The Queen concert!
Jul. 16th, 2005 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gothams3rdrobinOk, so I'm actually in a chatroom right now, where I've been 'instructed' to talk about the gig :-) But I wanted to get it all down here too.
I'll post about meeting up with Robert after twelve years in a bit, but first I wanna talk about the gig itself.
Took us a while to find the venue, neither of us being familiar with London's roads. Robert had printed off some directions, but they weren't quite as user-friendly as intended so we ended up missing several turns or going in the wrong direction.
Once we found the carpark we'd intended to use - ironically called 'Queensway' - we then had to find our way to Hyde Park itself. It seems Hyde Park is attached to Kensington Gardens, and the place is massive. We walked for ages looking for it, a little concered to not spot anyone else similarly dressed in Queen t'shirts, or hear the sounds of the gig starting up.
We did eventually find it, and could hear comedian Peter Kay warming the crowd up. The only part of his act we caught was his mick-take of 'Flash', where he pretended to do a section of the film that was also on the song;
"General Khala - Flash Gordon approaching!"
"What do you mean, 'Flash Gordon approaching?' I'm trying to watch Emmerdale!"
We checked with a Steward which gate we should go to, and found we had another walk ahead of us. Luckily, tired though we were, we were still in pretty good spirits.
Once inside the perimeter of the concert, we met up with Robert's friends and chatted for a while. I listened to Razorlight - or 'Razor-shite' according to Rob - and then we went to find ourselves a decent spot for the Queen set itself. It was blisteringly hot, but luckily by the time Queen came on it had cooled a little.
Peter Kay came back on in one of his comic personas, whose name I can never remember but for anyone who watches his work, it was the old man in the wheelchair. He then performed a medley, using songs with 'walking' as a theme and changing them to fit someone in a wheelchair. Was kinda funny, though he doesn't usually appeal to my sense of humour.
But finally, they came on. And the whole place went crazy!
I don't remember much about the running order, or many specifics - at least not that I can put in words. I'm gonna be replaying the concert in my head for years to come, but to actually sit and describe everything would be impossible.
I jumped for joy several times when Brian played my favourite songs: He's only ever teased me with snatches of '39' during his solo gigs - but this time he played the whole thing! And we got to sing along! And he played his beautiful instrumental peice, 'Last Horizon', which I find awe-inspiring.
Roger sang the song written as part of Mandela's campaign against HIV/AIDS - the guy's looking old now, but his singing voice is unbelieveable these days! Brian's really developed as a singer too in my opinion, but he would argue very strongly against that.
Paul Rogers was also very, very good. He carried the songs well, and had just the right level of showmanship. I can just imagine Freddie looking down on him and saying "Darling, you're not me - but you'll do!"
They actually shared a lot of the work, rather than let Paul sing everything. Which was a big comfort. And Paul sang a number of his own hits as well, which was pretty cool in itself.
There're only a small number of songs that have the power to make me cry, and they included one of them in the set. Roger sang the incomparable 'Days of our lives' beautifully. For anyone who doesn't know it, here are the lyrics:
Sometimes I get to feeling I was back in the old days,
Long ago.
When we were kids, when we were young,
Things seemed so perfect, y'know?
The days were endless,
We were crazy, we were young.
The sun was always shining,
We just lived for fun.
Sometimes I feel like lately...I just dunno.
The rest of my life's been...just a show.
Those were the days of our lives,
The bad things in life were so few.
These days are all gone now but
Some things remain.
When I look, I find no change.
You can't turn back the clock,
You can't turn back the tide.
Ain't that a shame?
I'd like to go back one time,
On a rollercoaster ride, when life's still a game.
No use in sitting and a-thinkin' on what you did,
When you can lay back and enjoy it through your kids.
Some times it seems like lately...I just don't know.
Better sit back and go with the flow.
'Cause these are the days of our lives,
That flow with the swiftness of time.
These days are all gone now, but
One thing's still true.
When I look, I find....
I still love you.
mp3 here if anyone wants to listen
*sigh*
I first heard that song a few days after Freddie passed away. I was in my high school music class, and my teacher had taped the tribute that got cobbled together - testimonials from people like Elton John. It ended with the video of him performing that song, the semi-completed version before all those silly bits of animation were included. He was pale - you could tell that despite the fact it was in black and white - and I later learned he was in agony the whole time, but he remained the consumate professional.
Right at the end, he looks up at the camera and whispers "I still love you...", then he clicks his fingers at the camera with a shadow of his cocky little grin, and sweeps away stage-right like the diva he was. The last bit of footage anyone ever got of him. It kills me everytime.
Teared up again when they performed Bohemian Rhapsody - which is unprecedented for me. But when you're already emotional - albeit having gotten a grip by this time - and they start it by showing footage of Freddie singing it at Wembley in '86......*sniffs* And the big operatic section was filled with images of Fred - including the tail end of that video I mentioned.
I wasn't ashamed of crying at the concert, though I was glad Rob and his mates couldn't see me from the angle I was stood at - or at least I don't think they could.
On a happy note - I can now say I was part of an official 'Love of my life' moment! Not just when Brian performed it during his solo concerts.
Brian came right down to the front, performed '39' as I already mentioned, then gave a variation on his usual "Let's do this for Freddie!" speech. It's such an awesome experience.
During the final encore, they dedicated 'We Are The Champions' to the men and women of the London rescue services, for their hard work last thursday after the bombing. The incident gave the gig a determined - if melancholy air, with a sense of "You won't beat us!". This was evidenced by one of the styles of t-shirt on sale - a special one for last night's gig, with "The show must go on!" emblazoned across the date on the back. I didn't see that till the end of the gig, and I was kicking myself for not taking the time to go to the merchandise stand during Razorlight.
We then had to find our way back to the carpark, ten thirty at night when it's dark as pitch aside from the street lighting. Fortunately, Rob's mates seemed to know where they were going, though it was one heck of a trek.
I felt about fifteen throughout most of the evening, since that's how old I was when I last went to a gig with Robert. And him in a Queen t-shirt didn't help, as he looked a lot younger than he had in his regular shirt.
All in all? A bloody good night! One I will eternally be glad to have experienced.
I'll post about meeting up with Robert after twelve years in a bit, but first I wanna talk about the gig itself.
Took us a while to find the venue, neither of us being familiar with London's roads. Robert had printed off some directions, but they weren't quite as user-friendly as intended so we ended up missing several turns or going in the wrong direction.
Once we found the carpark we'd intended to use - ironically called 'Queensway' - we then had to find our way to Hyde Park itself. It seems Hyde Park is attached to Kensington Gardens, and the place is massive. We walked for ages looking for it, a little concered to not spot anyone else similarly dressed in Queen t'shirts, or hear the sounds of the gig starting up.
We did eventually find it, and could hear comedian Peter Kay warming the crowd up. The only part of his act we caught was his mick-take of 'Flash', where he pretended to do a section of the film that was also on the song;
"General Khala - Flash Gordon approaching!"
"What do you mean, 'Flash Gordon approaching?' I'm trying to watch Emmerdale!"
We checked with a Steward which gate we should go to, and found we had another walk ahead of us. Luckily, tired though we were, we were still in pretty good spirits.
Once inside the perimeter of the concert, we met up with Robert's friends and chatted for a while. I listened to Razorlight - or 'Razor-shite' according to Rob - and then we went to find ourselves a decent spot for the Queen set itself. It was blisteringly hot, but luckily by the time Queen came on it had cooled a little.
Peter Kay came back on in one of his comic personas, whose name I can never remember but for anyone who watches his work, it was the old man in the wheelchair. He then performed a medley, using songs with 'walking' as a theme and changing them to fit someone in a wheelchair. Was kinda funny, though he doesn't usually appeal to my sense of humour.
But finally, they came on. And the whole place went crazy!
I don't remember much about the running order, or many specifics - at least not that I can put in words. I'm gonna be replaying the concert in my head for years to come, but to actually sit and describe everything would be impossible.
I jumped for joy several times when Brian played my favourite songs: He's only ever teased me with snatches of '39' during his solo gigs - but this time he played the whole thing! And we got to sing along! And he played his beautiful instrumental peice, 'Last Horizon', which I find awe-inspiring.
Roger sang the song written as part of Mandela's campaign against HIV/AIDS - the guy's looking old now, but his singing voice is unbelieveable these days! Brian's really developed as a singer too in my opinion, but he would argue very strongly against that.
Paul Rogers was also very, very good. He carried the songs well, and had just the right level of showmanship. I can just imagine Freddie looking down on him and saying "Darling, you're not me - but you'll do!"
They actually shared a lot of the work, rather than let Paul sing everything. Which was a big comfort. And Paul sang a number of his own hits as well, which was pretty cool in itself.
There're only a small number of songs that have the power to make me cry, and they included one of them in the set. Roger sang the incomparable 'Days of our lives' beautifully. For anyone who doesn't know it, here are the lyrics:
Sometimes I get to feeling I was back in the old days,
Long ago.
When we were kids, when we were young,
Things seemed so perfect, y'know?
The days were endless,
We were crazy, we were young.
The sun was always shining,
We just lived for fun.
Sometimes I feel like lately...I just dunno.
The rest of my life's been...just a show.
Those were the days of our lives,
The bad things in life were so few.
These days are all gone now but
Some things remain.
When I look, I find no change.
You can't turn back the clock,
You can't turn back the tide.
Ain't that a shame?
I'd like to go back one time,
On a rollercoaster ride, when life's still a game.
No use in sitting and a-thinkin' on what you did,
When you can lay back and enjoy it through your kids.
Some times it seems like lately...I just don't know.
Better sit back and go with the flow.
'Cause these are the days of our lives,
That flow with the swiftness of time.
These days are all gone now, but
One thing's still true.
When I look, I find....
I still love you.
mp3 here if anyone wants to listen
*sigh*
I first heard that song a few days after Freddie passed away. I was in my high school music class, and my teacher had taped the tribute that got cobbled together - testimonials from people like Elton John. It ended with the video of him performing that song, the semi-completed version before all those silly bits of animation were included. He was pale - you could tell that despite the fact it was in black and white - and I later learned he was in agony the whole time, but he remained the consumate professional.
Right at the end, he looks up at the camera and whispers "I still love you...", then he clicks his fingers at the camera with a shadow of his cocky little grin, and sweeps away stage-right like the diva he was. The last bit of footage anyone ever got of him. It kills me everytime.
Teared up again when they performed Bohemian Rhapsody - which is unprecedented for me. But when you're already emotional - albeit having gotten a grip by this time - and they start it by showing footage of Freddie singing it at Wembley in '86......*sniffs* And the big operatic section was filled with images of Fred - including the tail end of that video I mentioned.
I wasn't ashamed of crying at the concert, though I was glad Rob and his mates couldn't see me from the angle I was stood at - or at least I don't think they could.
On a happy note - I can now say I was part of an official 'Love of my life' moment! Not just when Brian performed it during his solo concerts.
Brian came right down to the front, performed '39' as I already mentioned, then gave a variation on his usual "Let's do this for Freddie!" speech. It's such an awesome experience.
During the final encore, they dedicated 'We Are The Champions' to the men and women of the London rescue services, for their hard work last thursday after the bombing. The incident gave the gig a determined - if melancholy air, with a sense of "You won't beat us!". This was evidenced by one of the styles of t-shirt on sale - a special one for last night's gig, with "The show must go on!" emblazoned across the date on the back. I didn't see that till the end of the gig, and I was kicking myself for not taking the time to go to the merchandise stand during Razorlight.
We then had to find our way back to the carpark, ten thirty at night when it's dark as pitch aside from the street lighting. Fortunately, Rob's mates seemed to know where they were going, though it was one heck of a trek.
I felt about fifteen throughout most of the evening, since that's how old I was when I last went to a gig with Robert. And him in a Queen t-shirt didn't help, as he looked a lot younger than he had in his regular shirt.
All in all? A bloody good night! One I will eternally be glad to have experienced.
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Date: 2005-07-17 12:09 am (UTC)Thank for posting this, sounds awesome!!