Queen has long had cross-generational appeal because of the timelessness of its hits, but it was still surprising to see just how many high school and college age teens were at The Forum in Inglewood on Friday evening, July 19, for the first of the band’s two shows.
Those younger audience members rushed to get selfies against the backdrop of lyrics from “Bohemian Rhapsody” that were written on the columns around the venue, and they cheered just as hard as their adult counterparts — people who had grown up with the music — when the band arrived on stage and started playing “Now I’m Here.”
There’s no doubt that the recent “Bohemian Rhapsody” biopic, which follows Freddie Mercury from his beginnings with the band through his performance at the 1985 Live Aid Concert, has only served to bolster interest in the band, and Mercury in particular, even more. Friday night’s concert, part of The Rhapsody Tour that kicked off earlier this month in Vancouver, British Columbia, felt like one big tribute to the late musician.
The band’s current frontman, Adam Lambert, has an extravagance and energy that evokes Mercury. He arrived on stage Friday wearing an ornate gold striped suit and ruffled shirt, one of many costumes he wore throughout the evening. Lambert has the vocal range to expertly perform songs such as “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love” and “The Show Must Go On” as guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor rocked alongside him.
But it seems as though no one is more keenly aware of the big shoes Lambert has to fill than Lambert himself. Following a performance of “Killer Queen,” Lambert addressed what he called “the pink elephant in the room” — that he’s not Mercury and that there is no replacing singer, who died in 1991. He told the audience he misses Mercury and asked if they miss him, too.
“I just want you to make me one little, itty bitty promise tonight,” Lambert said, the audience erupting in cheers around him. “Can we do that together? Can you just promise me that you and I will celebrate Freddie together? I’m going to hold this torch for him for the next almost two hours.”
Lambert kept the excitement going throughout the evening. He arrived on stage atop a motorcycle wearing a kind of biker outfit with spikes on his shoulders to sing “Bicycle Race” and never lost a beat as he performed “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “I Want It All” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”
Lambert’s tremendous stage presence was well-balanced by longtime band members May and Taylor who played their respective instruments in a way that showed they hadn’t lost any of their skill after 50 years of performing.
May, who turned 72 on Friday, seemed to be pretty happy about playing on his birthday. He told the audience, “there’s no place I’d rather be than right here with you guys tonight” before singing “Love of My Life.” Thousands of people in the crowd lit up their cellphones as May sang and played his guitar.
As May wrapped up “Love of My Life,” it became a kind of duet, as he played his guitar alongside a video of Mercury singing the last few lyrics of the song.
Taylor also sang, with a rendition of “Doing All Right.”
Queen played some of its most popular songs toward the end of the concert. “Another One Bites The Dust,” was followed by “Radio Ga Ga” and then “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Segments of the Bohemian Rhapsody music video played on the screen behind the band as an impressive laser light show radiated across the space.
As the audience awaited the encore, a video of Freddie Mercury doing vocal improvisations during a 1986 concert at Wembley Stadium appeared on the screen behind the stage.
When the video was over, Lambert, sporting a very regal-looking robe and crown, came back on stage with May and Taylor and performed “We Will Rock You” as people in the audience clapped and stomped their feet to the music.
The band proceeded into “We Are The Champions” and, with an explosion of confetti, the show had come to an end, but that audience of both new and longtime Queen fans was cheering as loudly as they were in the beginning.
Queen’s The Rhapsody Tour
When: Friday, July 19
Where: The Forum, 3900 W Manchester Blvd, Inglewood.
Next: 8 p.m. Saturday, July 20 at The Forum, 3900 W Manchester Blvd, Inglewood. Tickets, $90-$445 are available through ticketmaster.com.
