Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Venue: Celebrity Theatre (https://celebritytheatre.com/ )
Date: Thursday February 15th, 2024
One Night of Queen Tour 2024
I never got to see Queen perform live with Freddie Mercury. For some strange reason I missed those shows when they passed through the Phoenix area. I did get to see the surviving members of Queen when they toured with Paul Rodgers. It was not the same, but still good. So now there are a number of cover bands touring that revisit the greatest hits of Freddie and Queen. In the next 2 months, 2 additional cover bands will pass through the valley. So, if you miss this show, you might want to check out one of these shows.
This show was the Gary Mullen & The Works version of Queen. The original Queen line-up had Freddie as lead singer & pianist, Sir Brian May on guitar, Roger Taylor on drums and John Deacon on drums. Of course, Gary Mullen is the lead singer. The Works consist of guitarist David Brockett, Alan McGeoch on bass and Jon Halliwell on drums. The Works had one additional member that played piano, Malcolm Gentles (Freddie did that).
The show was broken up into 2 sets of about 1 hour each. Of course, we got to hear a lot of the mega hits, including “We Are The Campions”, “Under Pressure”, “We Will Rock You” and “Radio Ga Ga”. Of course, they did “Bohemian Rhapsody” that was re-introduced to a younger generation by the Wayne’s World movie. Since the show was only 2 hours long, they had to omit a lot of Queen’s greatest hits. But overall, it was a fantastic set.
One of the songs that I wish they would have played was “Who Wants To Live Forever”. Brian May wrote this song and it was the theme song for the original Highlander movie and then the TV series. Since the Highlander movie is being redone this year, I thought it would be a great song to have in their setlist. They did however perform one of the last songs that Freddie wrote just prior to his death, “The Show Must Go On!”.
Freddie would be amazed and happy to know that his music is still being played and performed by numerous cover bands. Gary might not be Freddie, but he had the look and moves that Freddie had. His voice is also fairly close to Freddie’s. Gary did a good job of recreating Freddie’s demeaner and the Works did a good job of recreating the sound of Queen. Are they the best Queen cover band, I don’t know. I hope to check out the other 2 bands coming here in the near future. But Gary Mullen & The Works are very good and if you love the music of Queen, then I would recommend you check them out when they come to the city near you. You can check out their tour this year on their website and social media pages.
So, for all of those Freddie Mercury and Queen fans out there, “The Show Must Go On! Long live the memory of Freddie Mercury.
Gary Mullen & the Works Social Media sites:
Website: https://www.garymullenandtheworks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garymullenandtheworks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onenightofqueen/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@officialONOQ/featured
Gary Mullen & the Works – One Night of Queen
Photos by Fred Kuhlman 2024, All Rights Reserved
