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Legendary rock band Queen with American Idol alum Adam Lambert returned to Los Angeles this past week to the Forum for The Rhapsody Tour. The first time Adam Lambert performed with Queen was on the American Idol finale in 2009. I cried as I listened to Adam Lambert sing with my all-time favorite band. I saw them in concert when they went on their first world tour in 2014-2015 and then again on their second worldwide tour in 2017-2018. Now, following the Oscar-winning film Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen and Adam Lambert are on tour again and without a doubt, The Rhapsody Tour is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Everything about the concert was excellent! Brian May and Roger Taylor are still as talented as ever, as witnessed by the guitar and drum solos. And Adam Lambert is an amazing talent. He is a showman and a performer but he also has an extraordinary voice. The show opened with “Keep Yourself Alive” and “Killer Queen” and then Lambert spoke to the audience to address the “pink elephant in the room,” as he called it. He said “I am not Freddie Mercury. I f---ing know, because there will only be one Freddie Mercury. There’s no replacing him. All I’m here to do tonight is celebrate Freddie and carry the torch for Freddie. And I hope I’m making him proud.” He then performed “Don’t Stop Me Now”.  Adam Lambert is not Freddie Mercury but he can definitely hold his own.
Queen is one of the greatest bands of all time. I eagerly anticipated the opening of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody and while it is not a perfect movie, it is the Please The Palate pick of the week. I grew up on the music of Queen, although I did not know at the time that some of the anthems that my friends and I sang as kids were by them. There was "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You." And, when I was nine or ten years old, my friend and I would ride the ski lift chair and every time we saw someone fall, we would sing loudly, "Another one bites the dust, another one bites the dust, and another one down and another one down, another one bites the dust."
Two things that go well together are wine and music. And for ten days each year, wine and music come together for Festival Napa Valley. Epitomizing the elegance of wine country life, Festival Napa Valley is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Every July, for ten days, more than 200 artists, wineries, resorts, theaters, restaurants and vintners participate in Festival Napa Valley. Extraordinary performances in breathtaking locations make up many of the experiences for guests. There are vintner luncheons, winemaker dinners and most importantly, the concerts. The arts are such an important part of our lives. Research has found that learning music facilitates learning other subjects. Music helps with language development, spatial-temporal skills and increased IQ. Music makes us happier and less stressed. I grew up in a family of professional classical flutists and started playing at a young age. I played in orchestras my entire childhood and went to music camp each summer. Music has played such a significant part in my life and gives me great pleasure to see other young people experiencing the same.
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