Queen + Adam Lambert Were Spectacular! | Concert Review (The Rhapsody Tour 2023)

Ever since I saw Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) in theaters with my parents, I’ve wanted to see Queen + Adam Lambert live so badly. Five years later, that dream finally came true! It was even better that Lambert was their current frontman, since he was one of my favorite contestants from American Idol. He should’ve won, instead of Kris Allen, but he won in life and that’s all that matters! Long story short, I saw Queen + Adam Lambert with my dad at Chase Center in San Francisco on November 8, 2023.

It took my dad some convincing because he was already planning to go to San Francisco for my sister’s law school graduation next year and I also asked him around the time we were seeing Foreigner in Las Vegas. I basically wanted to cram in as many concerts as I could this year; guess who won that discussion in the end! Not going to lie, San Francisco is very sketchy, more so now than the last time I went five years ago. But, I loved the vibe of it with all the murals, the Victorian-style houses, Alamo Square, the “Painted Ladies,” and Amoeba Records, of course. But, I’m getting off track, let’s just get on with the music!

The doors for the venue opened at 6:30 p.m., but my dad and I didn’t arrive until 7:05 p.m. The first thing we did was get merch because I wanted a tour shirt to remember the night. The first line we went to was really long, but the second line was much better. Plus, I swear, for the life of me, there was a guy in line that looked exactly like Lambert. I should’ve taken a picture of him, dang it!

They had a lot of options for merch; they even had Roger Taylor merch. I didn’t buy his merch, but I liked that he was getting the recognition he deserved. Ultimately, I went with a black shirt that had a picture of the band on the front and the tour locations on the back. Since artists earn most of their income from touring and merchandise nowadays, the shirt was $50, which was insane! On the bright side, I also got a tour program and I hadn’t seen one in person since the Justin Bieber concert in 2010. It was $20, but my dad paid for it (and the shirt) because I bought the concert tickets.

We got to our seats, which had a really good view of the stage, just before 8:00 p.m. Sorry, no photo of us actually at the concert. I didn’t care about that stuff; I just wanted to get good photos of the concert/band. The show started at 8:26 p.m. and they started off with a blend of “Machines (or ‘Back to Humans’)” and “Radio Ga Ga.” Immediately, I was blown away by the screens and special effects. I knew Queen were taking advantage of modern technology, but dang, the effects keep getting more massive by the minute! Not going to lie, the red-eyed robots freaked me out, just a bit.

As for the setlist, I knew what to expect. It was a celebration of their greatest hits. You know, the same old, same old. But, there are some highlights worth mentioning such as Taylor singing his heart out during “I’m in Love with My Car.” They had these big lights onstage to make it look like the front of a car, which was pretty dope. Taylor can’t hit all the high notes like he used to, but man, he can still roar like a lion! 

I’m sick of certain hits such as “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and “Don’t Stop Me Now,” but I still freaking love “Fat Bottomed Girls.” The crowd, including my dad and I, went nuts when the band started the song. Everyone was really into it and for a good reason; “Fat Bottomed Girls” is such a banger! I was singing along to that one, for sure.

People can say all they want about Adam Lambert, how he’s not Freddie Mercury, and all that nonsense. Some even prefer Paul Rodgers more, which I don’t know why, but that’s their opinion. However, Lambert deserves way more credit for his role in the band because he has a brilliant vocal range, the attitude, and a flamboyant personality to get the crowd going. This dude was a full-on sex machine during “Bicycle Race”! Lambert was working the camera and showing off his goods, while not getting dizzy on the rotating motorcycle he was on.

It got pretty emotional during “Love of My Life,” where Brian May performed the song acoustically and was later joined by Mercury (through footage of him at Wembley Stadium in 1986, I believe). I knew he was going to appear during the song, but to see that old clip of him in person is beyond any words that come to mind. Rest in peace, Freddie Mercury; we miss you and your God-given voice every single day! The crowd was into that one too; almost everyone had their cell phone lights on throughout the entire performance. 

For another blast from the past, they showed a clip of Taylor’s timpani solo at the Montreal Forum in 1981, which I enjoyed a lot because he was a babe back then! And just to show off his sense of humor, the current Taylor appeared in front of the stage on his drum kit and went, “who was that guy?!?!” That obviously got a laugh from everyone in the audience. Don’t worry, he did a drum solo and trust me, he’s still got it! Taylor is my favorite member from Queen (and not just because he’s funny as heck), so seeing him play the drums in person gave me chills. He even made me like “Under Pressure,” which is not an easy thing to do because I really don’t like that song. 

My favorite moment of the show, however, occurred after Brian May’s space-themed guitar solo, when he and Lambert performed the underrated, “Is This the World We Created…?” The funny thing is I was listening to The Works (1984) album just days before the concert. As soon as I heard the opening line, I shouted, “F*CK YEAH!!” Apparently, I was the only one who was excited to hear them do that song, though, because I was the only one who reacted happily to it (at least, in the section my dad and I were in). It’s such a beautiful acoustic song with an eye-opening message about poverty, and May performed it with Mercury at Live Aid back in 1985, which was perfect by the way! Judging the rendition I saw, however, it was nice seeing a softer and more gentle side to Lambert with May on the acoustic guitar; I wish the band would do that more often.

I’m not going to go on and on about their performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody” because I’m so dang sick of that song already. Lambert obviously had the pipes to pull it off and May did his iconic guitar solo justice. I’ll also say that the flashing images from the “Bohemian Rhapsody” music video were freaking cool! Shortly afterwards, Mercury returned to the stage (again, with footage from Wembley Stadium in 1986) to prepare the crowd for the encore with his famous, “ay-oh.” I’m sorry, I meant to say, “AAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY OH”!

The News of the World (1977) robot appeared for “We Will Rock You” and I swear, that thing was eyeing out the entire audience like a hawk and it scared the heck out of me! On the bright side, it made the performance more intense because he was staring into our souls saying, “you people better clap and sing along or else you’ll regret it!” He asked and we obeyed. It’s another classic that I’m not sick of, partially because I have good memories of hearing it on Drake & Josh, but also, because it’s so bada**, especially when everyone is singing along to the chorus.

It got emotional again during “We Are the Champions” because think about everything that band went through. Lambert’s journey on American Idol and making it as a solo artist, Taylor and May losing Freddie Mercury (and to a sense, John Deacon), and dealing with negative criticism of having Lambert as the band’s new frontman. In the end, they fought every obstacle and came out like champions. I’ve seen clips of Queen + Adam Lambert from when they first started performing together in 2011 and their chemistry has gotten stronger since then. I kinda wish they’d consider making a studio album together, rather than relying on Queen’s classic hits, but as long as they love what they do, that’s all that matters!

After taking their final bows, Queen + Adam Lambert left the stage and the concert ended at 10:30 p.m. My dad and I returned to my sister’s place really late because we had trouble with the Lyft app, but it was all worth it! I finally got to see the band live, once again proving that dreams do come true. I was even happy to see Spike Edney, who’s such an important part of Queen’s history, both old and new. The guitars were a bit too loud, on my end, but that’s a small complaint. Overall, my dad and I had a great time, and only time will tell when our next concert will be!

Concert Setlist

1. Machines (or ‘Back to Humans’) / Radio Ga Ga

2. Hammer to Fall

3. Another One Bites the Dust

4. I’m in Love with My Car

5. Bicycle Race

6. Fat Bottomed Girls

7. I Want It All

8. A Kind of Magic

9. Killer Queen

10. Don’t Stop Me Now

11. Somebody to Love

12. Love of My Life

13. ’39

14. Timpani solo / Drum solo

15. Under Pressure

16. Tie Your Mother Down

17. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

18. I Want to Break Free

19. Who Wants to Live Forever

20. Guitar solo

21. Is This the World We Created…?

22. The Show Must Go On

23. Bohemian Rhapsody

24. Ay-Oh

25. We Will Rock You

26. We Are the Champions

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Lana