Adam Lambert, in his new role as front man for Queen, rocked Houston on Wednesday night, during one of the band’s few southern stops on its summer tour. Sources say it didn’t take long for the crowd to warm up to Lambert, whose vocal abilities sold them–if not before–then definitely during his rendition of ‘Somebody to Love.’

Since Freddie Mercury’s passing back in 1991, finding a viable replacement with the vocal talent and similar over-the-top style to fill his larger-than-life shoes has been a difficult task for the band. Adam Lambert likely represents the end to that task. His glitz and glam via multiple costume changes compared to those of Cher–as well as his penchant for leopard print, leather, and fringe–kept the crowd singing along, cheering, and remembering Mercury, who died of HIV/AIDS. Film clips of Mercury’s performances from the 1980s peppered Wednesday’s performance, with Adam Lambert even ceding the vocals of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to his late, great predecessor. It was plain to see that Lambert had achieved the very delicate balance of leading with his vocals while still honoring Freddie Mercury–and with some of the band’s original fans in the audience–that was no small feat.

Adam Lambert reportedly had more of a ‘practiced showmanship’ style than that of Freddie Mercury, who always kept his feet very firmly planted in the rock genre, but that was probably needed to prevent fans from thinking they were at a tribute show instead of enjoying a revitalized version of the classic rock band.

The night after his Houston performance, Adam Lambert was rocking the crowd in Dallas.

Dallas! Y'all pumped??!!

— ADAM LAMBERT (@adamlambert) July 10, 2014

1 hour 7min video!!! Queen + Adam Lambert (Dallas Concert-7/10/14) AA Center: http://t.co/lrgEzZbogi via MercuryMixes

— Katerina (@Jadelle1) July 12, 2014

If any Queen fans held off their opinions of Adam Lambert until the encore, then they were sold the minute the young singer returned to the stage. His renditions of ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’ left little to no doubt in their minds that he is good–even good enough to do Freddie Mercury proud.

Adam Lambert is no Freddie Mercury. Mercury is irreplaceable in the rock world. But as a singer who can lead Queen into future sold out performances–it sounds like Lambert might just be the next best thing.

Image via Instagram