Killer Queen

For my bday this year Jake got me tickets to see Queen!!!  I LOVE Queen - but I never thought I would have the opportunity to see them in person.  I was soooo excited!  That day Scarlett kept telling me "I don't want you to go on a 'ate [date]."  Or "I like music concerts, can I go on a 'ate?"  haha!

Before I tell you about the concert, you need a quick Queenducation:

Queen is a British rock band from the 70s.  They have different genius musical styles and I'm confident you've heard some of their songs (We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Another One Bites the Dust, etc).  

Freddie Mercury: Lead Singer, Piano.  His voice is AMAZING.  He is a branding/marketing genius.  He renamed himself, named the band, basically came up with their "look" and has a degree in art and graphic design.  He even designed their crest.  He died of AIDS in 1991.

Brian May: Lead Guitar, Vocals.  He has a PhD in Astrophysics!  He and his father built his famous guitar (The Red Special) themselves and he still uses it!!!  Has 3 kids.

John Deacon: Bass Guitar.  Was only 19 when he joined Queen.  He and his wife got married on Jan 18 - like Jake and me!  He has 6 kids.  Is a trained electronics engineer.  Has retired from the music industry and no longer performs with the band.

Roger Taylor: Drums, Vocals.  Started studying dentistry, but got bored with it and now has a degree in Biology.  Has 5 kids.

This is one smart group of musicians!  Their brilliance on and off the stage are one of the reasons why I love them so much.

Back to the concert....... While we were driving there I had crazy butterflies - like a kid on Christmas eve!  I couldn't believe how excited I was.  We found our seats - on the aisle.  Directly in front of the band.  But in the stadium seats (Jake was afraid I couldn't see if we were on the flat floor - probably true).  We were in the ideal location.

A few highlights of the concert (yes I took some video, but I'm not going to post it since you probably don't want to hear me scream-singing the lyrics).

Jake and I were so impress with how well Roger and Brian can still play AND sing!  They did several solos and didn't miss a note.  Roger even sang David Bowie's part of "Under Pressure" and gave him a run for his money!  They each did musical solos (drum/guitar) for several minutes that were entertaining and rocked hard!

Brian May still has wonderful hair!  And he look like Issac Newton (one of my all-time favorite scientists!)  The picture where he's soloing began with a little chat with the audience.  He then went into a brief explanation of Einstein's Theory of Relativity - in the middle of a rock concert! (about the song "39")  LOVE IT!!!  

Roger Taylor rocking out!  The blue picture is where he did a drum duet with his son, Rufus!

I wasn't really expecting to care about Adam Lambert too much.  I mean, Freddie left big shoes to fill.  But after this evening Jake and I are huge fans of the pipes on this kid.  Holy cow - he can sing!  He did a great job honoring Freddie without trying to replace him - a tough feat - but he nailed it!

They played so many of my favorite songs (but not all of them  - there are too many, even for a two hour show).  Some of the musical treats we listened to: "Stone Cold Crazy", "Another One Bites the Dust", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "I Want it All", "Under Pressure", "Radio GaGa", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "The Show Must Go On", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You", and "We are the Champions". 

Jake's favorite that night was "The Show Must Go On".  My fave was "Bohemian Rhapsody."  They cut away to video of Freddie singing during part of the song.  A beautiful tribute.

Brian May had a camera on the top of his guitar for a song - crazy cool!  His fingers were flying!

True to Queen - they put on a great show... (and it was family friendly!)

It was amazing.  Best birthday present ever!  (though the trash can I asked for when I was 4 is a close second).  I am not a crier.  Seriously, I hardly ever cry.  But I almost cried a few times this night.  Probably cause they were "rising to their potential" (inside joke explanation: Jake always teases me that when I cry it's hardly cause I'm sad or angry, but it's mostly when people are "rising to their potential" - let's just say I'm a mess when I watch the Olympics!)

In case you were wondering what we did with our kiddos that night... I asked my friend Laura to come watch the girls.  She brought her husband (FBI agent) and her 12 year old boy.  When Scarlett saw them get our of their car she said "the have a big kid!  YAY!"  She was thrilled.

Scarlett was confused that Laura was coming - she thought it was Laura/Kaylie/Amber.  I had to explain it was another Laura.  So when Laura got here she asked Scarlett "do you know my name?"  She replied "you are 'Different Laura!'"  haha!  She was so thrilled to play with them that she didn't even cry when we left.  The twirls went to bed great for them.  And even Scarlett went to bed without a fuss (after they watched Cinderella).  I'm glad the girls were well behaved - maybe we'll leave them with sitters in the future!  As long as those sitters are FBI agents...  :-)