Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Sebastijan Videc
Video: Sebastijan Videc
Location: Ljubljana / Hala Tivoli / Slovenia
Concert date: November 17, 2016
Attendance: 5,000
Ticket price: €25.00
It’s been a long time since a group of musicians playing covers of some other, far more famous band stirred up as much interest in a show as The Bohemians did with their gig at Hala Tivoli. The British Bohemians, who have been on stage since 1996, have been the most respected ‘tribute to’ Queen band in the world for years, and tonight we could see for ourselves that they earned that reputation fair and square. Singer Rob Comber has, on top of an exceptional vocal likeness, the late vocal giant Freddie Mercury’s stage moves studied down to the last detail, and he looks quite a bit like him too, while guitarist Christopher Gregory, with his copy of the famous ‘Red Special’ electric guitar, has thoroughly studied Brian May’s guitar technique. The foursome is rounded out by Wayne Bourne as Roger Taylor and bassist Kevin Goodwin as John Deacon, who do a decent job of ‘standing in’ for their idols on the instrumental side. Whether Bourne is a worthy ‘stand-in’ for Taylor on the vocal front too, we couldn’t tell tonight, but at least he had a good reason for not doing much of the backing vocals.
All four members of The Bohemians imitate their great idols not just musically but also in looks, though only Comber is really convincing there, which also means their show includes costume changes and impersonations of the Queen members from different chapters of their career. This time The Bohemians went on a European tour, with a stop in Ljubljana, and brought along a nineteen-piece orchestra and a mixed female-male choir in the form of a quartet. The current tour was dedicated to the twenty-fifth anniversary of Freddie’s death. The legendary singer would have turned exactly seventy this year had he still been alive.
It’s also been thirty years since Queen last performed in their one and only true lineup, meaning with Freddie and John Deacon. The concert kicked off twenty minutes late, and then the orchestra and choir members marched on stage first and, led by a rowdy conductor, played an instrumental version of the ballad »Who Wants to Live Forever« from »A Kind of Magic« (1986), which, truth be told, is the only Queen classic where an orchestra is really needed and it’s hard to imagine it without one.
Finally the rest of The Bohemians came out too, led by Comber as Freddie, who quickly convinced the people in the hall that he’s a thoroughly decent vocal ‘stand-in’ with a similar timbre, and they launched into the rousing hit »I Want It All«, which sent the hall into delirium in an instant. Comber’s qualities as a first-rate entertainer, with Freddie’s stage mimicry studied down to the detail, came out in full on the glamorous evergreen »Killer Queen«, while on »Bicycle Race« he had already managed to build a ‘magnetic’ rapport with the crowd, just like his great vocal idol once did. As is already ‘tradition’ at Tivoli, there were again some sound problems, as Gregory’s/May’s guitar was barely audible in the first part of the show, and the same goes for the backing vocal quartet, but things improved quite a bit later on.
All the big Queen evergreens like »Breakthru«, »Don’t Stop Me Now«, »Another One Bites the Dust«, »Somebody to Love«, »Under Pressure« (before which they remembered the recently departed David Bowie) and a few smaller surprises like »Seaside Rendezvaus« and »Dreamers Ball«, with an outstanding trumpet solo, followed one after another, while the surprisingly loud and engaged crowd kept forgetting that there was a ‘copy’ on stage and not the ‘original’. On »Crazy Little Thing Called Love« Comber/Freddie picked up an acoustic guitar, while the crowd faithfully helped out with the chorus and clapping. They also responded with everything they had to his mischievous and complex vocal improvisations, which were completely in the style of his legendary idol. Meanwhile the orchestra skillfully filled the minutes while The Bohemians changed into the well-known outfits of their idols.
After a twenty-minute break, the orchestra and choir came back on stage first, followed by The Bohemians, who proved themselves with a decent version of »One Vision« that they rolled straight into »Seven Seas of Rhye« with Comber/Mercury at the grand piano. The closing stretch of the show was approaching, and the biggest Queen hits were up, led by »A Kind of Magic« and »I Want to Break Free«, which came off excellently, while the choir increasingly justified its presence. After a spectacular version of »The Show Must Go On«, which Comber said is his favorite Queen song, came the two biggest surprises of the night – two hits from Freddie’s solo career.
First up was »The Great Pretender«, originally Freddie’s cover of a hit by The Platters, during which the backing choir was a bit too quiet in the mix, while »Barcelona«, which Comber/Freddie, dressed in a tuxedo, sang as a duet with an excellent opera singer who put on an evening gown especially for the occasion, turned out truly fantastic and was one of the highlights of the whole concert. »Flash« stirred up mixed feelings, as Comber/Freddie only joined in on the closing verse, while the choir members’ slightly overly committed impersonations of certain characters from the movie ‘Flash Gordon’ came off as over-the-top comical.
Then came the moment for the long-awaited peak of the night – »Bohemian Rhapsody«, with which The Bohemians finally convinced us why they’ve been the best Queen tribute band on the planet for so long, with generous blessings from Brian May and Roger Taylor. On »Hammer To Fall« the guitar finally got a bit more room to shine, while another surprise was the performance of »I Was Born To Love You« from »Made In Heaven« (1995). It was definitely nice to hear songs that (classic) Queen with Freddie never played ‘live’. During »Radio Ga Ga«, at Comber’s urging, the whole hall was already on its feet.
The quick, traditional encore brought the classic ending of every Queen concert from the ‘good old days’; first the fan-chant stomp of »We Will Rock You«, which couldn’t be more fitting for Hala Tivoli, then the triumphant »We Are the Champions«, which they sealed with the traditional recording of the British anthem »God Save the Queen«. It’s worth mentioning that Comber/Freddie, in the style of his great idol, wrapped himself in a British flag with the word ‘Queen’ on it at the end, then flipped it over to the back. The Slovenian flag with the same lettering appeared, and the crowd went wild with excitement, while the ovations just wouldn’t end.
Teaming up with an orchestra and a choir, The Bohemians pleasantly surprised us and delighted us with an interesting selection of Queen standards, and they managed to convince most of the crowd at Hala Tivoli that this is a top-quality approximation of the legendary band. Plenty of people who weren’t even born when Queen stopped playing live got at least a rough idea of what concerts by one of the greatest rock bands of all time looked like. We got confirmation that The Bohemians really do offer the best possible approximation of classic Queen concert magic right now, next to which May and Taylor’s recent live experiment with Adam Lambert looks even more grotesque and unnecessary than it already did.
Setlist
1. Who Wants to Live Forever
2. I Want It All
3. Killer Queen
4. Bicycle Race
5. Breakthru
6. Don’t Stop Me Now
7. Another One Bites the Dust
8. Seaside Rendezvaus
9. Somebody to Love
10. Dreamers Ball
11. Under Pressure
12. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
————–20-minute intermission—————-
13. One Vision
14. Seven Seas of Rhye
15. A Kind of Magic
16. I Want to Break Free
17. The Show Must Go On
18. The Great Pretender (Freddie Mercury solo)
19. Barcelona (Freddie Mercury solo)
21. Flash’s Theme
22. Bohemian Rhapsody
23. Hammer To Fall
24. I Was Born to Love You
24. Radio Ga Ga
25. We Will Rock You
26. We Are the Champions
27. God Save the Queen (recording)
Photo Gallery
