Last week, I had the opportunity to check out Xtreme Queen at Havana in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Not only does Havana have great food but they are the king when it comes to presenting tribute bands. However, you do have to get your tickets in advance because they sell out. Having purchased our tickets a few months in advance, we had a nice table towards the front of the stage. The card on our table even had my last name spelled correctly.
I could end this blog right now by simply stating that the show was amazing! Behind the band the entire time were videos of Queen relating to that particular song they were performing at the time. They even performed Queen's 1985 Live Aid set with the video behind them. Xtreme's Freddie matched the performance of Freddie Mercury move for move.
The band stayed in character the entire night, referring to the audience as his "darlings." From the very first few notes of "Don't Stop Me Now," I knew that we were in for a special night. Our John Deacon, Roger Taylor and Brian May for the night played an instrumental version of "Dragon Attack" while Freddie changed clothes at one point describing his role as presenting a "fashion show."
Unlike the original Queen, John Deacon did many of the backing vocals, as well as some leads, including a spot-on "I'm In Love With My Car." With the majority of the crowd enamored with Xtreme Queen's performance, eating your dinner became more difficult between the stomping and the clapping for "We Will Rock You" or just getting sucked up into the pure energy of "Fat Bottomed Girls." The musicians were all phenomenal, especially Roger Taylor's drum solo.
This was a very special night and a great tribute to the life of Freddie Mercury. As the song says, "The Show Must Go On."