Queen + Adam Lambert

Tonight, I’m gonna have myself a real good time. Queen + Adam Lambert coming to New Zealand? And, unlike most bands, actually coming to Wellington? There’s no way I’m going to lose out this time!

Have I complained about Wellington traffic recently? Yes, well, the previous night at quiz it took us over an hour to get into town. Tonight was worse. We set off at 4:30 to try and beat the rush…to no avail. We eventually parked at 5:55. Yes, you heard that right. We parked in our special, secret place where we always park when there’s a big gig in town (All Blacks, Black Caps etc, which often sell out the stadium) and the official advice is to use public transport. This makes for a reasonably quick getaway after the event.

It took us around half an hour to get into the stadium – now the Sky Stadium. Westpac is but a distant memory…except on some of the buckshee t-shirts for sale outside the official merchandise stand. There were long queues due to the security and bag checks. Never mind, we were in, and headed up to the mezzanine bar for a bite to eat and a drink. They seem to have gone all Mexican for the evening, so had tacos and burritos, with Panhead beer. We were one of the first up there so got a table and served pretty quickly – by the time I went back for a second round the bar queue was nearly out the door!

With an hour to go, we decided to go find our seats, as we were round the other side from the bar. Just as well we did, as there was so many people – some just arriving, some still queuing at the various franchises for food and beer – it took us a good while to get to our aisle (9) and find our seats. In the front row, to the side of the stage.

Dead on time, at 8:30 the stadium lights went down and the band came on. The set has a number of screens, lights, and pistons a-pumpin’, all of which get used throughout the show – particularly later at night, once it was fully dark, and they could use their lasers and giant glitter ball to full effect. In true Queen style, many of the songs were cut short to “concert version”, i.e. first verse and chorus. This allows them to fit more in. Some songs, of course have to be played in their full versions, though – including Killer Queen where Adam fluffed his lines and sang the second verse twice, completely forgetting the first verse! They started off with some oldies but goodies – and I mean oldies even by Queen standards, with Now I’m Here (Sheer Heart Attack), Seven Seas Of Rhye (Queen II) and Keep Yourself Alive (Queen) opening the set.

Here’s that set list in full:

Now I'm Here

Seven Seas of Rhye

Keep Yourself Alive

Hammer to Fall

Killer Queen

Don't Stop Me Now

Somebody to Love

In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited

I'm in Love With My Car

Bicycle Race

Fat Bottomed Girls

Another One Bites the Dust

I Want It All

Love of My Life

'39

Doing All Right

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Under Pressure

Dragon Attack

I Was Born to Love You

I Want to Break Free

You Take My Breath Away

Who Wants to Live Forever

Guitar Solo (included melody from Dvořák's “New World” symphony)

Tie Your Mother Down

The Show Must Go On

Radio Ga Ga

Bohemian Rhapsody

Encore:

Ay‐Oh (Freddie free-style music singalong with audience)

We Will Rock You

We Are the Champions

God Save the Queen

Aficionados will realise that there’s at least one song from each album, except Flash Gordon.

This party went on almost to eleven o'clock! Yes, two and a half hours of solid rock, including drum and guitar solos, lasers and giant glitter balls, asteroids and planets, audience participation and smartphone torches. Also, introductions of the rest of the band (another percussionist, bass player and pianist, who cheekily played a riff on the intro to Death On Two Legs as his little piece). 

A thoroughly enjoyable night. No, Adam Lambert isn't Freddie Mercury. But he's not trying to be, and that's what makes him much better than the many tribute acts that abound.