Impersonating the late charismatic Freddie Mercury is probably an impossible task. Those are very big shoes to fill and, in all honesty, Giles Taylor, the multi-talented Englishman, came quite close.  He portrays the role of Freddie Mercury in the Freddie Mercury and Queen tribute show, Queen: It’s a Kinda Magic, which took place at Emperor’s Palace on Friday night, 30^th November 2018 and will be playing there until Monday, 31^st December 2018. For more details on the shows, click here.

Let me also remind you that if you’re going to a tribute show, you must mentally psyche yourself up and not only accept the reality but also understand the concept of a tribute show, or you will be setting yourself up for disappointment. Tribute….tribute….duh….it’s not the real thing…you go there to appreciate and to remember the original artists, to make their spirit live on and to enjoy their music even after years of them having passed on. However, I must also admit, that when Showtime Australia brought us the Whitney Houston Show, I was blown away and have never witnessed a tribute show like this where Belinda Davids sounded so much like Whitney Houston, read more here.

Taking that into consideration, one can truly appreciate the attention to detail of the Queen: It’s a Kinda Magic show as much effort was made to re-enact Queen’s historically famous 1986 World Tour concert.  From the costumes that fit like a glove, to the iconic “bottomless” microphone that Freddie Mercury used which was his trademark…to the direction in which the piano was placed, with the cups on it, except, it wasn’t Pepsi cups…perhaps the only visual replication missing was the teeth.  As a side note, Giles Taylor started playing the piano from the age of five years old.

Giles Taylor has a wicked sense of humour, one that you will either love or hate, I quite enjoyed it. He certainly had the audience captivated, he owned the stage, even when he went off stage and into the audience. If a lapdance tickles your fancy, you may just be in luck…and I’ll just leave that there… I wish I had checked the duration of the show but I didn’t, however, it seemed longer than most tribute shows I have attended.

Personally, I felt the first half of the show was a bit slow. I mean, this is “Freddie Mercury!!” – yes, yes, I know it’s a tribute show and an emulation of note,  so based on that itself, you’re supposed to come out with a bang! I do feel a little something is missing to make the first half more enjoyable.

Fortunately, if you returned after intermission, you would have seen and felt that it was better than the first half. By now more people had consumed more alcohol as well, so naturally, like most shows after intermission, many people feel a little more “free” if you know what I mean. I somehow felt this audience was a little “flat” even though there were many die-hard Queen fans that got lost in the music, looking as if they were in a rock concert, which is just the way it should be if you’re a true Queen fan.

Here are two recordings from the show which I uploaded to my YouTube channel, please excuse the quality – recorded it handsfree as I tried not to dance too much whilst recording…have a listen and let me know what you think of the performance in these songs…

If you have it in yourself to appreciate a tribute show, then go and experience the Queen: It’s a Kinda Magic show at Emperor’s Palace. If you’re not open-minded and going to compare them to the original artist in a deliberate unsung manner, then I suggest that you stay at home, sit on your couch and listen to the CD or watch the music videos. Tribute shows are not for you.

Have you been to this show, what did you think of it? I would LOVE to know, so do share in the comments.

Here are more photos I took from Friday night’s performance:

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Disclaimer: All photos are my own – free to use if credit is given