ROCK royalty Queen and Adam Lambert graced the North-East with their presence on Friday night as they brought their sold out tour to Newcastle Arena.

There’s no doubt about it, Queen are still champions of the world.

Opening with a We Will Rock You teaser, applause rippled around the arena as icons Brian May and Roger Taylor emerged from behind a huge screen with flamboyant Lambert who dazzled as he belted out lead vocals on Hammer To Fall and Stone Cold Crazy.

American Idol runner-up Lambert was quick to thank rock n roll legends May and Taylor for letting him perform with them and he also joked that he knows he's 'no Freddie', much to the amusement of fans.

In honour of the ‘one and only rock God’ Freddie Mercury, Lambert asked everyone to promise him one thing - to help him celebrate Freddie and Queen together – before he launched into an epic performance of Don’t Stop Me Now.

At times it felt as though Lambert was almost channelling Freddie and in the next breath the show took on a more musicalesque tone thanks to his mesmerising vocals.

Lambert camped-up each performance to the max. From straddling the top of Queen's stone mascot Frank to riding a tricycle decked out in pink and purple flowers around on stage to Bicycle Race. He didn’t hold back as he strut down the catwalk stage singing Killer Queen wearing high platform heels and a purple suit which he dubbed ‘the gayest suit ever’.

May reminisced about times when Queen played at Newcastle's City Hall and asked fans to 'do this for Freddie' before performing an acoustic version of Love Of My Life.

Touchingly an iconic clip of Freddie singing the song beamed out on screen. It was moving to hear May and Mercury almost duet together once again.

Cheers echoed around the arena and some overcome with emotions shed a tear.

A guitar solo by May and a drum battle between Taylor and Nashville drummer Tyler Warren went down a storm.

It was also cool to see Roger emerge from his drum kit to take the lead vocal for A Kind Of Magic.

Powerful vocals from Lambert raised the roof as he sang Who Wants To Live Forever and Bohemian Rhapsody, which fittingly ended with the original music video aired on screen.

Ending in true rock n roll style Lambert donned a gold cape and crown for the encore as he unleashed We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions.

One thing is certain Freddie Mercury’s legacy and Queen’s music is sure to live for ever.

Marie Westmoreland