The Set List

Hi folks. Now that Queen and Adam Lambert have come to North America to tour and not just to see the sights, have fun. I would go, but unfortunately, ticket prices are higher than the CN Tower, I don’t have any way to protect my hearing, other than the EArPods I ware with my iPhone and to tell the truth, I prefer the classic lineup to anything which has come since 1986. Don’t get me wrong, I love Paul Rodgers and I have much respect for Adam, but it is not the same as it was and it wasn’t meant to be either. Besides, both Paul and Adam were chosen because they are great singers in their own rights and when they sing Queen songs, they do it their own way. After all, even Freddie sang the songs differently to how he did on the albums and that was the point. If we wanted to hear the record we would stay home. However at the same time, I wish that any and all musicians on stage, would show us everything that they can do. This includes Freddie and let us hear if you can sing as high as you do on the albums. You can’t recreate the album anyway, because there is so much in there and the fact that some bands are using backing tracks, is a crime. Queen don’t use them except for the opera section of Boh Rhap and that is completely understandable, because you just can not recreate it as it was on stage, even with 4 voices and make it sound even as massive as it does.

Anyway, someone recently posted on Facebook a set list from the website we all go to, when we wish to find out what the band we are going to see, is playing. Someone commented that they are starting with a bang, but there is something different about this particular bang. The idea has always been to blind and deafen the audience at the start of the show and I personally believe, that this should also go for albums and how they are sequenced. I will have more on that in a future post on The Works! Anyway, here is what I had found from a recent show. https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/queen-adam-lambert/2023/cfg-bank-arena-baltimore-md-2ba3383e.html?fbclid=IwAR0HsJliilyhdcMphO33IpF0vqdA-vEZF8TMqyaiWyipsHNyIrgnjaS63aY_aem_AUrzRdnsydXW2C4fHYTt52HHxFWo9Worm8XQEVpuBTz4jI8tk521ZKzhUkciNpIb-YE

If this set stays, there is something rather odd about how it was put together, kinda like a joke with a punchline, to see if you were paying attention. Usually, the set remains the same, but maybe there might be some changes and that will play itself out over the course of the tour. I would like to take a look at past tours and see if there is a stronger emphasis on The Miracle and Innuendo, than this set indicates. With a catalogue like Queen’s, why not experiment with songs which have never been played live from all of the albums and make the real fans happy, as well as those who had come to see Queen and Adam for the first time? I believe that even songs from Made In Heaven should be tried out and why not? Born To Love You has been played, but what about deeper cuts beyond Mother Love and Made In Heaven? Take risks and let’s try new things, as Freddie had always wanted Queen to do and this includes the set list. It’s not in any way a bad one, but it’s pretty obvious how heavily it leans toward a certain bunch of albums and less on 3 others. I know that songs from the last 3 albums were hardly played live, but that is the point. Let’s go crazy and if you have to make the set longer, do it.

Anyway, if you are going to see Queen and Adam Lambert, have a good time and I wish I had been lucky enough to see Queen with Freddie.