Photo Gallery: Queen + Adam Lambert • United Center • Chicago

Queen + Adam Lambert

United Center, Chicago, IL

Monday, October 30, 2023

Recap and photos by Ed Spinelli

“The Rhapsody” Tour keeps rolling for Queen + Adam Lambert, who stopped by the United Center on Halloween Eve before its encore on the official holiday. It was the perfect season to see a band that was never shy about dressing up, especially late frontman Freddie Mercury, and the flashy tradition continued with the charismatic Adam Lambert picking up where he left off.

Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor’s flawless playing were a significant part of the musical puzzle, as were familiar favorites such as “Radio Ga Ga,” “Hammer To Fall,” and “Another One Bites The Dust,” which got the sold-out crowd ready to rock. In fact, Queen had so many singles or cult classics it was easy to lose count throughout “Bicycle Race,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “A Kind Of Magic,” “Somebody To Love,” and more than two dozen others.

The band did not have any new material to promote, which meant the set was an evening of classics, including “Under Pressure,” “Tie Your Mother Down,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” performed by both the original members and the relative newcomer with pure perfection. Even Mercury made many on-screen cameos, like “Ay-Oh,” which built up the momentum all the more for “We Will Rock You,” and finally, “We Are The Champions” in all its arena-filling glory.