LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - The ka-ching of the cash register sounded loudly as glam-rockers Queen kicked off their first major tour since 1991 with Paul Rodgers stepping in for their flamboyant frontman, the late Freddie Mercury. Only fans registered with the Queen Web site were allowed access to the $100 tickets, and the band's two original members onstage, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, catered to them with due deference. The audience responded with noisy approval throughout the 2 1/2-hour show. There's no doubting the band's enduring popularity, though Mercury's music was an acquired taste. For those who never acquired it, he tended to sound like an overwrought ingenue from a Gilbert and Sullivan light opera. But he could put on a show. Rodgers, who found success with the bands Free and Bad Company, has a technically perfect rock 'n' roll voice with all the range and power you could want, but it's not memorable at all. His flamboyance extends only to throwing the microphone about. Queen's operatic rock music sounds a bit like 10cc's without the wit and musicality. With May taking center stage in white shirt and sneakers, Rodgers plowed through such songs as "Break Free," "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," which delighted the audience immensely despite their banality. So pleased was the crowd, in fact, that Rodgers didn't really need to be there, as they sang all the songs as one voice, filling the old hall with a really quite splendid chorus. They were only silent when May played a long and expert but quite tedious solo. For some favorites such as "Radio Ga Ga," "I'm in Love With My Car" and "I Want it All," Taylor and May took over the vocal chores. They declined the challenge of performing "Bohemian Rhapsody" entirely by opting for a video of Mercury doing the number. The crowd roared its approval. Rodgers returned for his own big number, Free's "All Right Now," which also went down well, and the evening ended with Queen's stadium anthems "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions." It's not Rodgers' fault, but Queen without Mercury is like the Crickets without Buddy Holly, the Doors without Jim Morrison or the Smiths without Morrissey. This tour will take in more than 30 concerts in eight European countries, and if every audience is as loyal and demonstrative as the one at the Brixton Academy, that won't matter at all.
Originally posted by Skydancer Sometimes great things should be left that way.Why go on as Queen if the main man is no longer there.The Only band that ever pulled that one off is ACDC and thats only because the new guy copied Bon Scotts vocal style.
