Queen + Adam Lambert deliver a kind of magic at sold-out Little Caesars Arena concert

They will, they will rock you.

And they did Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena, as Queen + Adam Lambert rocked a sold-out Motor City crowd of 15,000 with songs from Queen's storied playbook of classic rock megahits.

The appreciative crowd, many of whom were old enough to have seen Queen with Freddie Mercury at the helm (and some of whom were boasting about the times they did), showed their love for original band members Brian May and Roger Taylor, as well as Lambert, who is celebrating his 12th year with the band. (He said on stage it's only his 10th year, but who's counting?)

Lambert hit the stage dressed like a glam rock Avenger from outer space, complete with sunglasses three times bigger than anything Bono has ever worn and a flowing cape to match his shiny silver and purple chest plate. "Radio Ga Ga" was the opener and was revisited at the end of the show, with stops in between at all the expected destinations: "Another One Bites the Dust," "Fat Bottomed Girls," "Bicycle Race," "I Want it All," "Under Pressure," "Love of My Life," "Somebody to Love."

Respect was paid to Mercury early and often, and his likeness appeared several times on the stage's video screens. Lambert, a powerhouse vocalist who showed his pizazz on the eighth season of "American Idol," paid homage to Mercury with his flamboyant performance, heavily vamping while performing directly into the video screens as if he was looking into a mirror during "Killer Queen."

Lambert, 41, is extremely reverent of his bandmates, and they are of him; May even introduced Lambert as "our very own gift from God." The three principals, augmented by three additional bandmates, did a good job of sharing the spotlight amongst themselves, with May and Taylor each getting their own solo showcases during the 135-minute show. May at one point played a solo atop a lift, surrounded by tiny replicas of planets and cosmic video screen visuals that made it look like he was on his own sci-fi celestial journey through the stars.

There was a bit of a future-leaning theme to the evening, even as the songs reached back to the '70s and '80s. "Is This the World We Created...?" was a weeping lament for the ills of our planet, as timely now as it was when it was written nearly 40 years ago, but there was no time to get misty eyed; "The Show Must Go On," as the song goes, and as the very next song went.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" closed the main set, as the hard parts were handled by the original recording, which was pumped out over the production's video screens; it's not a cheat if it's a tribute. The encore turned up "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions," the latter a reminder of how long it's been since a Detroit sports team has been able to blast that anthem in celebration.

There were youngsters in the crowd as well, as the massive success of 2018's "Bohemian Rhapsody" biopic brought the band a whole new audience. Tuesday's concert wasn't billed as part of a farewell tour or anything of the sort, and there's no reason to think Queen won't be back to play the hits again. May is 76, Taylor is 74. But Queen's music is timeless, and these songs will live forever, no matter who's playing them or who's stomping their feet and clapping their hands along with them.

agraham@detroitnews.com