are few songs that I passionately hate. Takin' Care of Business by Bachman Turner Overdrive is one. Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Milder is another. And then there's Tie Your Mother Down.
Lest I unduly influence any of you, I'll keep my reasons for hating this song to myself and allow you to judge for yourself. I can tell you that many Queen fans not only really like, but love, this song so it's quite possible that I'm completely alone in this opinion.

Tie Your Mother Down was written by Dr. May. It appeared on the band's 1976 album A Day at the Races. The song was released as a single in 1977 and peaked at #31 and #49 on the U.K. and U.S. charts, respectively.

So, there you have it. Take a listen to the song and make up your own mind about it.

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Apologies for the lateness of today's Queen Song of the Week post. Husband and I had to attend a seminar last night and didn't get home until after 9pm! Unacceptable!

We're still working our way through the set list of Queen's 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl. That show has been released on CD and DVD as Queen: On Fire at the Bowl.

Now, I'm about to blow everyone's mind: the song Crazy Little Thing Called Love was not written or originally performed by Elvis Presley. Nor was it written by Dwight Yoakam or any other artist who has subsequently recorded the song.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love was written by Freddie Mercury...in his bathtub! The song appeared on the band's 1979 album, The Game. It was released as a single in 1979 where it peaked at #2 in the U.K. and #1 in the U.S. The song was the band's first #1 song in the U.S. and is their fourth best selling single of all time.


As the boys recall, the song came together rather quickly. Freddie wrote it while in the bath and the background vocals were recorded in less than 30 minutes! Another notable fact about the song is that Dr. May does not play his famous Red Special guitar. In fact, he uses a Telecaster owned by RT in order to add to the "period" feel of the song. And of course, the visual aspect of Freddie playing acoustic guitar on this song is  rather famous for Queen fans and non-Queen fans alike!

This is a song that sounds nothing like Queen yet still somehow sounds like Queen: the vocals are immediately recognizable and, even using a different guitar, Dr. May has a distinctive style and, of course, the band's trademark background vocals are used here.

Often I forget about this song, but then after hearing it again, I'm reminded of how catchy and infectious it is! And obviously Fred did a great job of capturing the era he was going for since so many people thing the song is about thirty years older than it actually is! Well done, Freddie!

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Fat Bottomed Girls

So this week I'm in a bit of a quandary: every song featured from here on out in Queen's set list of their 1982 Milton Keynes show is a well-known single. And many have already been featured as Queen Songs of the Week.

What's a girl to do?

I had anticipated this when I first decided to feature the set list of this concert, but that was like three months ago and I wasn't prepared to actually acknowledge that at some point the future would get here.

But it's here. Drat.

The songs I haven't featured are actually scattered rather nicely throughout the rest of the set list so I think what I'm going to do is just skip through to the next new song and provide links to the songs already featured. Make sense?

So after the guitar solo, the band played Under Pressure: one of my favorite live songs by the band for reasons I've already discussed in detail here.

Now, I've referred to Fat Bottomed Girls a few times on this blog (specifically here and here), but I've never featured the song so let's get to it.

Fat Bottomed Girls was written by Dr. May and appeared on the band's 1978 album Jazz. The song was released as the Double-A side of a single (along with Bicycle Race) in 1978, peaking at #11 and #24 on the U.K. and U.S., respectively.


Though RT sings background vocals onstage, he doesn't sing on the studio version: Dr. May and Freddie Mercury perform all the background vocals. The rest of the song itself is pretty simple although there is a bit of a tricky drum beat that took me weeks to figure out on Rock Band! Oooh that RT!

Performed live, this song was always a crowd favorite and was one of only two songs off the Jazz album that the band played into the 80s.

This song always makes me smile because without fail while on a run and facing a particular massive hill, my iPhone would shuffle to this song. It always made me giggle and made the hill seem less daunting.

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Gutiar Solo

I toyed with the idea of combining the Guitar Solo from Queen's 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl with the next song on the set list, but ultimately I think it's fitting that the guitar solo gets a post of its own.

After all, it's not just any guitar solo: it's a guitar solo by Brian freakin' May!

Dr. May's guitar solos were an interesting creature: they originated as the lengthy guiar solo from Queen's 1974 song Brighton Rock and from there transformed into a nearly unrecognizable series of riffs and chords.



Early on in Queen's career, RT would play a drum solo that sequed into Dr. May's guitar solo. Later on, on account of RT claiming to hate drum solos, he eliminated them from the set list, but continued to occassionally appear on state for a portion of Dr. May's solo.

(As an aside, RT once again began playing drum solos during the band's 2005 and 2008 tours with Paul Rodgers on vocals and by most accounts, they were excellent!)

It's very interesting to listen to Dr. May's guitar solos and try to pick out familiar portion's from the band's songs. It's equally interesting to listen to his solos through the years and see how they've changed. For reference, here's Dr. May's solo from the band's Rock Montreal blu ray, the concert was filmed just a year before the Milton Keynes show, but listen to how the guitar solo has changed!

Happy listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Get Down, Make Love

The next song from Queen's 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl is Get Down, Make Love. This is a rather polarizing song by the band, with some fans finding it absolutely atrocious and others quite liking it.

I'm in the latter category myself.

Get Down, Make Love appeared on the band's 1977 album News of the World. It was written by Freddie Mercury and was not released as a single.


Yes, the lyrics are ridiculous, beyond laughable, but perhaps I'm just used to that. After all, I'm an RT fan, and while he didn't write the lyrics to this song, he's definitely written some doosies in his day. If you can find a way to get past what Freddie is actually singing, the tune and theme of the song is kind of fun.

And the stage experience is pretty cool. Queen tended to experiment with lighting during their concerts, trying to tie the whole visual and audio experience together. This song in particular, with its psychedelic undertones, lends really well to the spectacle of a full stage production.

This song has also been covered by quite a few artists. Most recently, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails released his own studio version, after performing the song live for quite some time. True to his style, he plays up the "creepy" aspect of this song a bit more than I like, but he does seem to be getting some positive feedback. Click here to hear his version.

Happy Listening!

Queen Songs of the Week: Love of My Life, Save Me, and Back Chat

So this week we're finishing up the first disc of the 1982 Milton Keynes concert released as Queen on Fire at the Bowl. I'm featuring three songs this week because I've already written about two of the songs and I like to have fresh material to write about.

Love of My Life is a fan favorite at concerts. Typically the fans sing along and Freddie Mercury would allow them to carry the melody without him. More recently, Dr. May has taken over vocals of this song as he continued to play it during their tours with Paul Rodgers in 2005 and 2008. Click here to hear that version (note the empty seat next to Dr. May where Freddie used to sit).

Save Me is one of several Queen songs that in my opinion sound better live. In fact, I never really cared for the song until I heard the band perform it at the Montreal 1981 show. Here's a link to the version from the Milton Keynes show.

Back Chat was written by John Deacon and appeared on the band's 1981 album Hot Space. It is viewed as a follow-up to Another One Bites the Dust in both style and formula. However, the song was nowhere near as successful as Another One Bites the Dust. Back Chat was released as a single in 1982 but peaked at #40 in the U.K. charts.


Video courtesy of Oberon1966.

According to Dr. May, "John, who wrote the song, has gone perhaps more violently black than the rest of us. We had lots of arguments about it, and what he was heading for in his tracks was a totally non-compromise situation, doing back stuff as R&B artists would do it with no concessions to our methods at all, and I was trying to edge him back toward the central path and get a bit of heaviness into it, and a bit of the anger of rock music. So one night I said I wanted to see what I could add to it – I felt that the song, as it stood, wasn't aggressive enough: it's [called] 'Back Chat', and it's supposed to be about people arguing and it should have some kind of guts to it. He agreed, and I went in and tried a few things." (Source: Queenpedia).

This song has never been one of my favorites which isn't surprising since I've never really been a John fan. In the early 1980s, he was very into R&B and funk to the point that he basically wanted to take all of the band's music in that direction. Luckily, the others (particularly Dr. May and RT) pushed back and were able to save some aspect of Queen's recognizable sound.

So that's it for the first half of Queen's 1982 Milton Keynes concert. We'll keep making our way through the second half every Friday morning!

Happy Listening!

2010 Year in Review: Queen

While most fans expect that 2011 will be an exciting year for Queen, given that it marks the band's 40th anniversary, personally 2010 was a rather marvelous year for me.

Of course, the big news is that in July, I met Dr. Brian May, Queen's guitarist. Click here to read my account of the day.

Though I didn't go into detail here, my encounter with Dr. May did not end that evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The next morning, I emailed Dr. May and thanked him for signing my book and CD. I also provided him with a link to my blog entry about meeting him with the explanation that I thought it might provide him with a bit of amusement.

To my surprise and delight, Dr. May responded! His message was short and simple, but enough to give me a thrill. Many fans have contacted Dr. May on a variety of topics yet a very small percentage report receiving any type of reply.

And believe it or not my excitement didn't end there! Later that weekend, I received another email from the woman who designs Dr. May's website. In her email, she wrote that Dr. May had in fact looked at my blog post and rather liked some of the pictures that Husband had taken of the lecture. She asked if I could send larger versions of the pictures and if I would allow Dr. May to use the pictures on his website.

Of course, I agreed and sent the photos along. Sadly, the lecture at which I met Dr. May was right in the middle of a busy touring schedule and once he had time to make a decision about using the pictures, it was too late. In fact, he never even wrote about the New York book signings on his blog (a highly unusual occurrence as he typically documents all his comings and goings in his Soapbox).

Just knowing that he had actually laid eyes on my blog though, even if it was just long enough to admire Husband's pictures, provided me with another great thrill and made my experience of meeting him even sweeter!

In honor of my momentous meeting, I spent the year thinking "all foxes, all of the time" (as a nod to Dr. May's Save Me campaign which hopes to prevent the return of fox hunting in the U.K.) Anthropologie was more than happy to help feed my new fetish and had an entire line of fox themed clothing and housewares this fall.

Sadly, I was sized out of the Fox tights, which ran a bit short and my evil evil evil sister had the nerve of fitting into the lone size Medium of the Wily Sweater left in my store (I'd tried it on earlier in the season but needed a size Large. See her review of the sweater here.) The fox candles were a Christmas gift from my mom as was the ornament which is now proudly displayed in my office next to my photograph of Dr. May. The children's sweater was adorable but unfortunately too pricey for any little boys that we know. And the button.

HEY!

RT, how did you sneak that button into my photo montage of fox items at Anthropologie?

The button was also a Christmas present, from my sister's two dogs Jack and Docker. I laughed for a good five minutes after opening the package and the button is now up in my office bulletin board.

The rest of the year was characterized by lots of frustration and lots of waiting. Waiting for the RT solo album that he originally began promising in November 2009. Waiting for news of the band's new record deal with Universal. Waiting for the release of the Hammersmith Odeon Christmas Eve concert from 1975 which has been rumored since last Christmas.

We did receive a new Rock Band track pack, which as far as I'm concerned was worth the wait. In addition to new lesser known songs like Tenement Funster, Now I'm Here, and Keep Yourself Alive, I can finally sing harmonies on previous Rock Band favorites like Somebody to Love and Killer Queen. I also convinced Husband to download the track pack early enough that I was ranked #2 on Pro Drums Expert for We Will Rock You. Not too shabby.

And though the boys weren't in the studio working on their own solo projects or Queen material, they did find time to play on a few albums released over the course of 2010. Both RT and Dr. May appeared on Taylor Hawkins' side project Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Rider's second CD, Red Light Fever (click here for a review of that CD and the concert that Husband and I attended in May). And Dr. May produced and played on Kerry Ellis's CD Anthems which was released this fall in addition to finding time to play on Meatloaf's album Hang Cool Teddy Bear.

We'll see what 2011 has in store for Queen fans. Personally, I'd love the opportunity to see the boys play live though I recognize that any shows would likely be abroad. With that in mind, I'm also hopefully that We Will Rock You, the musical, finally makes it to Broadway and when it does, rest assured, I'll be in the front row cheering ecstatically!

Tonight is New Year's Eve and tomorrow is 2011! So exciting!

See everyone next year!

Queen Songs of the Week: Now I'm Here & Dragon Attack

I'm featuring two Queen Songs of the Week this week since I've already reviewed Now I'm Here, the next song in the band's 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl.

This is one of the last concerts where the boys played Now I'm Here, one of my favorite songs and, of course, it's awesome!

Courtesy of queenofficial.

Dragon Attack was written by Dr. May and appeared on the band's 1980 album The Game. The song was the B-side to the single Another One Bites the Dust and the song is reportedly one of Deaky's favorites.

Courtesy of queenofficial.
In the commentary for the Queen: Rock Montreal blu ray, RT laments that the drums on this song were particularly difficult to play, especially on his right wrist. Fellow Queen fan and Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins has listed this song as one of his favorites due to the great guitar riff and awesome drum solo.

The song itself is a bit repetitive and in the studio was created using a mix of looping and live instruments. I imagine that makes it terribly difficult to play live, but the boys do a great job. This song was a staple in the set list in the early 1980s and here concludes, as it often did, with a reprise of Now I'm Here.

Though I'm not the biggest fan of the studio version of this song, the live version can't help but get you tapping your toes to the beat!

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Somebody to Love

This is a very timely Queen song of the week as we make our way through the set list of Queen's 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl: after a year of waiting, I have finally gotten to sing the harmonies to this song on Rock Band 3!

And readers? It was everything that I dreamed it would be.

Three-part harmonies are indicated on the screen: the low part sung by Dr. May, the mid-range vocals that Freddie sang, and RT's high parts. Truly amazing.



Also amazing is this version of Somebody to Love, considered by many fans to be the best performance of the song, if not the best live performance by the band.

Somebody to Love was written by Freddie Mercury and appeared on the band's 1976 album A Day at the Races. The song was released as a single where it peaked at #2 and #13 on the U.K. and U.S. charts, respectively.

The song itself has a gospel-type feel to it, which is a style of which Freddie was very much a fan: specifically, he was focused on recreating a Aretha Franklin sound. To accomplish this, the harmonies and background vocals are very prominent and perhaps the most recognizable aspect of the song. True to form, the band recorded layer upon layer of harmonies to give the impression that a full gospel choir was in singing on the track, when, in fact, it was just our three boys!

This song is a fan favorite and a favorite by many who don't even consider themselves Queen fans and is still played frequently on the radio nearly 35 years after it was first released!

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Staying Power

We're still working our way through the set list of Queen's 1982 show at Milton Keynes.

Staying Power was written by Freddie Mercury and appeared on the band's 1982 album Hot Space. It was released as a B-side to the single Back Chat, which peaked at #40 on the U.K. charts. The song was released as an A-side in Japan where it did not chart.

Video courtesy of queenofficial.

The studio version of this track contains a fair amount of synthesizers, drum loops, and the main beat has likely been sped up in the studio. To that base, RT added some electric and accoustic drums, Deaky played some rhythm guitar rather than bass, and Dr. May harmonized his Red Special (though most of that was removed, leaving only a few harmonized riffs throughout the song). Freddie sang all the vocals in this song, including the harmonies. Source: Bechstein Debauchery.

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Play the Game

As I mentioned on Sunday, I totally dropped the ball and forgot to write a Queen Song of the Week Post last week. In my defense, last week was pretty rotten and by Friday, I was just thrilled to have a few days to myself.

Play the Game was written by Freddie Mercury and appeared on the band's 1980 album The Game. It was released as a single in the U.K. and the U.S. where it peaked at #14 and #42, respectively.

Video courtesy of vicken28.

Play the Game is a Queen track that bridges the gap between their sound of the 1970s and 1980s. Fans have their opinion about which era was better, but from a song like this, the evolution of their music becomes rather clear. While the song contains synthesizers making it decidedly 1980s, it also contains layered guitars and harmonies by RT, Freddie, and Dr. May echoing their trademark sound of the 1970s.

This song was also rather lovely when played live (as evidenced by the above video). And in 2005, Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters, a major Queen fan, cited Play the Game as one of his three favorite songs!

Happy Listening!

Queen Song Feature: No One But You

Today is the 19th anniversary of Freddie Mercury's death from AIDS-related complications.

Though Freddie was sick for several years prior to his death and unable to tour, he continued to write and record music and the band released two studio albums prior to his death in 1991 (The Miracle and Innuendo). While Freddie's illness had progressed tremendously at the time when Innuendo was recorded, the album is considered by many fans to contain some of his strongest vocals in years.

In 1995, Roger, John, and Brian reentered the studio to record Made in Heaven. The songs on that album were taken from Freddie's studio recordings dating back to the early 1980s and from reworking songs that had appeared on Freddie's solo album, Mr. Bad Guy. This album is considered the fifteenth and final Queen studio album.

But the boys reunited one last time in 1997 before John Deacon retired once and for all. The compilation album Queen Rocks was slated for release and they decided to add one brand new song to the album. While the song does not feature Freddie Mercury at all, it is considered by many fans to be the last "Queen" song ever recorded as without Freddie and his influence, it would not have been written. It is the last Queen song on which John played bass.

No One But You (Only the Good Die Young) was written by Dr. May. It appeared on the 1997 compilation Queen Rocks and was released as a single in 1998 where it peaked at #13 on the U.K. charts.

Video courtesy of Stifler2005652007.

Dr. May and RT share lead vocals on this song, emphasizing the strength of each of their individual voices. Then they harmonize together during the chorus. The sound is rather reminiscent of the B-stage set list during the Queen + Paul Rodgers shows of 2005 and 2008.

The song itself was inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus, who build wings out of wax to escape from a castle in which they are imprisoned. Icarus becomes so excited once they are free that he flies too high into the sky causing the sun to melt his wax wings and him to fall to his death in the sea. Though certainly not a literal interpretation, the lyrics contain rather blatant references to this story.

No One But You is included in Queen's musical We Will Rock You and is sung by the character Meat, a role originated by Dr. May's current protege Kerry Ellis. Click here to hear her version of the song, which is absolutely lovely in its own way.

Next year (2011) marks not only the 20th anniversary of Freddie's death, but also the 40th anniversary of Queen forming. Fans are hoping for a year long celebration which Dr. May has already assured us will include new releases, computers (Rock Band: Queen?), and live work! Sounds great and I can't wait!

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: Action This Day

We're continuing to work our way through the set list of Queen's 1982 show at Milton Keynes. The tour was in support of the band's album Hot Space and marked the last time that the band's original lineup toured in the United States.

Action This Day is both the first song in the show that appeared on the album Hot Space and the first song in the show written by RT.

Video courtesy of queenofficial.

RT and Freddie Mercury shared the lead vocals on this song and, in this concert, managed to replicate a fair amount of the album vocals. Here's the album version for comparison. I do wonder, however, if any of the vocals are overdubbed because sometimes the non-Freddie vocals (i.e. Freddie is obviously not singing) sound like RT and sometimes they don't. Interesting.

The song has RT written all over it. I feel fairly confident that if I'd seen the written lyrics without knowing the songwriter, I could pinpoint it as an RT song. Also, the drum beat, which drives the song, is very reminiscent of solo songs RT was writing in the early-1980s (specifically Man on Fire, reviewed here). RT was also the first of the band to really start to experiment with synthesizers, which led to some criticism of the band.

Hot Space in general is frequently cited by fans as too far a departure from the band's work in the 1970s. I'll be honest: I'm definitely more of a 70s Queen fan than a 80s Queen fan, but I like this song which is probably based more on my appreciation of RT as a musician and solo artist than my love of Queen. I can see how listening to this song immediately after some of their earlier stuff might be a bit jarring.

Happy Listening!

Queen Song of the Week: We Will Rock You (Fast)

We're continuing to work our way through the set list of Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl. Last week we killed two songs with one post since our boys opened the concert with a medley of Flash/The Hero from the Flash Gordon soundtrack.

The next song on the set list is a fast version of We Will Rock You. For years, Queen closed their concerts with a We Will Rock You/We are the Champions medley, but during that time they often incorporated a fast version of their stadium staple into the set list.


We Will Rock You was written by Dr. May. It appeared on Queen's 1977 album News of the World. The song appeared as the B-side to the single We are the Champions. However, once the single was released, We Will Rock You became so popular and so frequently played by radio stations that the band decided to film a music video for it.

Dr. May wrote the song in response to the increased audience participation and interaction at Queen concerts. He wanted a song that the audience could mimic the instruments in addition to singing along. In reality, Dr. May's guitar is the only instrument used on this song: the famous stomp-stomp-clap was recorded from the boys stomping their feet on a drum podium. In concert, RT plays the beat on his drum kit.

The original version of the song was much more produced before Dr. May ultimately decided to strip the song down to it's bare bones, thus creating the instantly recognizable beat that we all know and love. The song remains in the public consciousness nearly 35 years later: last year the song was the most played song in NHL, NFL, and MLB stadiums. And the musical based on the music of Queen borrows it's title from the song.

The version from the Live at the Bowl show is great: full of energy and crazy fast! Queen usually played this version early in the set list and it's pretty obvious why: it sets the stage for the complete awesomeness that is to come!

Happy Listening!

Queen Anniversary: Bohemian Rhapsody

The song Bohemian Rhapsody was released as a single 35 years ago today!

Video courtesy of Frozentoast.

I often get the impression that people forget that there was a time when this amazing song had yet to be written. The elements of the song are so unusual that it's hard to believe that an actual person came up with it: that the song didn't just always exist.

In fact, I feel this way sometimes too! I just can't even imagine a world without this song! But now, thanks to Rock Band 3, I can play along to it (and folks, let me tell you, even on a plastic drum kit, this song is tricky!)

Click here for my lengthy discussion of Bohemian Rhapsody.

When the band first selected the song as a single, the record company thought it was too long. At 5 minutes and 55 seconds, the executives couldn't imagine a radio station playing the full version. Those execs were wrong and not only did radio stations play the song in its entirety in 1975 (sending it to the top of the U.K. charts for 9 straight weeks), but to this day it's played in full on radio stations all over the world.

Happy Anniversary Bohemian Rhapsody! I'll celebrate with Rock Band 3 and Queen: Rock Montreal later this afternoon!

Queen Song of the Week: Flash's Theme

Last week I put a call out for suggestions on what album or concert I should feature next for my Queen Song of the Week series. I received one response: the Milton Keynes 1982 show which became the album release Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl.

Since I know where my bread is buttered, I'm going to use that suggestion lest I lose the one Queen reader that I have!

There are a few repeats on this concert album, but since Queen is considered such an amazing live act, I think it will be interesting to post some of the live versions of previous discussed songs.

So let's start at the beginning: Flash's Theme was written by Dr. May. It appeared on the band's 1980 album Flash Gordon. It was released as a single and peaked at #10 on the U.K. charts and at #42 on the U.S. charts. Rather surprisingly, this single was one of the band's most popular, outselling both Under Pressure (reviewed here) and The Show Must Go On (reviewed here).

(Warning: There's one shot in this video that might not be appropriate for work or children.)

Video courtesy of queenofficial.

At this concert, played a recording of the opening lines of Flash's Theme before entering the stage playing The Hero (discussed here). To hear the full version of Flash's Theme, click here to see the official music video.

Dr. May played piano on this track, using a rather interesting technique (he claimed last year on his official website), but sadly the music video does not show the method used. The song contains Queen's recognizable harmonies and vocal layering and has been widely used in pop culture (even here in the States). Click here to see Flash's Theme used on The Family Guy and here to see it in Blades of Glory.

Flash Gordon, the movie, is practically unwatchable, but the one saving grace is the Queen soundtrack. It's hard not to smile when you hear the telltale signs of Dr. May's guitar or Freddie Mercury's voice regardless of what nonsense is going on in the film.

Happy Listening!