Queening it up in Toowoomba!

We went to Toowoomba over the weekend for a friends birthday. It was a lovely weekend away, and as part of it we went to the Empire Theatre on Saturday night and saw Queen - Its a Kinda Magic. It was so much fun!

I'm not a huge Queen fan, but I do own one of their greatest hits albums, so I did know the most of the songs they played. I used to listen to Queen quite a lot when I was a teenager but I haven't listened to them much in the time since then. Bohemian Rhapsody is a favourite of mine (well, really, who doesn't like that song??) but their other hits such as We Are the Champions and We Will Rock you always get me going too.

The show went for just over two hours, with encore. The lead singer, impersonating Freddie Mercury, had an incredible amount of energy and stamina. I don't know how he managed to keep going for so long at such a pace. His energy and performance really made the show come alive and got (a few) people out of their seats.

The other cast members seemed very young, but were very good all the same. The music just cut straight through everything else with an energy that was just a little bit irresistible.

The lighting did give me a few headaches, since they insisted on shining some very bright lights straight at the audience. They looked like car headlights, stacked in rows on the platform supporting the drum kit. Every so often they would just blind us - now I know how animals feel on the roads at night! I guess it gave an authentic '70s/80s stadium concert feel to it all, though. The rest of the lighting program certainly added drama to the show.

It was a bit of a tough crowd, though. Apart from a few people - die hard fans who danced and sang along for the whole concert - most others stayed seated. We did too, but we'll blame peer pressure for that! Even though it was a one-night-only show there were still plenty of empty seats behind us. The whole audience did get to their feet for one or two songs, but mostly just sat back and enjoyed the show. I don't know how that makes the performers feel, but they didn't let it affect their performance.

Anyway, it was an excellent show. I had a great time, and even sang along for a few songs. It's a good thing the music was so loud, that's all I can say about that.

Definitely worth seeing!