Adam Lambert 24/7 News

But the former American Idol contestant needn’t have worried. On Queen’s current North American tour — which continues Sunday in Philadelphia and wraps Aug. 5 in Houston — Lambert is a more than competent Mercury stand-in, bringing pop-punk snarl and a superhuman vocal range to fan favorites such as We Are the Champions, I Want It All and Who Wants to Live Forever, an emotional evening highlight that, like Under Pressure before it, left many concertgoers dewy-eyed.

Slinking down the guitar-shaped catwalk, gyrating across the stage and pedaling on a rose-covered bike for – you guessed it – Bicycle Race, Lambert exuded raw energy and dynamic showmanship..

But it was the reverence to Queen’s past, along with Lambert’s generosity and magnetism, that ultimately made it such a satisfying evening for the band’s longtime fans.