Must The Show Go On?

Following a performance together at last years EMAs, Queen + Adam Lambert have announced they are to headline this summers Sonisphere music festival.

This marks a return to Knebworth for Queen after playing their last show with Freddie Mercury there in 1986. But with only two of the remaining band members performing (bassist John Deacon has long retired from the industry) is this really a good idea, or have Brian May and Roger Taylor gone slightly mad?!

I remember first being introduced to Queen's music back in 1997, when I was just nine years old. My dad had the first Greatest Hits album on repeat during a car journey to Manchester. I was instantly hooked, singing along about girls with fat bottoms, bicycle races, and another one biting the dust. Now standing at 23 years of age my love the band hasn't wavered. As a bass player myself, John Deacon has become an idol figure for me. Not a day goes by where I don't pick up my Danelectro and jam along to a Deaky line!

And herein lies the dilema. I really, really love Queen's music. I was just unfortunate to born in an era when the band's live appearances had stopped after the tragic demise of the greatest frontman in music history due to AIDS. So for Queen fans like myself the Sonisphere show is the only chance we will get to see half of the band play those great songs. I mean, what a thrill it would be to see Brian May perform heroics on his homemade guitar, and Roger Taylor pounding away in perfect rhythm on his drumkit!

But at the same time the absence of Deacon and Mercury would create a huge void that quite simply cannot be filled. With only half the band on stage, is it really Queen at all?

So why did May and Taylor agree to the headline slot? Well, it certainly isn't due to the need for a bit more cash! Is it to celebrate the memory of Mercury? An attempt to bring Queen's music to a new generation? Or maybe the two ageing rockers can't resist the opportunity to get back on stage in Queen mode, hopelessly addicted to the thrill of rock n' roll!

Lambert has an impossible role to play in the show. Despite being a hero in my eyes, Deacon's bass lines can be replicated. Freddie Mercury on the other hand simply cannot. Lambert has to try and give his own performance to the songs and not get drawn in to attempting the impossible impersonation of Freddie. Either way he will be criticised by Queen fans. I am not a fan of his at all, but what was he meant to do when Brian and Roger asked him? I'd imagine it would be near impossible to turn down the chance to perform those great songs alongside those great musicians.

So where do I stand on the matter? I think if I had the money I would go and check the show out. Although it won't be the Queen of old, I still feel the chance to see some of the band perform is a enticing one. Some fans have been upset by this collaboration, and it is certainly not an ideal one. Things could be worse though, it could be Dappy up there with them!

The problem we have when it comes to Queen is that we want it all, and we want it now. But without John and Freddie it is just not possible.