The auditorium was almost at full capacity, and there were too many Queen, We Will Rock You and Flash Gordon t-shirts to count. As everyone took their seats, you could feel the anticipation of what promised to be an extraordinary show. The family behind me were commenting on the number of children in the audience, proving Queen’s universal appeal and musical diversity.

The house lights dimmed, green spotlights whizzed around from the stage, and rhythmic clapping began to fill the room, as the audience began to recognise the synthesized introduction to One Vision.

Queen often began their concerts with this song, and, sure enough, The Works took their places on the dark stage. The audience cheered the appearance of the two guitarists, the drummer and a pianist (an additional band member to the original Queen’s three musicians), but that was nothing compared to the roar when the stage lit up, and Freddie Mercury ran on.

From that moment, it was clear this was the best opportunity to see a Queen concert after the real thing. Gary had Mercury’s look, sound and extravagance and stage presence down to perfection.

Each number was brilliantly performed, with stunning solos from guitarist Davie Brockett and drummer Jonathan Evans, and Freddie’s costumes and props were all familiar to Queen fans, from his trademark yellow jacket to the huge Union Jack he draped over himself in the encore.

The only criticism I could find was that The Works should have dressed and acted as their counterpart Queen members; it would have been great to see Freddie Mercury jamming with a Brian May look-alike during the guitar solos.

Other than that, it was a truly fantastic show, and, as many of the show’s fans will testify, worth following all around the world.

Michael Dias