Jeremy Porter shares some thoughts about the Hulu/FX Biopic “Pistol” about the Sex Pistols.
Read MoreQueen is Drawing a Fine Line Between Tribute and Exploitation - by Colin Gawel
Brian May & Roger Taylor Should Let Freddie Mercury Rest in Peace.
I finally made it out to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. In fact, I saw it the night before the Oscar awards were chosen. I had been resistant to seeing the movie because as most Queen fans and certainly all of my music snob friends know, the film is basically BS. I’m not going to go through the whole thing, but if you need one example, Freddie Mercury had not been diagnosed with AIDS before the band’s legendary Live Aid performance. If you are rock n roll fan like myself, that is a troublesome bit to work around.
Still, I went into the theater beer in hand, ready to enjoy the dish Hollywood was serving. I told myself “Lighten up, this is just like a big, glorified VH1 movie. You love those.” And you know what? I loved it. I mean, I literally turned to my wife during the opening scene when Freddie was getting ready to go onstage at Wembley and said, “This is awesome, I already love this.” Obviously, Rami what’s-his-name killed it in the lead role, which really helped too.
When I shared my thumbs-up review later that night on social media, my opinion was met with a resounding thumbs-down. I couldn’t really argue with the critics, I just enjoyed the movie. It’s funny, I never considered myself a huge Queen fan (relative to the other Queen fans I know), but I suppose - compared to the rest of the general public - I’m relatively hardcore. As a kid taking the bus down High Street every weekend to blow my paper route money on used records, I bought almost every Queen album. Hell, I even bought the soundtrack to Flash Gordon the day it came out and saw the movie opening weekend too. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, consider yourself less of a Queen fan than myself. Still, I never saw them live so I’ve spent countless hours watching YouTube footage and the famous Live Aid show itself probably.….35 times? And I even went to that Queen play. It was pretty good. (editor’s note: Huh? WHAT Queen play? I’m simultaneously fascinated AND appalled. And check out the rest of our music page here)
Another random Queen fact: My favorite song is Dragon Attack.
So you get the gist: I like Queen and damn the torpedoes, I like the movie Bohemian Rhapsody too.
However…. the next night when the Oscar’s opened the show with Queen performing and Adam Lambert playing the role of Freddie, something about it made me queasy. It was one thing for the band to go out and play with (gulp) Paul Rodgers and now this latest line-up when they were kinda, sorta under the radar, but in light the of the movie’s success it felt really tacky. I felt gross watching. I felt bad for Freddie. This was his band. And now they are going on another huge tour, without him. From the tour press release:
“This is a great opportunity,” May said. “Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever, and got us our best notices ever.”
Really, Brian? “Our best notices ever.” So you guys are better without Freddie Mercury? I mean Lambert does a fine job, but what’s next? In the future will Adam Levine be fronting the Stones on their final tour in honor of Mick? The line Queen is drawing between tribute and exploitation is getting increasingly blurry.
The surviving members taking yet another victory lap after this huge theatrical success feels disrespectful to Freddie. And to the legacy of the band. Of course it smacks of a money grab, but even worse, a glory grab. Right now Queen is the most popular they have ever been. It’s time for them to stand down and let people remember them as the band fronted by Freddie Mercury. Not by Adam Lambert or Paul Rodgers or Rami Malik or anybody else. They twisted Freddie’s life to make this movie. He brought them fame & fortune and everything that goes with it.. And this is how you thank him? Brian May and Roger Taylor should stand on their history and let Freddie Mercury rest in peace: remembered as the amazing lead singer of the rock band Queen. - Colin G.
Colin Gawel wrote this at Colin’s Coffee. He also plays in the band Watershed and The League Bowlers. Below is one of his favorite Queen clips and one example of how future generations should remember the band.
Bonus video!!! They don’t really show this side of the band in the movie, but I would guess that metal fans were the majority of Queen fans right up until around Live Aid. Then the pop fans sorta took over. Still, all true headbangers respect the band. Dig the clip below for a taste why.
TV Party Tonight! Part One: A George Michael Rehearsal with Queen - by Colin Gawel
My phone says it's 7 degrees outside right now. The perfect weather to get warm inside a youtube rabbit hole. Following last night's League Bowlers show and many Four String Brews, the staff of Pencilstorm decided we should start a winter series featuring some of our favorite video finds to help get your personal hole started. I'll go first.
TV Party Tonight! Part One: A George Michael Rehearsal with Queen - Colin Gawel
It's funny how one performance can change your entire perception of an artist, but that's exactly what happened to me when George Michael fronted Queen for a single song at the Freddie Mercury tribute in 1992. Sadly, the untimely death of Michael led me to stumble onto footage of George rehearsing with Queen before the mega-show at Wembley. I grabbed my 13 year old son Owen and showed him the clip. I could tell he dug it, but all he said was, "Yeah, so that rocked. Queen rocks. What's the big deal?" I tried to explain the context. "Dude, George Michael crushing with Queen would be like Justin Bieber coming out and crushing with Green Day at the Billie Joe Tribute show." I had his attention now. "Dad, what do you mean?" "Check this shit out little man.." (I didn't really say it that way. Owen and I pretend we don't swear in each other's company)
I was about the same age as Owen when I first saw this Wham! video on the MTV. His reaction upon this initial screening was about how I remembered mine. His mouth hung open wide and a look of abject horror creeped over his face. "That's the same guy? Wow."
When I first saw Wham! my brain just couldn't compute...confused.... there is no other word ...it was just too.... gay. I'm not trying to use the word "Gay" in a derogatory manner. I was a kid who didn't even know what that word meant. It's just that being a fourteen year old boy growing up in the white bread suburb of Worthington, Ohio, my frame of reference was very limited. My idea of diversity was Earle Bruce embracing the forward pass more than Woody Hayes. Being progressive meant liking RUSH more than Molly Hatchet. Judas Priest were Hell Bent for Leather. That shit rocked. I liked loud electric guitars. Sure, I knew something was off with Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonight" video, but Billy got a pass from me (if not the world) because "In the Dark" ROCKED. Wham! were many things, but they were decidedly NOT rock n roll. In fact, they were a frontal attack on rock. I couldn't make sense of it.
To a kid who hadn't hit puberty, I suppose"Gay" meant something my little sister liked. And she liked Wham! A lot. UGH.
George had dug himself a deep hole in my personal musical rankings. Somewhere between Tiffany and King Kobra. That's a tough spot. Fast forward to the Freddie Mercury Tribute show in Wembley Stadium. I can't remember the details, but I was watching the show with the Watershed guys in a hotel room somewhere when George was announced to come out. We all kind of moaned..."Ugh.. George Michael....lame... Let's watch just a little to see how bad it is.." Then this happened..
Mouths dropping in wonder, at the end of the song, we spontaneously piled on the bed hugging, high-fiving and screaming, "George Michael needs to join Queen and tour. RIGHT NOW!!"
I think almost everybody in the stadium and on Earth instantly had the same opinion. This is no easy feat when considering we were all talking about replacing the irreplaceable Freddie Mercury. At his own memorial show no less. I think everybody also wondered why it never happened. I mean just look at them? It's amazing. It had to be depressing for Queen to downshift to Paul Rodgers and that Adam guy from The Voice or whatever.
Anyway, just last week, I bumped into this clip of George rehearsing "Somebody to Love" with Queen and it's almost more fun than the stadium show. Just the guys rocking. No audience. Oh, other than David Bowie watching from the wings. Under Pressure much? Not George. He KILLS. My mouth was saying, "That roadie looks just like David Bowie" at the exact same time my brain was registering, "Holy shit.. that IS David Bowie."
RIP George Michael. What a bad ass. "I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger" - Ron Wood
Bonus clip. As good as the previous clips were, Freddie is still.... Freddie. Also, I've always loved the cups of cheap-looking draft beer that are invariably on his piano. To me, that visual perfectly sums up what makes Queen so unique among its peers. A broadway bar band.
Colin Gawel plays in the band Watershed and The League Bowlers. Read about him in the book Hitless Wonder or visit him at Colin's Coffee. Visit the Pencilstorm music page for more cool stuff.