Everyone lost their chance to catch a live performance by legendary British rock band Queen when they broke up after the death of vocalist Freddie Mercury in 1991.
But the void Freddie and the band left in the music world has been filled, for better or for worse, with a multitude of tribute bands, keeping the legend alive.
Not least of these is Queen - It's A Kinda Magic!, bringing Queen back to the stage.
Of course, they are not the real Queen, but they can sure give an energetic live performance of a kind that Queen itself offered to their fans.
Out of Australia, Queen - It's A Kinda Magic! has gathered fans across the world with its performances. The band's lineup consists of vocalist Craig Pesco, performing the outrageous stage antics and character of Freddie Mercury; guitarist Travis Hair bringing the brilliant style and sound of Brian May's Red Special; bassist Matthew Newton turning on the unmistakable bass sounds of John Deacon; and Matthew Millican with the hammering of tubs and vocals of drummer Roger Taylor.
And if you're wondering about their authenticity, the band was endorsed in 2002 by Peter Freestone, Freddie Mercury's personal assistant.
Recreating the Queen World Tour of 1986, the band has already performed in France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Germany, Dubai, Canada, US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Their Bohemian Rhapsody concert on Nov. 5 and 6 was their first visit to Jakarta.
The concert kicked off, naturally enough, with "It's A Kind of Magic", but it was the third song, "Radio Ga Ga" that got the audience off their seats and clapping along to the beat. Some people even formed a circle and starting dancing to the music.
Freddie Mercury was famous for his live performances and many people say that there is only one Freddie Mercury, but Pesco does a good job of recreating Freddie on stage. His characterization came through not only in the falsettos, but also in the way he pranced, held the microphone and blew out water at the end of the show that brought back memories of the late Mercury.
Pesco even interacted with the audience members in the same way Mercury did. After greeting them, he asked the audience to hum a tune after him and launched into humming a series of notes, from easy ones to difficult ones. As Mercury could play both piano and guitar, Pesco also performed some of the songs, such as "Somebody To Love", on the instruments.
His antics kept the stage show lively. For "Keep Yourself Alive", Pesco wrapped the Indonesian national flag around his body. For "I Want To Break Free", he dressed in women's clothing, similar to that Freddie wore in the video clip to the song; audiences cheered him on as he exposed the fake breasts underneath. He then taunted the spectators with a rainbow feather duster as he ran around the ballroom.
But Queen was not only about Mercury, and each band member had several minutes to show off his skills. It really was a night for Queen fans as three large screens on stage showed parts of Queen's video clips and live concert.
The band performed 20 songs, with a 20-minute intermission between each set. After singing "We Are The Champions", Pesco bade the audience good-bye and the stage went dark.
After the audience called for an encore, the band returned with "We Will Rock You" and closed with "Love of My Life".
After the concert in Jakarta, Queen - It's A Kinda Magic! will move to Medan, North Sumatra, to charm audiences on Nov. 8.
Kim, a member of the concert organizing committee, said that of the 2,000 tickets offered in Jakarta, around 80 percent were sold. The concert had four ticket prices and types: Rp 1 million Platinum seats, Rp 800,000 VVIP seats, Rp 600,000 Gold seats and Rp 300,000 Silver.
