Magic A Kind of Queen Grove Theatre Review
Magic – A Kind of Queen
Grove Theatre, Dunstable
Reviewed by Natasha Kolb
We were looking forward to another visit to the Grove Theatre in Dunstable this time to see Magic – A Kind of Queen. It’s a lovely, small complex which means most of the seats offer great views of the stage, bear in mind though that in this smaller theatre the front row is very close to the stage lacking the normal 4-5 foot gap. As we brought our pre show drinks, we were offered the chance to book drinks for the interval too, with each round costing £7.50 for two alcoholic drinks, we felt that this is a reasonable price.
I enjoy the Grove specifically because of it being a smaller venue, it might lack the grandeur of larger theatres but I find it pleasure to visit for that reason too! There is a small bar area and limited seating, but most people were happy to stand around with their drinks, which made for a good atmosphere and pre show buzz! Parking is close by and free but this time we didn’t make use of that as we took a look on the website and saw their recommended hotels, so thought we would try one out! We stayed at the Old Palace Lodge which was in easy walking distance of The Grove, it is a pleasant enough hotel and we did well by booking on the day for only £45, I think I’d avoid paying the normal price of £140+ though!
We took our seats and were sat in the stalls which allowed for a perfect view but again, in this theatre, most seats would offer that!
Magic – A Kind of Queen were billed on the theatres website as the first and best tribute to Queen so I must admit our expectations of the music quality were quite high. The band came on stage fronted by lead singer Roger Brown who explained that they were not a Queen tribute act visually and said this was a celebration of Queen with their own arrangements of the songs. This, we expected as who really could visually live up to the great Freddie Mercury? However, we were expecting to be thrilled by a high standard of music which should have made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up just like listening to Queen does, sadly this band weren’t quite there. Magic played a wide range of Queen’s greatest hits but with none of the pizazz you would expect. This was clearly a disappointment for many of the audience some of whom left even before the first half had finished. Simply, the band didn’t have the talent or stage presence you would expect of anyone representing Queen, each song seemed to lack that special something.
The interval conversations at the bar were interesting with a mix of opinions ranging from pure disappointment to others defending the band reminding people that they weren’t claiming to sound like Queen… and they certainly didn’t!
However, they were still a reasonably good band who tried hard to make it work. The notorious harmonics of Queen were there, albeit sometimes a bit flaky and some of the guitarists were quite good. The band seemed to enjoy themselves and Roger Brown was a showman who played to the crowd with plenty of enthusiasm and interaction. After the intermission, the audience seemed to come alive, either through interval drinks or from having a discussion with their friends about what was right or wrong with this show and came back with an open mind. The atmosphere had changed and the band seemed to play off this well. The show became a singalong to Queen’s greatest hits reminiscing of the good old days and to the life works of Freddie Mercury. The love of Freddie seemed to shine through, helped by poignant images of Freddie’s life being projected on stage and the crowd seemed touched.
If you were expecting to see the next best thing to Queen, then this is not the show for you. However, if you want to listen to some of their greatest hits sung by a band who clearly love Queen, then it could be a good night out if you have an open mind!
In the end, we had a good evening and with ticket prices at around £17.50 it’s not an expensive night out at the theatre. We give it 3 out of 5.
Rating: 3/5
For more information or tour dates visit www.magicakindofqueen.co.uk.
