Gig review: Qween reign supreme as they roll out a tribute to Freddie and co
Qween and The Dublin Gospel Choir, Olympia Theatre, Dublin, ★★★☆☆
Queen rule and those who claim to disagree are only fooling themselves. Sadly and for obvious reasons we won't see them again, although what remains of the band played a great Marlay Park gig in 2018, so their beloved music is perfect tribute band material.
As the Bootleg Beatles, mop topping for forty-something years, and others have proven, there's plenty of interest in this sort of thing if it's done right. Enter, then, Qween who've deservedly sold out several large venues across the country, including Limerick's King John's Castle.
There wasn't much wiggle room in the Olympia last Saturday either, and with good reason as Qween put on a proper show. Right from the opening extended One Vision freak out, John Deacon (Eoghan O'Neill, in appropriate O'Neill's GAA short shorts), Roger Taylor (Graham Sheridan), and James McGeehan on keys are tight as a recession budget.
To be honest I look more like Brian May than Thomas Brunkard, but that doesn't matter because his guitar is on fire. Tapping the neck one minute, pulling out a slide the next, he gets that sound right on everything from a stately Who Wants To Live Forever to a fierce Hammer To Fall.
Qween performing I Want To Break Free.
It all centres on Freddie, though, and the marvellous Brian Keville is equal to the task. The moustache he claims is real deserves its own dressing room and he suggestively employs the trademark half mic stand when appropriate (ie all the time).
He parades about in drag with Hoover for I Want To Break Free, sports a jacket possibly pinched off Carmen Miranda, and even does the Mercury mouth wriggle. On top of all that, his voice is spectacular, whether he's commanding the histrionics of The Show Must Go On, leading the crowd through Mercury's call-and-response of 'Aaaa-OH!', or making us all weep during These Are The Days Of Our Lives.
The appearance of two scantily clad females with suitably ample posteriors for Fat Bottomed Girls is one thing, and they unquestionably do make the rocking world go round, but the addition of the Dublin Gospel Choir is inspired. Providing vocal support throughout, although Keville hardly needs it, they come into their own for an absolutely superb Somebody To Love and the gloriously over-the-top operatics of Bohemian Rhapsody.
As it should be, it's a celebration of those immortal hits from soup to nuts, delivered with skill that surpasses mere imitation. Go see them.
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