Freddie versus "Freddie"

In one corner we have one of the greatest performers in music history - Freddie Mercury

In the other corner we have the greatest recreator of the Freddie Mercury experience - Craig Pesco

From now on the real Freddie Mercury will be known as Freddie

The guy who played Freddie Mercury in the show last night will be referred to as "Freddie"

Spot the difference between the two pictures?

The music of Queen has always been a part of my life. Ever since finding a well worn tape of their third album "A Night at the Opera" in the glove box of our brown 1986 Mitsubishi Magna, i have always loved hearing the music of this truely magical rock band. Throughout the years i've purchased a few albums, seen their musical 'We Will Rock You' and loved watching their 'Live From Wembley' concert on regular occasions. Any yes i still bang my head at the same part of "Bohemian Rapshody" as seen in 'Waynes World."

So when last december i was flicking through the South China Morning Post and saw an ad for "Queen - A Kind of Magic" tribut show, i immediatley had to tell Sab that we were going to see this show. She loves Queen as well and it was a chance to see what it would be like if we actually saw Queen live even though it was 'Queen Lite.' We made our way into the city after school for dinner and slowly made our way down to the Hong Kong Performing Arts Centre.

At the centre Sab and i were sitting on the stairs waiting to enter the theatre when she said to me in a rather hurried way "Is that Cathy Freeman?" Now the only thing i saw was the back of a full length woolen pink coat but a quick trip by both of us towards the exit doors confirmed that indeed it was Cathy herself. What she was doing in Hong Kong is beyond me and she was in the company of a very handsome male...what is it with her? I mean lets be honest she doesn't exactly get many pulses racing in the pants department but somehow she was with the guy from "Secret Life of Us" and now with this mystery man.

Sabrina wasn't this excited at seeing a celebrity since she saw former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes at the Australian Open.

For me it was getting the autograph of Condor the Gladiator at the grand opening of the Rebel Sport store at Highpoint Shopping Centre.

With that little adventure completed we made our way up the stairs to our seats and we had a pretty good view as there wasn't many people in front of us on the second level. After about 10 minutes started the show got underway with a ball busting cover of "One Vision." That was it, i was going to rock my ass off and sing off key for two hours and thats what we did. The theatre was about half full as it was the late show but the crowd was really getting into it. People were dancing in the aisles and singing away with the band. Queen hit after hit was pumped out including my personal favourites "A Kind of Magic" "Radio Ga Ga" (clap clap) and "Fat Bottomed Girls." There was one moment in the show where they played "Somebody to Love" which is my dad's favourite Queen song of all time. I remember growing up whenever that song came on the radio or on the CD player in the garage dad would always say "this is my favourite Queen song."

I wanted to call home during the song and hear dads reaction at listening to this song live at a concert but it was 3am in Australia and my battery was getting flat. The hits kept on coming and "Freddie" even put on the leather pants, fake boobs and wig for the performance of "I want to break free" which brought the house down. During "Bicycle Race" there was vision of nude women riding bikes which could be justified by "Freddie" when he said "every Queen show needs a bit of Vaudeville right?" I wasn't exactly going to interject any time soon.

The band were amazing and delivered perfect cover versions of their songs. Even though the bass player looked more like a Greek fish and chip shop owner than John Deacon, even though the guy playing lead guitarist Brian May had a black permed wig on him that looked like it was just stolen from the set of a porno, even though drummer Roger Taylor looked like a crazed madman in an ill fitting blonde wig... it didn't matter.

What about "Freddie" you ask?

He had the moves down pat, the swagger, the arrogance, the sexual energy, the guitar and piano playing as well. OK so as we found out later "Freddie" was actually from Surfers Paradise but he channel the spirit of Freddie and his performance was sensational. It made you change your thinking from 'here is a guy trying to be Freddie' to 'this guy reminds you all that was great about Freddie and Queen.'

After the show Sab and i both purchased a copy of a Freddie Mercury Biography written by his personal assistant of 12 years. His name was Peter Freestone and he was in the audience for the show. During the tribute to Freddie at the end of the show, "Freddie" told the crowd of his presence which brought to the show a little more sentimentality. The whole band came out and signed the book as well. They were all very freindly and invited the crowd to their after party at a local club in Lan Kwai Fong (a bar district on the island) which we didn't go too as we were pretty stuffed. Peter also signed his book and after a brief chat with Sab and I we were off home after a night of not only singing and dancing but of remebering why songs from Queen always make the two of us and any fans out there crying for more.

The biggest tragedy for Sab and I out of the night will be we never saw Freddie Mercury live.

In life sometimes close enough is good enough.

It really was a kinda magic.