Adam Lambert to perform with Queen !!!

[RD5050]

The Queen Extravaganza with Marc Martel begins it's U.S. tour on May 26th.

Queen Extravaganza - Home

The website said the stage will be created by the same guy who does the Rolling Stones stages.

The show also feature lots of never before seen video footage.

I saw Queen perform several times in the 1980's, and their stage shows are spectacular.

Since the show is being produced by Brian May and Roger Taylor, The Queen Extravaganza will probably be as good as an original Queen show.

[RD5050]

I went to see the Queen Extravaganza show here in San Diego this past Sunday.

Marc Martel was fantastic.

There were 3 other lead vocalists (including a woman), and each took turns singing lead (i.e. being Freddie Mercury) along with Marc.

But Marc by by far was the best Freddie Mercury I could ever have imagined.

Marc's singing was practically indistinguishable from the real Freddie. And to add to this, Marc even somewhat resembles Freddie, without even trying. The other two male leads hardly resembled Freddie at all. One looked absolutely nothing like him.

The show itself was very impressive, but it was not at all like a Queen show. They had two guitarists each doing Brian May at the same time, an additional keyboardist, multiple lead vocalists who sometimes sang lead, and at other times sang backing vocals. The show's goal was to recreate Queen's music live, something which Queen themselves couldn't always do on stage, because of the many overdubs needed, especially on songs like Bohemian Rhapsody. So with all the additional vocalists singing together, they were able to recreate the high vocal middle part of Bohemian Rhapsody (i.e. Galileo ... Galileo ... magnifico ... etc.) and sound just like the original recording.

The Extravaganza performers did not dress the part of Queen. Their outfits were relatively average looking clothes, and not the tight bright colored clothes like Freddie often wore. No spandex or leather pants.

I also read that Adam Lambert is still scheduled to perform with Queen this summer for several shows in Europe, so will be waiting to see how that goes. Supposedly it is an experiment ... maybe to see if Adam can become a permanent member?

I still feel Marc Martel would be a better choice for Queen after seeing him live. Adam is a great singer, but Marc is the most amazing Freddie Mercury lookalike/sound alike possibly on the entire planet.

Adam brings great stage presence, but Marc can sound like Freddie like nobody else.

Only downside of Marc, is he still doesn't have the commanding stage presence of Freddie, so that's one thing he would need to improve.

I think this photo of Marc says it all ...

http://marcmartelmusic.com/

[piyf]

Originally Posted by RD5050

Thanks for the info about Marc.

I didn't even know about this Queen tribute band contest ... which happened to be held by Roger Meadows Taylor himself.

Imagine ... Queen forming a Queen tribute band?

And Marc was incredible:

Holy Crap that guy is incredible.

[tigerlily]

Here's a clip of Adam performing with Queen in Europe. Check out his performance of Under Pressure.

Clip:
To his credit, Lambert chose not to recreate or even mimic Mercury. His performance was purely his own, with a reverent nod to the man that created such timeless tunes. Even better, Lambert hit all the Mercury glory notes -- “Somebody To Love,” in particular, sounded sublime -- while retaining the necessary showmanship needed to properly perform what can easily be classified as a night-at-the-rock opera. His “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a stunning display of just what a musical theatre background can do when given the opportunity to interpret a song fully. Leaning on his Wicked days and even channelling Elvis Presley with the requisite sneers on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," by the time the band wrapped with “We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions,” the crowd was brandishing their glow sticks in unity and solidarity.

Adam Lambert and Queen Rock the Ukraine (Video) - Hollywood Reporter

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by tigerlily

Here's a clip of Adam performing with Queen in Europe. Check out his performance of Under Pressure.

Clip:
To his credit, Lambert chose not to recreate or even mimic Mercury. His performance was purely his own, with a reverent nod to the man that created such timeless tunes. Even better, Lambert hit all the Mercury glory notes -- “Somebody To Love,” in particular, sounded sublime -- while retaining the necessary showmanship needed to properly perform what can easily be classified as a night-at-the-rock opera. His “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a stunning display of just what a musical theatre background can do when given the opportunity to interpret a song fully. Leaning on his Wicked days and even channelling Elvis Presley with the requisite sneers on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," by the time the band wrapped with “We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions,” the crowd was brandishing their glow sticks in unity and solidarity.

Adam Lambert and Queen Rock the Ukraine (Video) - Hollywood Reporter

The full two hour June 2012 Kiev Queen/Adam Lambert concert is on YouTube:


ADAM LAMBERT & Queen - LIVE in Kiev, Ukraine - YouTube

[KittenSparkles]

I wonder if Freddy Mercury every contemplated that there would be multiple versions of himself singing his songs around the world after he died.

Based on the above clips, I do think Marc sounds more like Freddy, but I think Adam brings a more modern quality to the vocals and also has better stage presence/theatricality.

[sunigal99]

Adam Lambert does a fantastic job doing his own take on Queen songs. He's not a Freddie impersonator. Adam has a great vocal range and makes the old songs sound new and fresh. Wish I could catch one of their concerts this summer. After watching their I Heart Radio preview performance in Las Vegas, it should be a helluva show!