Review: Queen Extravaganza at O2 City Hall Newcastle

Queen Extravaganza – o2 City Hall

There aren’t many concerts you can go to knowing you know just about every lyric of every song but being a GenX fan of Queen and having seen We Will Rock You several times I was well prepared for Queen Extravaganza.

What’s so special about Queen Extravaganza is they are the official Queen tribute band, formed by Roger Taylor and Brian May, no one gets into the band without Taylor’s say so and so you know they’re going to be special before you even get through the door.

I grew up listening to the songs of Queen and although I’d claim to be more of a fan of musicals than rock, what is so special is that if you love Queen you get rock, pop, opera, and classical all rolled into one.  And of course, their jukebox musical We Will Rock You, kind of proves that.

Queen extravaganza was designed to enable fans, old and new to gather together all around the world for performances of Queen’s greatest hits.

At this time Queen Extravaganza are vocalists Alirio Netto and Gareth Taylor.  On drums is George Farrar who is also a talented vocalist.  Bass player François-Olivier Doyon can also sing and so can guitarist Nick Radcliffe, in fact, I think the only band member who didn’t do a solo was Darren Reeves on keys, he is also the MD of the group.

I have to say that there wasn’t one song that fell flat last night and all of the hits and favourites were there.  We Will Rock You, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Gaga, Under Pressure.  It was a loud concert probably with the most aggressive lighting set-up I’ve ever seen, I’m not really photosensitive and it’s a good thing because that light show was flashy!

What amused me most about the performance was that in the main the crowd were all GenX, there was still falling over and people getting a wee bit too happy but they were all from my generation, my GenZ daughter was horrified by some of their dance moves but she also had a wonderful night.  And one thing you can certainly be sure of, there are a lot of 40+ year-olds queuing up at Boots today for some ibuprofen!

I’m uIf you want a great night out singing Queen songs at the top of your lungs you must go and see Queen Extravaganza, shut your eyes and Gareth Taylor could be Freddie.  It’s a travesty that he’s not still with us but long live Queen Extravaganza.

Review by Mandy Charlton