‘A good toe in the water’: Brian May on Queen’s warm up show with Adam Lambert

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Brian May pulled a rare gem out as Queen performed a warm-up gig in advance of the North American tour-opening date in Chicago — “Love Kills,” originally a heavily synthesized Freddie Mercury song issued as part of Giorgio Moroder’s 1984 reworking of Metropolis.

May said he had a sense that digging deeper into the group’s collective catalog would be well received:
“In a way, yes, I had a strong feeling, but I’m well pleased.”

Last night’s Adam Lambert-fronted show at the iHeartRadio Theatre arrived as Queen prepares for a string of upcoming dates across the U.S. and Canada, then in Asia and Australia. Also featured along with this brilliantly stripped-down take on “Love Kills” during a short, eight-song runthrough were signature Queen favorites like “We Will Rock You,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Another One Bites the Dust” and “We Are the Champions.”

“That wasn’t really a tour date — and, of course, it was on a small set thrown together for TV,” May adds. “But I felt it was a good toe in the water, and well done by the team I thought. So glad you all like ‘Love Kills’ — I was hoping you would. Both Freddie and Adam kill on this song.”

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