English Review - Q&AL in Bucharest - 20 & 21.06.2016

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[Here you can find 38 HD photos from the concert.]

Still can’t believe that "Queen & Adam Lambert" and "Bucharest" got to be written one next to the other...

When the concert was announced - last year on Thanksgiving Day (26.11.2015)- we were all shocked. Really?! 

Queen had never played here before, nor Adam. As a bonus, the GFG confessed that he has Romanian herritage, so... "Is this the real life?!"

Month by month and week by week the excitement was getting  bigger and bigger.

The days passed so fast that I have no idea how I woke up in the train, on my way to Bucharest. I had the best company – my beloved sister (her first time seeing Adam/ Q&AL; she discovered Adam in 2010, when she was only a little girl - now she’s a pretty little lady and still a proud Glambert).

So, here's our experience:

Monday, June 20th

We arrived in Bucharest on Monday and spent 8 hours at their hotel. 

Met lovely (& very excited) Glamberts there – all of them seen for the first time in real life, but we felt like we’ve known each other for years. 

We welcomed Q&AL when they arrived, around 6:15 PM. 

The only one we saw properly (talked & took pictures with) was Brian, who himself came to us and was so kind, chill and surprised to see us there. 

We were a small group of 8 people. The television was there, too. Everything happened so fast, that while Brian came in front of me, all the people gathered around me so I couldn’t see anything else near that area.

We lost the other ones. I could only hear "Adam!!!!" from a dear Glambert next to me,  but didn’t see him. He entered the hotel with all the others.

Later we saw Roger, Rufus, Spike and Neil. I also spotted Shosh and Leah; talked to Shosh for a few seconds and she told us that Adam has to do some press (we already knew about his interviews for Israel). 

It was late in the evening when we almost lost hope, but suddenly my sister told me "Look! There’s Adam at the hotel’s front desk!!!". We were all sooooo excited!! 

He was there with Shoshanna for less than a minute. 

It was the first time seeing him outside of a concert and first time ever seeing him for my sister. Full circle! He was sooooo beautiful! I spotted even through the windows that stylish earring he had. And his full outfit was sensational! 

Here's one of the interviews Adam & Brian did for Israel:

After seeing him there we were still waiting there, hoping he would come outside the hotel, but that didn’t happen, so we split and went home. 

Right at the corner, Neil was coming back to the hotel. He recognised me & my sister and came to us. He was very sweet and friendly. We sat there in the street for some minutes and chatted. He told us "Adam is good!".

In summary:  meeting/seeing from very close rock royalty and Adam was such a dream come true. Also, happy to see & meet so many Romanian Glamberts!

Even if we’re a tiny community, we made such great memories and now we’re more that decided to bring Adam here with his own tour!

Tuesday, June 21st

Concert day.

Me & sis arrived at Constitutiei Square at 11 AM, but there were people from our group there from earlier (8 AM). Saw some foreign Glamberts, too.

It's makes totally non-sense mentioning the heat because they said themselves that it was the hottest day of the tour...

Time flew and around 1 PM the soundcheck started. 

Adam rehearsed "The Hero", "One Vision" and "Who Wants To Live Forever". It was he first time hearing his voice in the most simple way, with only few riffs from Brian from time to time. I can't explain in words what I felt. His voice was resonating through all Constitutiei Square and the centre of the city. It was heaven on Earth!

We also heard his laughs. So cute!

When the soundcheck was done, their car passed right next to us. We weren't sure, but when people told that they saw Adam in the car with Brian, we waved at them and they waved back. 

We were few people there at the gates because the doors were still closed and the fact that they noticed us was truly rewarding.

Doors opened at almost 4:30 PM. It was a chaos for some minutes, but after all security points we had only one mission: front row!

And we did it! Almost everyone in our group was in the front or second row, on the left side of the small stage.

The opening acts started around 6 PM, but honestly we were too excited and desperate to see Q&AL on stage, so I can't even comment on their performances because I was there only physically.

The crowd got bigger and bigger only minutes before Queen & Adam Lambert. First I was worried because we were so few people after the doors opened and I thought "Really, Romania?! Really?!"

But all of that disappeared when I saw it was finally full-house - around 24 000 people.

25 000 tickets available, so a totally success, I'd dare to say, due to many factors that gave me panic attacks after I realised the concert was indeed a fact.

Let's face it: Romania is not exactly the most progressive, open-minded country, so I'm very grateful because we didn't disappoint them.

Until the concert started the crowd was cheering their names and Glamberts definitely had a word there! First people started with "Queen! Queen! Queen!", then we came in with "Adam! Adam! Adam!" and then everyone continued with "Brian! Brian!" and "Roger! Roger!" and "Rufus! Rufus!" and all over again.

The audience was very diverse, just like our small group of Glamberts.

I saw 7-8 year-old kids, teens, adults and elder people.

Lots of Glamberts, lots of die-hard Queen fans, lots of skeptical people. Lots of foreign people!

From what I heard after the concert, in the audience were many Romanian VIPs (artists, sportsman, politicians).

I was terrified by people's reaction regarding Adam, knowing the facts mentioned before.

Don't wanna mention the concert song by song, I just want to highlight the most memorable things we lived during those 2 hours.

Very few minutes after 9 PM Queen & Adam Lambert showed up on stage with an electric "Flash"/"The Hero" intro.

The audience was going crazy from the first second. Tremendous feedback!

Adam won them all after his speech between "Killer Queen" & "Don't Stop Me Now". I think people knew all that he was saying regarding Freddie, but they needed a confirmation, so they got it & everything just exploded afterwards! To me, it felt like any tension disappeared that moment and the applause & cheering Adam got after finishing his words were the most honest of the whole night.

Brian was very impressed during "Love Of My Life". The audience sang along beautifully. Even after the concert, on the streets of Bucharest there were hundreds of people who kept singing it.

Also Brian mentioned how happy he was to be there and how much Queen always wanted to come to Romania.

His guitar solo was named by many critics the highlight of the night.

Roger definitely made Romanians feel that it was a kind of magic. Strong vocals and a very charming stage presence. Like Adam said, "Roger Taylor, ladies and gentlemen. Playing the drums and singing. Rock'n'roll!"

He keeps playing with the same force and passion, which is totally admirable.

Adam saw and felt his Glamberts from the beginning of the show. He came to the B stage almost every song.

We made a lot of eye-contacts. He smiled at us and send us kisses. I can totally say he felt the love.

Not only of the hardcore Glamberts, but also of all the people who -irremediably- fell in love with him.

During "Radio Gaga" we shook hands and admired his beauty from even closer.

Is he real? Is he painted? Is he human?

I saw "Killer Queen" for the first time from that close. Last year in Vienna I saw it on screens and in Prague I was in front on B stage, but in the 6-7th row.

Very grateful for that hilarious moment!

The encore came in a minute. 

It felt like in a second I found myself at the end of the show.

I couldn't stop the tears. I've had a first "session" at the beginning of "Bohemian Rhapsody", but when I heard "We Will Rock You" I just bursted into tears, both happy and sad because of the historical moments that just happened.

 Those last notes of "We Are The Champions" were out of this world.

After the show ended people kept cheering and while getting out of Constitutiei Square I heard the first "reviews".

First of all, people seemed very happy. It was like they were waiting so many years for a night and concert like this and now, that finally it happened, they were happy and grateful.

Of course some of them had a bigger ego and at first they didn't praise Adam the way he deserved, but shortly after that night strong, positive comments and appreciations kept coming, both from audience members and media.

In conclusion:

It was the 5th time seeing Adam and 3rd time seeing Q&AL, but this was the most special of all.

Maybe because it was in my country (which I never expected to happen!), maybe because the audience was the greatest I've seen so far... don't know, but it was absolutely outstanding!

Still pinching myself!

Brian & Roger were in great shape and their joy and energy was truly shared with all of us. It was an honor to have them in Romania!

Adam was vocally perfect and beautiful in every single way! Never missed a note!
I was worried about him because I know he must be very tired after more than half a year of touring, but having "Who Wants To Live Forever" back on the setlist was a good sign.
He won many many people. Finally, many hearts, eyes and minds were open. I can't express in words how happy and proud I am! So well-deserved! 

He is not only an amazing performer, but his kindness, humbleness and spirit of humanity were truly appeciated.

All of the other musicians proved why they were chosen as part of the iconic band, so no other words needed. Bravo!

Queen & Adam Lambert made history in Constituiei Suqare, Bucharest, Romania.

June 21st, 2016 will never be forgotten!

I'm sure Freddie was there with all of us and he was smiling and applauding them for the love and respect proven. Truly inspiring!

Thank you, Queen & Adam Lambert!

You made us feel AMAZING!

We were blessed and so damn lucky!

Setlist:

The view of Constituiei Square was amazing.

In the background The Palace Of Parliment (world's second largest building) was rewarded with a magical night.

UNFORGETTABLE!

Foto: Brian May

R.Ș.