Not so Great Pretenders to the throne

Playhouse Theatre

WITH a two-night stint during September, 1976, rockers Queen caused sheer pandemonium when they played to sell-out crowds at the Playhouse.

At the time, Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were at the height of their popularity.

Queen’s star continued to shine brightly throughout the 1980s, and their stadium anthems were played to packed audiences worldwide, including that unforgettable Live Aid concert in 1985 - in front of one of the biggest international audiences of all time.

Nothing in pop lasts forever, though, and the tragic death of frontman Freddie Mercury from Aids in November 1991 saw Queen’s supreme reign come to an unexpected end.

Nearly three decades on, tribute act Magic were treading the same boards at the Playhouse in front of another sell-out crowd - proof positive that the show really did have to go on.

Magic were formed in 1974, just as Queen were reaching the height of their popularity. As a harmony group performing covers of The Beach Boys, Four Seasons and ELO, Magic soon introduced the music of Queen into their repertoire, performing Bohemian Rhapsody live in their stage show just as it reached No1 in the UK charts.

Unlike many tribute acts, Magic say that they do not attempt to portray Queen visually, but instead concentrate solely on the sound.

Playing to a crowd of Queen fanatics last night - most of whom seemed to know every word of every song - the band kicked off with A Kind of Magic.

From the onset, the group proved adept at recreating Queen’s music for a live audience.

At the end of the day Queen was Freddie Mercury - an irreverent, maverick performer, who was unquestionably one of rock’s greatest all-time entertainers.

Singer Roger Brown, on the other hand, is merely very good. In fact, the only steps he seemed to have taken to look like Mercury was to wear one of the singer’s trademark white vests.

Despite this - not to mention the fact there was little chemistry between the band members on stage - the mock rockers did at least perform a credible collection of Queen tunes.

The show was divided into two parts, the first featuring some very well known Queen hits. These included the foot-stomping I Want To Break Free, and a reworking of Don’t Stop Me Now, which, sadly, lost much of its credibility due to the fact there was no piano accompaniment.

Part one ended with The Great Pretender, which really should have provided one of the highlights of the evening. Instead, however, the song merely came across as good karaoke.

Mercifully though, things picked up aplenty after the interval.

The second half kicked off with Another One Bites the Dust, which really got the crowd going - here Brown injected some much-needed energy into his performance by gliding across the stage and shaking his booty in front of the crowd.

This was more like Queen as we know them, and the crowd were really starting to kick back and enjoy themselves by this stage.

Next, a medley of songs - including Under Pressure - kept the tempo high, before Bohemian Rhapsody, by most people’s reckoning Queen’s best song, provided a strong finale.