Keep Yourself Alive

Well, nobody seems to be responding to my more lengthy rants, so I figure I might as well taunt Zelmo...

We had a spirited email exchange on the relative merits of bands who go through membership changes. However, rather than drone on and on about twee english prog bands, we specifically focused on histrionic english hard rock bands.

That's right, we argued about Queen. Or as I used to refer to them, The Bombast Boys.

They played the Bradley Center last night, so we went. The Urinal/Sentinel's review is here, but as with most of their articles, is sadly lacking, IMNSHO. The curse of editors and deadlines, I guess. Lucky for you I'm under no such restrictions. HA!

I'd been a pretty big Queen fan in high school, but the eighties were not kind to the band and I was going in other directions. Of course, since they remained huge in other parts of the world, there was no opportunity to see them round here. Once Freddie died, I missed any opportunity to see one of rock music's great showmen. So I decided that I would probably regret this opportunity, if I didn't take it. At least I would be able to judge for myself, rather than dismissing the efforts without firsthand knowledge.

But the band was always more than Freddie Mercury's back up band. As the review notes, Mercury is simply irreplaceable, nobody could ever fill that spandex. And the band is smart enough not to try.

The selection of Paul Rodgers is one of those things that makes you go “Huh?” when you hear it. what could the workmanlike blues rock sound of Bad Company possible have in common with the Glam rock of Queen? But at several points in the show, it becomes obvious that a significant part of the pairing is the affection and chemistry between rodgers and the other members of the band, especially Brian May. You start to realize that it might be possible for the band to develop a second phase of their career, respectful of the history with Freddie Mercury, but developing in new directions. Gemma Tarlach had an interesting article here on bands who've tried this (although I vehemently disagree with her dismissal of the Ray Wilson Genesis).

Rodgers has a fondness for rock histrionics, in his own way. While Freddie was fond of opera and British show hall theatrics, performing with over the top campiness, Rodgers is firmly of rock lineage, but is pretty comfortable holding the stage himself, and even if his vocal stylings may not have the pitch and timbre of Mercury, he still maintains a powerful voice that can hit the extremes when needed. Maybe some of his posing and stage antics seem a bit forced, but it seems that he's becoming comfortable with fronting a band very different from ones in his past.

The set list leans much more heavily on the harder rocking numbers than a typical Mercury fronted show would have, opening with “Tie Your Mother Down”. The mix was maybe a little weak on Rodger's voice, but his voice kind of covers much of the middle frequencies, so I think it would be hard to mix it into the forefront. It's probably also wise that they don't try.

Several times, Brian May and Roger Taylor stepped up to do some vocals. A high point was hit when May sat down at the front of the runway with a 12 string guitar (and a vacant stool for Freddie) to sing “Love of my Life” with the crowd joining in. Very pretty. Later, Taylor sang “I'm In Love With My Car” and made me think briefly that Queen could quite ably followed Genesis path by bringing the drummer out to step in as singer. But maybe Roger Taylor isn't quite the ham that Phil Collins is.

I'm not a huge fan of drum solos. Actually, I hate them. But they're a good time to go get beer. This drum solo was mercifully short, and livened up by letting the session guys jam a little bit. There are also three Bad Company interludes that were pretty popular with the classic hits crowd, but the songs pale next to Queen's more textured, complex sound, and I would have preferred a couple more Queen songs instead.

The session guys. Nobody ever mentions them (except Wikipedia. Gotta love the Wiki) Jamie Moses on guitar, Spike Edney on keyboards, and bass-man Danny Miranda from Blue Oyster Cult on the Monster Bass. I love that guy, he has so much fun. Queen wisely decided to go for a more full throated approach to reproducing the complex layered studio versions of songs, and it really paid off. The additional voices made the backing vocals work, especially on the anthemic numbers like the show-closing “We Are The Champions” Actually, “Champions” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” were the two points at which Paul Rodgers made perfect sense as a vocalist, and actually fit the material better than Freddie Mercury might have. The vocal trade offs on “Under Pressure” also worked surprisingly well with the additional throats.

It wasn't all satisfying though. “Radio Ga Ga” showcased some truly awful lyrics. Although I understand the sentiment, I really think they should drop this clunker from their setlist. Forever. There's so much other stuff that would work better. Also, Brian May's guitar interlude was overly indulgent and more than a bit boring. As my wife said “It's certainly nice that he's having a good time.” OK, he's a guitar god and maybe he deserves it but, jeez, enough already.

The stage show itself was pretty simple but effective. Queen, more than any other band I've seen, make use of lighting from the back to overload the audience. Also makes for more effective audience connection, when the band can see the people out there. In addition, there were a couple of film montages, one showing the band in about 1975 or so in Japan; and the other during the operatic portion of “Bohemian Rhapsody” highlighting Freddie Mercury. The band made a point of keeping Freddie as part of the show without being maudlin about it.

It wasn't a sellout crowd, by a long shot. Most people share Zelmo's assessment “Queen without Freddy? Why Bother?” But to their credit, this didn't phase the band (Unlike those posers in Genesis, who broke up rather than play for less than 80,000 people. Tossers) . Brian May expressed appreciation for “allowing me to play Rock Star once again” and the smallish crowd didn't lack for enthusiasm. like Cheap Trick, they may not be able to hit the heights they once did, but in the end, it's still about playing music. And it's better than working for a living.

Another negative. When did we all get so old? Although enthusiastic, the crowd couldn't even muster a good lighter wave for the encore. Everybody stop smoking? There was certainly no stray whiffs of that sweet leaf. Nobody puked on my shoes, although someone did spill their water on my coat. (Water. Couldn't you even spill a beer?) I know, I know, it was the Bradley Center, but at least the corporate sponsorship was limited to VH-1. In tribute to Lester Bangs, someone should tour with Vick's cough syrup as a sponsor.

Also: $35 t-shirts. Give me a motherfuckin break.