CityLife

Queen + Paul Rodgers

IN FULL FLOW: Rodgers and May

NEWS that scientists could resurrect the woolly mammoth with test tube trickery is timely, with Queen bringing their gargantuan show to Manchester.

As one legendary, giant, prehistoric creature with masses of hair returns, so too could an extinct elephant.

What two hours in the company of one of rock’s greatest pantomime acts proves however is that Brian May is far from a museum piece yet and Roger Taylor on drums can just about keep pace too.

Hammer To Fall and Tie Your Mother Down warms up the trademark sixpence May uses to pluck at the strings as Paul Rodgers, formerly front man of bluesy rockers Free, begins to buzz around him, strutting across a stage extended through the middle of the crowd.

Perfect harmonies

Fat Bottomed Girls features suspiciously perfect harmonies between the five old rockers and the effort is recognised with a fevered response from a crowd stacked to the rafters.

Another One Bites The Dust brings it home that Freddie Mercury is no longer at the helm, where his voice should have hit like a ton of bricks Rodgers’ tone is smooth and clear, suggesting he certainly doesn‘t smoke cigars.

Whirlwind

I Want To Break Free is the pop whirlwind it always was, marking a highlight in the show before the band disperse for the show’s protracted middle section, rudely halting the adrenalin rush.

Comprising of a touching audience-led Love Of My Life, a strange sequence of drum solos and Roger Taylor finally taking lead for A Kind Of Magic, it slowed the pace to a snail’s stroll rather than stop it dead.

With an electric virtuoso display by May to follow, the purists and axe worshippers will have gone away satisfied but the hit chasers were also rewarded for their patience with Radio Ga Ga, the cue for every Queen fan to get off their denim clad behind, onto their feet and raise their arms into the air.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love and The Show Must Go On reflect the band’s opposing shades, always some parts school disco and other parts dramatic opera.

No more was the opera more evident than in Bohemian Rhapsody, for which Mercury via video screen, and Rodgers’ share vocal duties.

The encore really allows the singer to flex his muscles with a blistering run through of Free’s Alright Now.

We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions bring down the curtain on a two hour show which bubbled with nostalgia and, above all, offered a chance to witness one of Britain’s near-extinct rock beasts in all their glory.

What did you think of the 'new' Queen? Have your say.