After Queen finished "Another One Bites The Dust" — 10 minutes before 8 p.m. on the Sunday of this year's Summer Sonic in Chiba — hundreds of fans darted for the exits of QVC Marine Field Stadium. Security guards and staff with megaphones tried to direct them as some dashed to the left for Kraftwerk, and others hustled right for the Pixies.
It felt like the kind of stealth concert planning that might have happened in 1987 instead of 2014, as the biggest crowds at the 15th edition of the music festival flocked to the older acts. The two-day event, held simultaneously in Chiba (Tokyo) and Osaka, placed an emphasis on long-running and reunited groups this year.
No act better summed up what Summer Sonic 2014 aimed for than Queen + Adam Lambert — a veteran act with a new twist. Forty-four years since forming, only two original members (Brian May and Roger Taylor) chug along under the Queen name. Nobody in the stadium seemed concerned about that, though, they danced and sang along to classics like "Under Pressure" and "Radio Gaga." Lambert, best known as runner-up from the 2009 edition of "American Idol," was no Freddie Mercury, but impressed nonetheless. "What do you think of the new man?" guitarist May asked, to loud cheers.
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