Newcastle Show
Sunday October 2 , 8pm
Civic Theatre
Tickets: $89.90, $79.90 Group of 10 & concession
Bookings (02) 4929 1977 www.ticketek.com.au

As a prelude to the Newcastle visit of the Queen – It’s a Kinda Magic show I was lucky enough to be able to interview Peter Freestone, long time personal assistant and friend of Freddie Mercury. Freestone worked with and for Freddie for 11 years until Freddie’s death in 1991 and is a sort of professional Mercury expert for want of a better term. His involvement with this particular show gives it a credibility and authenticity that other tribute shows may lack.

Freestone is a mine of information about Freddie Mercury and Queen from the personal (Freddie’s favourite dish was Chicken Dhansak) to the performer (his favourite song to perform was Get Down, Make Love because he could “show off” his voice). As one of the few people allowed backstage just before a performance Freestone provides insights into the personalities in the band that were available to few others. Speaking of the band’s contract riders, he divulges “There were always 4 bottles of champagne, 1 bottle of Stolichnaya Vodka and 1 bottle of Jack Daniels. The real imperatives were a kettle, some lemons, a jar of honey. These were for Freddie to have his hot lemon and honey drink before and during the show. There were also threats of a cancellation one day when there were no M&MS.”

DIOS SALVE A LA REINA (God Save the Queen) are the band who perform as Queen in the show and surprisingly they are from Argentina. They have been performing as “the most spectacular Queen tribute band in South America” since 1978, only a few years after Queen formed in 1970. The fact that Queen had a tribute band on the other side of the world after only eight years, and while they were still performing themselves, is some indication of their enormous following in South America.

Freestone tells me, however, that this is definitely not a tribute show but is “about being Queen”. Everything is about recreating the experience. “They use the same colour lights that Queen used (and) the costumes are as close as possible to the original” which is a bonus for Australian fans who only had the one opportunity to see the real Queen tour here in 1985. Freestone reports that “from the first I was struck by Pablo, who portrays Freddie. He had the look, the height and the sound down very well… Pablo tries to put all he has learnt from video of live shows, and really succeeds. There are times when he looks up from the keyboards and you see flashes of Freddie.”

I was at the Sydney concert in 1985 and if it is true that Dios Salve a la Reina can invoke the might of a live Queen performance than this will truly be something to see. The show is on for one night only in Newcastle at the Civic Theatre on Sunday 2nd October.

Review by Chris Clark, including interview withPeter Freestone (Freddie Mercury's PA)

September 2011 for culturehunter.org.