One of my favorite things about living in Southern California is the fact that you can still book tickets for an outdoor event in November and feel confident that inclement weather will have no impact.
And while the temperature dipped this past Saturday night at BMO Stadium, I’ll take the cheeseball approach to say that the heart and spirit were warmed. My girls and I rolled up to take in QUEEN w/ Adam Lambert at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. In the past few years, we’ve been blessed to attend a number of concerts featuring artists who make up the soundtrack of my life - Paul McCartney, Ringo, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Tim McGraw, P!nk and myriad iterations of Greg Dulli projects. At some point, I’ll get back into a calendar and connect the timeline, but alas, I can only go back so far with an important box of old ticket stubs gone missing. But, as Metallica taught us - “the Memory Remains.”
I talk often of the common space of concerts and live events as rare occurrences in our society. All the energy and love is flowing in the same directions and space. From the moment we entered the queue before doors opened, you felt that solidarity. It truly set up as an ALL-AGES show. There were tour shirts going back decades, myriad patches and embroidery projects on jean jackets and flannels, crowns and sequins … and leather. Man, there was an overload of leather and chains as far as the eyes could see.
The crowd was slow-arriving - Welcome to LA - so I spent the time in our seats watching the NWSL Final with my daughter and staring at the logo emblazoned on the video board. And then we heard the first chords. The show kicked off with a loud roar and “Back to Humans” and “Radio Ga Ga.” The video and audio production quality stood out in a matter of seconds.
I purposefully did not look at the setlist in advance of the show. I just wanted to roll with the emotion and celebrate what Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert curated with Adam Lambert for the night. I’d seen images of the glammed-up motorcycle for “Bicycle Race” and Lambert’s superhero outfits. And I knew we’d see a few nods to Freddie Mercury (the Call and Response, ending with his “FU” sent the crowd into a frenzy).
“Hammer To Fall,” a favorite in our house and part of my pre-show vocal regimen for my work at FOX Sports Radio, appeared early in the set. Chills with that opening chord. “I’m In Love With My Car” had the diehards singing along
It was a rapid-fire setlist of hit after hit. I know I’ll always get emotional when I hear “Love of My Life,” and I was proud of myself for keeping it together with a full-throated singalong and smile.
My younger daughter was giddy with the presence of “39” in the set. Here’s Brian May from earlier this year in Baltimore.
My older daughter screamed loudly with “I Want It All.”
I got a huge gift with “Who Wants To Live Forever” from the movie HIGHLANDER. I’d run into Clancy Brown a couple weeks earlier at the Bears-Chargers game and they just announced Henry Cavill’s inclusion in a remake of the classic, so we’d talked about the movie a bunch the last couple weeks. Again, you get the wave of emotions and Lambert delivered so beautifully.
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You can find the rest of the setlist online. It delivered all of the hits and kept the crowd alive and loud. I loved watching the reactions as each song started — you could read fans’ faces about which of the classics impacted them most.
Lambert was absolutely fantastic, and his love and respect for the fans and his band mates came through all night long. He spoke of it being 10 years since he joined the band on the road. Man, how time flies.
It was a complete celebration of 50 years of QUEEN, with the debut album having dropped in July of 1973.
I can only hope to say I’ve aged as well.
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Thanks to Roger Taylor, Brian May and Adam Lambert for a magical night, filled with emotion and smiles. And memories the kids and I will keep forever.
We hope to meet again down the road.
