by agkelly » Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:15 pm
I know I'm a few months behind, but I just want to echo the thoughts of the 'thankers' here.
I'm 31, and since discovering Queen at 14yrs old, I'd always had the desire to see them live. I never really expected to, but the desire was there. I was too young to see Brian when he came to town in 1998 (he played an 18+ club ... and I was 17-and-a-half!), and Q+PR never came to Australia, so my desire to see them became a burning desire!
I got the e-mail about Sonisphere back in February, and after weighing up my options working out roughly how much it'd cost (I'd never been overseas before, so I needed to account for EVERYTHING!!!), I went for it. There were some dramas regarding change of flights when Sonsisphere went arse-up and the new Q+AL dates were announced, but in the scheme of things, who cares?! Going to London to see Queen was the best thing I've ever done. It was a mindspin being there and seeing Brian and Roger RIGHT THERE in front of me and not on my tv or computer screen. I almost had to pinch myself throughout the shows because at times, I was 3m from Brian and 10m from Roger.
I went to the Wednesday and Thursday shows, but not the Saturday one as it was added later and I was halfway back to Australia by then. I wasn't going to re-jig flights AGAIN! I saw Queen twice, which is once more than I'd ever hoped for, and twice more than I ever expected to.
I'm not going to comment on the shows themselves other than to say that they were everything I wanted from them. I got to sing along to 'Love Of My Life', hand-clap along with 'Radio Ga Ga', rock out to 'Tie Your Mother Down' ... and more. I'd not seen any previous Q+AL gigs except the EMA mini-set, so was hesitant about AL prior to the first concert. Even despite a few slip ups or moments where he did something I preferred he didn't, I was pleasantly surprised by him. To be honest, I kinda ignored him throughout the shows as I was more intent on watching the Queen aspect of the shows. I'd flown 16hrs and put myself on the line financially to see Queen, not Adam Lambert.
The concerts were amazing, the atmosphere was incredible, and the whole experience was the greatest of my life thus far. I always thought IF I ever got to see Queen (or even Brian solo), then that'd be it for me (my desire to see them live would have been fulfilled), however having seen them a few months ago, I find myself now knowing what it was like ... and wanting more!!!
I'll add my thanks here now too. Thankyou to everyone who made this possible. Even Sonisphere..!