Queen - Newcastle Metro Radio Arena Gig Review

Forget about Paul Rodgers for a moment, reviewing a Queen show in 2005 without comparing the band as it is now to the Freddie Mercury fronted outfit was always going to be an impossible task. The man casts such a huge, inescapable shadow over the music that Queen created that everything they the remaining members do now will be viewed through rose tinted spectacles. There is no question that the music produced by Messer's Mercury, May, Taylor & Deacon deserves an outlet and that the spirit of Queen needs to be kept alive, but what format this revival should take is very much a matter of personal opinion and the subject of endless debate to the legions of Queen fans around the globe.

So lets get the obvious out of the way. Paul Rodgers is no Freddie Mercury. But then again he doesn't need to be. Rodgers has an impeccable CV and is possessed of one of the finest blues rock voices the UK has ever produced and as such, with the support of May & Taylor, has as much right as anyone now alive to interpret the Queen material in his own inimical way.

Given all the above it must be said that, at times, Rodger's struggled through the Queen numbers and was far more comfortable singing either the Free or Bad Company material in the set. If truth be told he was only on the stage for about half the set, with Taylor & May providing vocals for the rest of the songs. Opening with the Rodger's solo effort 'Reaching Out' certainly caught this reviewer by surprise, especially as the erstwhile Free frontman appeared, 'as if by magic' at the end of the catwalk jutting out into the arena. A trio of Queen classics soon followed up in the shape of 'Tie Your Mother Down', 'I Want To Break Free' & 'fat Bottomed Girls' and it was here that Rodgers' vocals seemed to be most restrained. It appears the man is suffering from throat problems however, so I guess we can forgive the slight restraint in the vocal department.

After a run through 'Crazy little Thing Called Love' & Free's 'Wishing Well' it was time for Taylor & May to take centre stage. The later was first up performing 'Say It's Not True' from the 46664 Nelson Mandela project. This left the crowd somewhat bemused as I guess the song was somewhat of an unknown quantity. This was soon put to rights as May stepped up to the plate, acoustic guitar in hand, to deliver '39 & a beautiful and moving 'Love Of My Life'. This is a song, which after all of these years still brings a tear to the eye and has the audience in full voice belting out the words a la the 'Live Killers'.

Highlights of the remainder of the set included May's 'Last Horizon' guitar instrumental complete with 'sky at night' stars spinning round the arena courtesy of a huge disco ball and some cannily focused spotlights and the ever welcome Radio Ga Ga, with Taylor taking lead vocals. To see 10,000 pairs of hands clapping in unison is a sight to behold.

Rounding out the main set was 'Bohemian Rhapsody', with Mr. Mercury providing vocals & piano via a huge video screen. And then onto the encores. Starting off with an abridged version of the Cream number 'Sunshine of Your Love' (which the band hadn't practiced obviously!!) and then onto Alright Now, perhaps Rodger's most famous number. A Queen show however just wouldn't be right without the closing duo of 'We Will Rock You' & 'We Are The Champions' and that is exactly what the band delivered.

As a rock show this was, overall, a stunning visual and musical performance. The lights and sound were top notch, the musicianship of the highest quality and obviously a lot of thought and effort has been put into the staging and choreography of the event. As a Queen show however it didn't quite work. Rodgers seems to be caught between a rock and hard place, neither replacing Mercury nor quite being able to be his own man. It certainly didn't help that he was off stage for a good proportion of the show as this slightly detracted from the continuity and gave the event an almost karaoke feel. However this is a gig I would not have missed in a million years and one, if the band ever care to tour again, myself and countless thousands of others will be sure to attend. It's as close to the real thing as we can get these days and that will do nicely!

You can check out more pictures from this gig via this link