Having experienced "The Music of Bond" last year, We thought we'd give this concert a go. It featured the RSNO with a five-piece rock band and four singers from the West End production of 'We Will Rock You'.
Splitting Freddie's vocals over four singers was a good idea. None of them got his teeth or his moves but they each brought a different element to the vocals and together produced album quality harmonies. They were not attempting to reproduce a Mercury performance, just creating a feel-good show and they succeeded.
When the orchestra took the stage, it looked like the lead violinist was Brian May only smaller, even in her high heels. It took me a bit of time to get used to the amalgamation of rock band and orchestra, with the rock drummer sticking out and the guitars sounding muted. Brian May has a distinctive sound which these guys didn't quite match. They gave it a good attempt though.
By the second half, with the singers warming up the crowd, getting them on their feet, the show took on more of a concert feel with people singing along and doing the iconic Queen claps and arm salutes. The audience appeared predominantly bald and wrinkly but there were a deceptively large number of young ones too.
Not every song was a success. At one point I thought I was listening to Mary Poppins sings Queen as one of the girl singers enunciated each lyric most eloquently. The long-haired bloke singer does a good rock vocal though, giving plenty of oomph to Tie Your Mother Down.
Bohemian Rhapsody was a class performance from everyone and finished the main show, leaving We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions for the encore. Overall, it was a good way to spend two and a half hours on a windy Sunday evening (thanks to Storm Dennis).
