This past Christmas, my brother, knowing how much of a Queen fanatic I was, got me tickets to “One Night of Queen”, a Queen tribute act from Glasgow who were internationally known and respected. I was thankful but had a bit of trepidation. I mean…it’s still just a tribute band. I never got to see Freddie, but I had seen Queen with Paul Rodgers, so how would this compare. Do I really want to see some guy dressed and acting like Freddie?

Afterwards, all I can say is I’m very glad my brother got me the tickets!

Ok, I will get it out of the way now. There was only one Freddie and there will only ever BE one Freddie.

But damn, if Gary Mullen wasn’t UNCANNY. Not only does he bear a resemblance (it’s as if Freddie got his teeth fixed and a nose job), but he has the mannerisms down pat. Almost too well. I will admit a few times to feel like I was watching a robot programmed to be Freddie, than someone who was actually feeling it the way Freddie did…but hey, it is a tribute.

There were also some patches where he was a little off rhythm with the band, especially when trying to close numbers out with his movements. But these are both very small nitpicks.

Gary has a great voice, and actually sounded like the live Freddie circa 1986. Of course Freddie’s live voice at that point was slightly strained from touring, but even a slightly lesser Freddie is a god of vocalists…and to have Gary even approach that is nothing short of brilliant.

What amazed me most about Gary’s performance though was that even his phrasings, and shape of his tone was exactly what Freddie would have done. The performance is really based around the 1986 tour as the setlist is almost identical, with a few odd numbers thrown in like Somebody to Love, and Don’t Stop Me Now. It makes sense that they don’t do anything from anything post 1986 since Queen never toured after the Magic tour, but it is still disappointing. It would have been intriguing to hear what the live versions of some of those songs would have sounded with Freddie at the helm…or at least the next best thing.

The rest of the band was as high quality as Gary, although I don’t understand why they call it One Night of Queen which implies all four would be impersonators. The rest of the band was dressed in street clothes and in no way imitated John Deacon, Brian May, or Roger Taylor, with the exception of the guitarist, Davie Brockett who at least played a replica of Brian’s guitar (although it was the Green Special, not the Red).

The band though was very intricate, even if not quite up to Queen standards, but that is acceptable as they showcase great talent nonetheless, especially Brockett.

Having never gotten a chance to see Freddie in concert, this was a wonderful chance to at least perhaps get a glimpse now and then to see what the magic was.

A-