Review Magazine

August 6, 1982 and March 24, 2006 are two dates Detroit Queen fans will remember for very different reasons.

The first date was the last time Queen comprised of Freddie Mercury on vocals; Brian May on Guitar; John Deacon on bass; and Roger Taylor on drums played in Detroit before Mercury's AIDS-related death in 1991.

The second date was the first time Queen now assisted by former Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers, and sans Deacon appeared in any form in Michigan since the 1982 Hot Space Tour show at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, this time at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Detroit fans who attended both concerts likely noticed similarities and differences in the performances separated by 23 years.

Based on concert albums recorded during the Hot Space era, fans likely heard damn near the same May and Taylor solos. At the March show as seen in 1980s concert clips May soloed on his red special guitar, using pedal effects and sheer skill to create layer upon layer of sound amid smoke and lights.

May, still sporting the same curly locks, sneakers and similar clothing, looked, and often played, as though he never left the 1980s.

Unlike the older shows, May, now 58, played a little slower and flubbed a few notes, particularly as he transcended into Last Horizon from his 1992 solo album, Back to the Light.

Taylor, 56, also showed slight signs of age in his drum solo. He took a less daunting, more deliberate approach no full-bodied attack on timpani this time around. However, Taylor later played his trademark I'm in Love With My Car a song in which he drums over his own smoky, full-bodied vocals.

While the dance-laden Hot Space was not a major hit with fans, I would venture the albums tour drew similar crowds as the March show. Queen built its popularity in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, and assuredly filled most of Joe Louis Arena's 20,000 seats. All of the Palace's 23,000 seats give or take 200 or 300 were filled at March's show.

That show, per Queen tradition, ended with God Save the Queen as the band took its final bows.

That's where the similarities ended.

The Queen + Paul Rodgers show was all about Rodgers, May and Taylor playing off each other's vocal strengths and weaknesses. The somewhat-staged show was energized, but was occasionally marred by miscues and bunk notes uncharacteristic of the original line up.

Rodgers effectively lent his own blues-rock, Bad Company style vocals to Queen's Another One Bites the Dust and Dragon Attack, but no so effectively on The Show Must Go On Mercury's deathbed reflection. Despite his claims to the contrary, Rodgers did mimic Mercury, namely his poses, microphone twirling and penchant for wife-beater-style T-shirts.

Rodgers, no youngster himself, accepted help in tackling Mercury's daunting vocal range. May took on the brunt of the challenging vocals in Under Pressure, while Taylor took lead vocals on Radio Ga Ga.

The break apparently led to a reenergized Rodgers nailing Bad Company classics Bad Company, Can't Get Enough and All Right Now by Free.

The show was rounded out by a three-fold tribute to Mercury and Queen.

First came May's dedication to Mercury on Love of My Life a song crowds around the world once sang in unison with Mercury over May's acoustic guitar.

Amazed that Detroit fans still knew the lyrics 20-plus years later, May said, Detroit is beautiful. You're fucking great.

Next came a touching May and Taylor duet on These Are the Days of Our Lives. The performance was accompanied by film clips of Queen on their maiden voyage to Asia, and Mercury in his element.

A pristine recording of Mercury's voice meshed seamlessly with May and Taylor on the first half of Bohemian Rhapsody. The effect worked so well that if you weren't looking, you'd swear you were back at Joe Louis Arena in 1982.

And that, for die-hard Queen fans, made it worth the wait.