Friends have urged me unsuccessfully to attend tonight's Queen concert with them. As the band and guest singer Adam Lambert tour, I imagine this scene unfolding for others elsewhere. Some are excited to see Brian May, a we're-not-worthy, guitar-playing legend. Others are interested in Lambert, whose voice is matched, if not surpassed, by his panache, and how he'll interpret the band's array of insanely great songs.
These are strong arguments for, which makes the argument against seem so basic. For others like me, the defense for our disinterest boils down to this: no Freddie Mercury. As honest as it is, it sounds childish. I've said it out loud and can tell you it recalls a grade-school playground debate.
"How come you don't wanna come?!" they whine.
"Because Freddie Mercury won't be there! Duh!"
In real life, I don't normally explain a personal preference in 800 words or less, but this is the blog world, a place where "no thanks, I'm good" is akin to "I'm too stupid to explain my position." So, for others whose friends and fellow music fans demand a more articulate argument against Queen + Adam Lambert (read: Queen - Freddie Mercury), here are some Psychology and Philosophy 101 notes to bolster your opposition:
REWIND: Queen's Best Deep Cuts, Album by Album
GROUPTHINK Wiki defines groupthink as "a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome."
The tour has been getting positive reviews. Lots of attention has been paid to Lambert, the onetime American Idol runner-up whose flamboyance is better known than his recordings. He's a much better fit than Queen's last post-Freddie front man, Paul Rodgers.
All of us who missed Queen live in their heyday really want to be able to say we saw Queen. So, we buy into the reviews and the good word of mouth and the Facebook posts that make this sound like a good idea. These reviews all say the same thing: for someone who is not Freddie Mercury, Adam Lambert is better than Paul Rodgers, or maybe anyone else in music today. They also reiterate Lambert is not Freddie Mercury.
And yes, I am aware that Rocks Off's own Selena Dieringer just listed this show as one to not miss this summer. A silly and borderline-disturbing expectation from some readers suggests since we all write under the same banner we also should all unify our respective opinions from a shared brain. This would be highly unfortunate for Selena, who is a wonderful and thoughtful writer and person. I appreciate that she is excited, but I don't share her enthusiasm (or her frontal lobe).
Story continues on the next page.
