The Queen show deserved a whipping

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      You force the music section to disable the Straight.com comments section, and we reward you with a Payback Time T-shirt and tickets to two Live Nation club shows of your choice. Here’s this week’s winning whine.

      Dear Payback Time: I went to Queen. I was excited. It was a total atrocity. That show deserved a whipping and you bowed down to it like a serf. How many locks of hair were you expecting Brian May to dump in the mail for you after reading your garbage? Newsflash: it was a wig, bro. And Adam Lambert, “not a bad call”? Maybe you were the guy I saw hanging out by the tour van after the show with the Queen + Adam Lambert tour T. You could’ve donated that money to deserving people. Shame on you.

      > Avi Weiss

      Steve Newton replies: Dearest Avi—You forgot to mention that I called Adam Lambert’s voice “bland”. Actually, I didn’t really do that. I described his voice as “relatively bland” when compared to the instantly recognizable voices of original Queen singer Freddie Mercury and previous Queen frontman Paul Rodgers. But my comment unleashed a torrent of outrage from the hordes of “Glamberts” (Adam Lambert freaks) who don’t appreciate anyone doubting the utter amazingness of their American idol. At last count my review had garnered 97 comments, and only a couple of them were positive. The vast majority described me as “stupid” and “cowardly”, an “idiot”, “wanker”, and “schmuck” who was “tone deaf” or just plain “deaf”. Luckily, after 30-plus years of getting slagged for my opinions on concerts I can take 95 or so insults without too much shame and suffering. But what I can’t take is bozos like you taking ridiculous potshots at genius guitarists like Brian May. The best you can do is say he wears a wig? Christ on a cracker, he could have a fuckin’ rhesus monkey sewed to his scalp for all I care, as long as he keeps on playing the way he did in Vancouver. And what in god’s name were you doing at a Queen show if you don’t like Brian May? You spent all that money on tickets so you could study his hair? Get a life, Nerdlinger.

      You can voice your impotent rage by snail mail or by sending an e-mail to payback@straight.com.

      You can follow Steve Newton at twitter.com/earofnewt and check out his website about rock 'n' roll and horror here.  

      Comments

      17 Comments

      Jafoal

      Jul 9, 2014 at 11:49am

      Serious - you both didn't deserve to go to that concert. It was freaking awesome. I have no idea what either of your problems was with it. I loved every single minute of it. Brian's flowing grey locks and Adam's awesomeness.

      You two have issues - Freddie is dead. GET OVER IT.

      lol the irony

      Jul 9, 2014 at 12:17pm

      aren't you witty with your "turning the tables" schtick and going all glambert on that guy over brian. just trying to get the glamberts to unleash another onslaught by calling you a hypocrite? lacking in attention are we? lame effort

      Trudy

      Jul 9, 2014 at 8:22pm

      How did I miss that 95 comment barrage. I must not have googled Adam Lambert that day. I actually did see the Calgary show and loved it. The music and the atmosphere was so good it stayed in my head for days. Brian May's guitar solo was stupendous. We were on our feet most of the evening singing and cheering. Adam's voice is better live than on cd. He received nothing but thunderous applause from the Calgary crowd. What a great night of Queen classic rock.

      M

      Jul 11, 2014 at 9:46pm

      "The vast majority described me as “stupid” and “cowardly”, an “idiot”, “wanker”, and “schmuck” who was “tone deaf” or just plain “deaf”. Luckily, after 30-plus years of getting slagged for my opinions on concerts I can take 95 or so insults without too much shame and suffering."

      When so many people are telling you were wrong...................YOU BETTER CHECK YOURSELF WITH A DOCTOR OR WITH SOMEBODY ELSE WHO IS PROVEN TO BE SANE.

      Big Hamm

      Jul 12, 2014 at 8:12am

      Well if it's a wig, it's a hell of a good one!

      Betty

      Jul 12, 2014 at 10:58am

      While I feel Adam Lambert's vocals are an amazing example of vocal acrobatics, I still think after a few songs it's gets tiresome. Maybe Brian May, if he's so almighty great..should start his own band and give Freddie the much needed rest he needs to do it peacefully. It's nothing against Lambert. I just think it's difficult to restore a band when their main member has passed or quit the group. I'd say the same about many other legendary rock bands whose members are gone or left the building.

      TVA

      Jul 12, 2014 at 6:59pm

      Who was the idiot who rated and reviewed this concert? He should be "whipped"!!! I flew from Wisconsin to Las Vegas to see this concert. All members were featured and Adam Lambert's vocals were unparalleled. The respect that all members showed to the late Freddie Mercury was respectful and sentimental. There's a reason why you only received a few positive responses. Anybody who calls Adam Lambert's voice as bland is obviously tone deaf. Have you listened to the radio lately. Same shit, different day. Very few with real vocal talent. We all have opinions, and I think that the Queen + AL concert was the best I have ever seen. Love Brian May's hair and guitar rifs too. Shut up and just let us real fans enjoy our show!!!!

      atta boy!

      Jul 13, 2014 at 1:14am

      I'm a Newt Fan.

      Mandy

      Jul 13, 2014 at 9:12am

      There is someone tracking reviews and out of 39, 31 were glowing, 5 were lukewarm (1 of those still complimentary to Adam), and 2 were negative. Brian thought the show in Dallas was the best Queen concert since '86 and that Adam smashed all benchmarks and is a gift from God. And from the hundreds of tweets/comments I've seen from attendees, including Queen die-hards who have now been "converted", these shows have been a rousing success and are set to earn $76 million. After the earnings from these shows, Adam will not have to worry about money. Currently, he's worth $10 million, so he'll be worth much more than that. Not too shabby for someone with a "bland" voice. Let's not forget he has other revenues of income, e.g. earned raved reviews from his acting in Glee and is reported to be having other acting jobs in the pipeline.

      Michael Miles

      Jul 13, 2014 at 1:12pm

      Without Freddie Mercury Queen is just not the same.
      Freddie was a true talented genius.

      A true showman