Queen + Paul Rogers

It's amazing how much music from certain times in your life become interwoven into the fabric of whom you become. In 1980 I bought Queen's The Game (I was about 12 at the time) and over the next few years I immersed myself in their back catalogue and they were responsible for igniting my interest (obsession) with music. Two years later I attended my first concert and was lucky enough to see the greatest front-man I'e ever seen to this day. Freddie had a way of reaching almost every single person in the audience. He was the ultimate performer and he flourished on the stage.

I was too young to see Free and only got into Bad Company after Paul Rogers left in 1982; however Paul Rodger became one of my favourite singers. It'sdifficult to compare Freddie and Paul as singers as they are both amazing singers but with very different styles. Freddie' voice was breathtaking in its range and diversity, while Paul' is soulful and perfect for those blues undertones that have characterised his career.

I knew it was going to be a strange evening for me watching the fusion of talents that have been so influential in my life. Both camps have been touched by tragedy (Freddie in 1991 & Paul Kossoff in 1976) but I was really curious to see how the blues of Rogers would fit with the pomp of Queen. To a large degree things went as I expected; Rogers's voice worked well on the rockier Brian May penned songs such as "Tie your mother down" and not so well on Freddie's pomp filled "We are the champions". What was more of a surprise was to see how good the fit was on the new material. "War boys" from the new album show that Rogers has more songs left in him than Queen did at the end of their career and I look forward to seeing what future albums will bring. The highlight of the concert for me though was the fantastic version of Bad Company, although '39 and Bohemian Rhapsody were both excellent albeit difficult to sing along to due to the unexpected lump in my throat. It may not be Queen, but give them credit for not claiming to be Queen or hiring a Freddie impersonator so that they just become a tribute band. Brian May, and Roger Taylor wrote some great songs over the years with Queen and it was great to see them played live again after all this time.

While the picture is very poor (Hey it is just a phone's camera) the occasion did feel right for my 100th blip!