Bohemian Rhapsody: Live and In Stereo – Literally

Back in November of 2018, I published an article about my love for the rock band, Queen. This was around the time the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was being shown in theaters and I went a grand total of three times to see it. Each time my friends and I went to the theater, I could hardly contain my excitement and was prepared to sing every song without fear of annoying the people sitting near us. 

Shortly after that article was published, three weeks to be exact, Queen and Adam Lambert announced that they would be going on the Bohemian Rhapsody Tour. What were the odds of that? The band went on tour back in 2017 and I had begged my mom to buy me tickets as an early birthday present, saying that these guys were so old they would probably die before they went on tour ever again. Here I was, almost two years later, eating my words as I purchased two concert tickets for August 10, 2019. 

As the months dragged on, the more excited I became. I took three days off work to make time for driving to the cities and to also drive back with enough time to stop at a few touristy attractions before heading back to Winona. I set aside money to purchase T-shirts and a poster to add to my Queen collection (I now have seven shirts, two posters, all the CDs, four vinyl and two tour programs—it’s safe to say that I’m a big fan).

You may be surprised, however, that I didn’t really know who Queen was until my 16th birthday. Sure, I’d listened to the major hits, like “We Are the Champions”, “Another One Bites the Dust”, and “We Will Rock You” in my childhood, but I wouldn’t have been able to tell you who the band members were. Back in high school, I had a crush on one of my friends (we’ll call him Greg) and he told me that he liked to help his brother rehearse his choir songs. I expressed to Greg that it would be awesome to hear his voice, to which he told me that he will never sing in front of people—unless “Bohemian Rhapsody” is put on. 

I told him, “Sure, why not?” not having any clue what that song sounded like. I couldn’t even been bothered to look it up on the Internet. The day of my birthday, we put on “Bohemian Rhapsody” and everyone (except me) sang along to it, marking the very beginning of my love for Queen. 

Fast forward three and a half years later, I saw my favorite band live as well as the biopic more times than I’d like to admit (both in theaters and at home). I never would have thought that they would go on tour again, but I consider myself insanely lucky to have had the opportunity to go, even if it was just one time. 

The week before the concert this August, I made a 35-song playlist to listen to on the way up to the cities with Queen and Adam Lambert’s biggest (and some lesser-known) hits. My best friend Natalie agreed to go with me and my mom even agreed to let my kitten stay with her at the house. At the time, the air in my car wasn’t working, so you could only imagine a sweltering hot car cruising down the interstate blasting Queen with the windows rolled down and a cat meowing at our feet. 

On the day of the concert, sheets of rain were coming down when we drove to the Xcel Energy Center two hours early and got to our spot in line. There were a lot of teenagers younger than me  also standing in line who were wearing their Queen and Adam Lambert shirts. We even saw a younger kid (probably under the age of ten) wearing a full iconic Freddie outfit, exactly like the one below. 

We waited with anticipation after making it to our seats with our bag of popcorn and burgers since we still had another hour to kill. I took the opportunity to film not one but two Tik Toks in honor of the event that unfortunately didn’t get the views they deserved. 

The intro to Queen’s Innuendo began to play as the set began to rise, and I couldn’t contain my excitement. I stood up and cheered, wondering what songs would be played throughout the night. I was soon met with disappointment when I realized that the setlist and the light show was the exact same as the concert back in 2017. Everyone here spent a ton of money to see a band notorious for having amazing shows and they couldn’t even change it up from last time at all? We also had the luxury of sitting in front of the grumpiest old woman, who shouted at everyone that “It was time to sit down.” C’mon, lady. You can’t just go to the concert of a band whose well-known hit includes stomping your feet. 

Even though it was a little bit of a disappointment, I’m glad to have seen my favorite band with my best friend because it was an unforgettable night. It was Natalie’s first concert and, in my opinion, she’s extremely lucky to have it be a world-famous and classic band (while my first concerts were The Cheetah Girls and Hilary Duff… how lame is that?).

Despite it being the same show as the first, I got to see the true queen Adam Lambert who was soaking up the talent of the entire band. I do know one thing, though: If they go on tour for a third time soon, I will purchase tickets again and go see the same exact show!

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• bohemian rhapsody
• queen
• september
• Winona