Queen + Paul Rodgers – Sportpaleis – Merksem - 20/04/05

When it was announced that Queen would start performing again with guest singer Paul Rodgers, the first thing that came to my mind was, ‘finally, Queen will rock again’.  In the final years with Freddy, they had stopped doing that.  The last songs were more pop than rock songs.  I had always thought that it was such a pity.  As a big Paul Rodgers fan, I thought the combination would really work.  He would finally get the chance again to show his singing talent to a big audience.  It’s too bad that a lot of people don’t even know who Rodgers is.  He was the singer for The Free, Bad Company, The Firm (with Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin) and The Law (with Kenny Jones from The Who).  He’s also appreciated in the music world as a solo artist.  Most people will only find this out after they consult the Queen website.

It’s at a concert where one will find out how great a singer Rodgers really is.  Singing three songs from his own repertoire and the rest from Queen, Paul certainly increased the number of his fans (judging by the enthusiasm of the crowd).  Apart from his fantastic singing abilities, Paul knows himself like no other and never tries to copy Freddy Mercury.  The arrangements of the Queen songs were reconstructed in a subtle way so that Paul could be himself within the limits that were set by the other Queen members, like Brian May.  The most successful songs were the real rockin’ songs where Rodgers was really in his element.  The more pop songs that he sang (and that weren’t sung by drummer Roger Taylor-“These Are the Days” and “Radio Gaga”) were a bit less impressive, but certainly not weak or bad.  I must say that this concert was one of the most emotional concerts that I’ve ever attended.  The atmosphere was so thick you could’ve cut it with a knife.  The audience sang along and enjoyed themselves tremendously, especially with “’39” and “Love of My Life” (which was dedicated to Freddy and brought tears to everyone’s eyes).  It really gave me goose bumps.  What was also nice was a short film of Freddy with “Bohemian Rhapsody” inserted half way through.  This reminded me a bit of how people would worship Elvis at an Elvis concert, but this wasn’t done in that creepy way.

The obligatory drum solo sounded a bit like Cozy Powell’s “Dance with the Devil”. Brian May’s guitar solo wasn’t really a solo but rather a series of guitar riffs that seemed to end with “Now I’m Here”, which actually wasn’t even performed.  What a wasted opportunity!  But that didn’t spoil the fun.  The evening ended with an alternative version of “We Are the Champions”, but it still gave me that wonderful feeling.  Queen came and conquered…thanks to Paul Rodgers.

Review: Jany
Translated by Jennifer
Pics thanks to FB
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