The Bohemians are the Champions!

A CHILD of the sixties, a child of the eighties and a child of the noughties arrived at Harlow Playhouse on Thursday 19th September determined on “having a good time, having a good time” and we were not disappointed. The Bohemians, who are proclaimed by some as ‘The World’s most exciting Queen Tribute,’ rocked from the first to the very last beat of the drum.

I must admit that, despite understanding the financial sense of booking such tribute acts, I used to be somewhat scathing of them when there was such a rich repertoire of cultural arts on offer, but since Queen (and David Bowie) have become annual features of the Playhouse’s schedule I now appreciate first hand the appeal to fans of artistes who they saw live originally and wish to relive the memories, or as in my case, never saw live and wish to reimage that “I was there” moment.

Dan Church was the first to take to the stage as drummer “Roger Taylor” and not only did he set the scene, but he maintained the pulse and the energy of the spectacular throughout. The show promised Queen’s Greatest Hits and the powerful “One Vision” was a great place to start a journey with more than just a “Kind of Magic”, backwards and forwards, through three decades of evocative rock music.
Rob Comber “Freddie”, and Kevin Goodwin “John Deacon” came to the stage, but I wonder how many people turned to the person next to them and said “There’s a new ‘Brian'” – as Marcus Tate “Brian May” completed the quartet.

Local Bohemian’s fans will know that this member of the band was previously played by ‘Harlow born and bred’ Christopher Gregory. Chris parted ways with The Bohemians in December 2023 having been a larger-than-life element of the band since 2009. Whilst Marcus Tate might have lacked Gregory’s stature, he was no less accomplished and demonstrated this in several riffs, notably “Hammer to Fall.”

With the audience clearly eating out of “Freddie’s” hands, (some audience members had clearly chosen their seats at the side so they could stand and dance away unimpeded throughout the evening) Rob Comber invited everyone to their feet to pump out “Another One Bites the Dust.” And many did get up. BUT – not everyone. Eventually I sat down partly aware of the fact that there were people behind me whose view I was blocking.

Rob Comber is a consummate performer: he has the look, the voice, the moves, and the ability to lead the audience, as he demonstrated with “Somebody to Love,” the first of many of the evening’s singalongs.

By the time we reached a “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” recreating the vibrance of Queen’s Live Aid performance at Wembley Stadium in 1985, many of the audience were once again on their feet, some in aisles, notably at the front of the auditorium. As the number neared its end, an usherette approached those dancing ushering them back to their seats, creating some discombobulation and eliciting boos from some of the audience. I too was perplexed until it became apparent that we had reached the interval and at this point it was the duty of the front of house staff to ensure the aisles were clear as many people left the auditorium for a comfort break or the bar or both!

As we took our seats for the second half, I took the opportunity to speak to the audience member on my left, who I had noticed had taken a number of exemplary photographs with a photo camera far superior than my own (yes, I’m aware a poor workman always blames his tools). I am immensely grateful to Nikki Faulkner from Enfield for her photographs from the night that accompany this review. I would certainly encourage her down the road of photojournalism based on the quality and competence demonstrated. Thank you, Nikki.

The interval break opened aptly with a rendition of Breakthrough followed by a melody of songs from Queen’s 1991 Innuendo album including: the title song, “The Show Must Go On” and “Those were the Days of our Lives” set in front of a photo montage Freddie & the band from that period of time, taking on a somewhat ghostly quality, evocative and poignant. And just like the Rollercoaster referred to in the lyrics we were then plunged “Headlong” through a whole gamut of hits including of course “Bohemian Rhapsody” until the whole theatre had come alive and were on its feet for an arm-crossing, foot-stomping “Radio Gaga”! This was the faux finale, a devise return audience members are now accustomed to, as the auditorium filling with cries of “We want more, we want more” was a testimony to.

With the encore consisting of “We Will Rock You” and “Friends will be Friends” the Bohemians finished the evening of with the self-affirming “We Are the Champions” to thunderous applause.

The only disappointment being that as the curtain fell, we discovered the Playhouse Bar was closed. That was a shame because some of us, despite our age, or perhaps because of it, were still ready to party.

Nonetheless, thank you Harlow Playhouse and The Bohemians.
Ian Beckett