Queen tours Europe
January 13, 2015
The show moves the audience to tears - of joy, of course. And not because of the grey-haired guys on stage who are visibly relishing their classic Queen sound. Rather, because of the aging band's brand-new, fresh-faced lead.
Adam Lambert is just 32 years old and looks like a mix between George Michael and Bill Kaulitz from the German teen group Tokio Hotel. He dances around in a tight leather outfit and his virtuosic range seems to extend well beyond three octaves.
Adam Lambert rocks. And screams. To save his life, it seems at times, and to show he can keep up with the legends behind him.
Lambert consciously plays with the androgynous mannerisms of his predecessor, Freddie Mercury, wears nail polish and prances around on platform shoes. And, most importantly, he brings fans in Tokyo, Moscow, Kyiv, London, Chicago, Las Vegas and the rest of the world's metropolises to tears.
But can Lambert really fill the gap left by Queen lead Mercury who died of AIDS in 1991? That's an insurmountable task other greats have given up on. English-Canadian singer Paul Rodgers tried it for four years before finally giving up. Then in 2011, music magazine NME reported that the band was in talks with pop singer Lady Gaga. But the gentlemen from Queen had already met a young American singer who impressed them.
From American Idol to Mercury's throne
Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor explained in an interview with Internet radio station iHeartRadio how they met Lambert in 2009. They hadn't been looking for him, said May, he simply turned up - in a rather unlikely place.
Lambert was a finalist in the US casting show American Idol and in the finals, Queen took the stage with him for a joint rendition of "We are the Champions." After that, it was completely natural for them to keep working together, according to Taylor: "He has an incredible voice."
The band wasn't sure how their fans would react. But they were convinced that Lambert would get the job done. And that's exactly what happened. In 2012, Queen + Adam Lambert played two sold-out concerts in London's Hammersmith Apollo, followed by open-air concerts in Poland and the Ukraine during the 2012 UEFA Euro Cup. Then they toured the United States, Asia and Australia.
Six concerts in Germany
Older Queen fans, it seems, have accepted the young new lead. And Lambert is also drawing a new generation of fans to their shows. They play all the same songs that made Queen world-famous - from "Killer Queen" and "We are the Champions" to "Somebody to Love" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."
For the latter, Lambert sings only the first verse; then the band leaves the stage to make room for the legend: Freddie Mercury himself is projected onto a huge screen. It's a moment that's sure to cause goose bumps for any diehard Queen fan, particularly when the band returns at the end for a grand climax.
Queen + Adam Lambert have been on tour again since June 2014. On January 13, they launch their Europe leg in Newcastle, England. Starting on January 29 in Cologne, they'll also be making six stops in Germany.
It won't be their Germany debut in the new constellation, however. Lambert and Queen performed on December 25 in a widely publicized Christmas show by German folk pop star Helene Fischer. Just before the show at a press conference in Berlin, Roger Taylor said they would never play with anyone else but Lambert.