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For over 20 years Gary Mullen and The Works have been performing their world-renowned \u2018One Night of Queen\u2019 live concert.Claude Dubois\/Courtesy photo<\/p>\nGary Mullen & the Works presents One Night of Queen in a sold-out show at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek on Thursday night. <\/p>\n
Mullen has been performing as Freddie Mercury for over 20 years, but he didn\u2019t intend on being part of one of the best Queen tribute bands in the world. He didn\u2019t even mean to compete on the Granada television program \u201cStars in Their Eyes,\u201d where his 2000 performance of Queen\u2019s \u201cA Kind of Magic\u201d and \u201cSomebody to Love\u201d garnered a record-setting 864,838 votes and crashed servers.<\/p>\n
When the television show called him, asking him to come for an audition, he didn\u2019t know what they were talking about. Turns out his wife and mom sent in an application for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about it. I\u2019m just going to work and doing my usual thing,\u201d he said of his job as a computer salesman. \u201cI went along to the audition, really not thinking anything of it. I just felt, \u2018Well, you know what? I ain\u2019t going to be on that, so I\u2019ll just go along, sing for a bit and leave and that\u2019ll be the end of that.’\u201d<\/p>\n
For over 20 years Gary Mullen and The Works have been performing their world-renowned \u2018One Night of Queen\u2019 live concert.Claude Dubois\/Courtesy photo<\/p>\n
But they called him back for a final audition, which led him to compete on the show. He didn\u2019t even choose the songs \u2014 his mom and wife had sent a recording of him singing two songs at a friend\u2019s karaoke party. One was \u201cSomebody,\u201d and the other was \u201cA Kind of Magic,\u201d both of which the television show selected for him to perform.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI was like, \u2018Well, hang on, this is getting a bit scary.\u2019 And that was it. That was the beginning of the whole crazy sort of experience, which then became this career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He had played in amateur bands, including one he formed as a teenager with his best friend, which got a \u201cwee bit of success, and then like every other band, never made it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
So they both got jobs, got married and he\u2019d sing at karaoke bars or jam nights as a hobby. When the Queen gig took off, he had to learn the ropes quickly.<\/p>\n
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During the \u2018One Night of Queen\u2019 performance you\u2019ll experience over the top theatrics, costume changes and more on stage. Claude Dubois\/Courtesy photo<\/p>\n
\u201cSuddenly, when people are paying money \u2026 how do you keep them amused for that amount of time without them looking at their watches or walking out or throwing a beer bottle at you? I was literally learning how to do it as I went along,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He obviously learned well, having played over 2,500 live shows in more than 20 countries \u2014 and selling out many of the same venues Queen itself has. In fact, Queen guitarist Brian May invited Mullen to a Queen show, met him backstage and said, \u201cYou certainly share with Freddie (Mercury) more than a likeness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was surreal to meet him. It was a bit like \u2018Wayne\u2019s World\u2019 when they meet Alice Cooper and said, \u2018We\u2019re not worthy.\u2019 \u2018Oh my god, it\u2019s Brian May, oh, you\u2019re tall, oh he\u2019s real\u2019 \u2014 all this was going through my head at the same time. I put my hand out to shake his hand, and he gave me a hug. That blew my mind. Then we sat down, and we just started chatting. He was the most un-rock rock star I\u2019ve ever met. He was so modest, very polite,\u201d Mullen said, adding that they began talking like equals about their tours. \u201cIt was like: We\u2019re talking about the same things. That\u2019s crazy. And then you realize that this guy\u2019s doing exactly the same as us, only on a different level. Then he stood up, and he gave me a hug and he said, \u2018You know, keep doing what you\u2019re doing. Freddie would be proud.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the years, they\u2019ve kept in touch.<\/p>\n
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\u2018One Night of Queen\u2019 is sold out but you can sign up for ticket alerts in case any tickets become available. Claude Dubois\/Courtesy photo<\/p>\n
The band highlights all of the showmanship, theatrics and music of Queen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to personalize the show because you\u2019re not getting that configuration of people ever again. You\u2019ll probably get some people that\u2019ll come back and see the show, but for that collection of people, that\u2019s it. We chat to them \u2026 and once you start chatting to the crowd, they realize that it\u2019s not just: sit-down, watch, clap and leave. It\u2019s an immersive experience. It\u2019s like: You guys sing along, dance, headbang if you want. Don\u2019t worry about making a fool of yourself. We\u2019re all friends in here,\u201d Mullen said. \u201cIt\u2019s a rock concert.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it takes some guts to sing and perform like Mercury, he jokes that tight underwear helps him hit the high notes. But all joking aside, he\u2019s been a Queen fan all his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe music\u2019s so good and so eclectic. They\u2019d write a big rock song and then something that\u2019d be near \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody,\u2019 which is like pure opera, and then a funky (tune), like \u2018Another One Bites the Dust.\u2019 They just had a knack for writing great songs,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, this show is the band paying tribute to our heroes for other fans. We\u2019re fans, and we get a kick out of it and we enjoy playing this music, which is sometimes challenging \u2014 the songs can be quite complex. But it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also loves bringing audiences through the journey and experience of Queen, from hits to deep cuts, the latter of which introduces many people to other aspects of Queen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of cool to reintroduce the music to audiences and say, \u2018This is what this band could do when they flexed their muscles.\u2019 The music was so diverse, and we try to cover every facet of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The band plays the songs as Queen would do them live.<\/p>\n
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Gary Mullen & The Works have performed for audiences around the world, playing more than 2,500 live shows to audiences in over 20 countries.Claude Dubois\/Courtesy photo<\/p>\n
\u201cQueen as a studio band and Queen as a live band are two completely different entities. When they\u2019re in the studio, there\u2019s a lot of overdubbing of guitars \u2014 multi-guitar lines and multi-vocal lines and keyboards coming out of every speaker. You can\u2019t do that with five guys. You can only do with five guys what you can do. You can\u2019t play five keyboard parts with just one guy,\u201d he said. \u201cSo you pick the parts of the harmony, and you perform it as Queen would do it (live). They were very exciting as a live band, and we try and convey that excitement of not just a group of guys standing on stage. Guys are moving around, taking solo spots that light them up and (include) smoke and costumes. It\u2019s creating that razzmatazz of what a Queen show was. As Freddy said, \u2018If it\u2019s worth doing, it\u2019s worth overdoing.\u2019 I mean, we\u2019re traveling around America on a bus that has a wrap of \u2018Happy 250 America\u2019 with the stars and stripes and a giant eagle on it. So the bus isn\u2019t subtle, and the show isn\u2019t subtle.\u201d<\/p>\n
He believes that the honesty Queen imparted continues to resonate with audiences, noting that Mercury was a great communicator.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always had this glint in his eye, like there was a joke, and you were part of it. He always said, \u2018You know, I looked ridiculous, but it worked.\u2019 You know, with the shiny leotards and the makeup and the exotic eyeliner and the painted fingernails back in the day. He never took himself seriously,\u201d he said, adding that Mercury loved Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland \u2014\u00a0all the Hollywood stars. \u201cHe thought that\u2019s how you should be on stage, but you should also have humanity with you. You have to be able to communicate and chat to the crowd on a one-to-one basis. So it\u2019s not like listen to my art, and be quiet. It\u2019s: \u2018Join in, sing along, high-five your mate,\u2019 and that\u2019s what we hopefully bring when we bring our show to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Mullen never saw Queen with Mercury live, he did try his best to get tickets when he was 13 and the original lineup played its Magic Tour in London. But by the time he and his buddy saved up the sum, tickets were sold out. Now, he\u2019s performing that same show at the Vilar.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to watch it on the TV in my room. I was kind of bummed out, but we took my ghetto blaster because it was (also) getting broadcast on the radio, and we put the ghetto blaster behind us, and we put the TV on so that we felt like we were at the concert,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s kind of cool to do this particular show because this show has so many memories for me as a kid watching it on the TV and feeling that I was there and going, \u2018My god, that looks amazing \u2014 Freddie having nearly 80,000 people in the palm of his hand for about two hours. It was the biggest show they\u2019d ever done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since it\u2019s the 40-year anniversary of the Magic Tour, which never came to America, they figured they\u2019d give the U.S. audience what they never saw live.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tour was huge. As Freddie said, \u2018We\u2019ll probably need a golf cart to get from one side of the stage to the other.\u2019 The lighting rig was the biggest thing that anybody had seen at that moment. And obviously we don\u2019t have that budget, but we\u2019ve created a lighting rig based on that, which definitely has the wow factor \u2014 and the smoke and the walkways and the big drum riser and stuff that people expect to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
While some call them the best Queen tribute band in the world, they don\u2019t fuss with such things. All they care about is giving their best every night so audiences feel like the ticket price was money well spent. To do that, Mullen has spent countless hours watching live Queen footage, but he realizes that you can overstudy someone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want it to become a caricature. I don\u2019t want to become a parody. There\u2019s also essences of me in the performance \u2014 my take on Freddie \u2014 and, if we wanted to go and see a Queen concert, what we\u2019d want to see, what we\u2019d want to hear, how we\u2019d want it to look,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The band remains fresh by changing up the show every year, with different music, lighting and costumes, but, of course, they keep all of the hits in the show. Overall, they\u2019ve mastered 18 albums worth of material. <\/p>\n
The band hasn\u2019t played the Vilar in a couple of years, but when they first did, they laughed at the production manager when he placed oxygen tanks in the wings. <\/p>\n
\u201cThen, four songs in, I was like: I can\u2019t breathe. Like, I literally can\u2019t breathe,\u201d he said, talking about how he ended up sucking up the extra oxygen.<\/p>\n
This year, they\u2019re playing in Lake Tahoe, then spending a night performing in Denver, then hitting the gym before they come to Beaver Creek.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful town, and it\u2019s a great venue and we had a lot of fun the last time we were there. We\u2019re looking forward to coming back with this new show, and hopefully the audience will dig it as much as we dig playing it,\u201d he said, jokingly adding, \u201cand hopefully we\u2019ll all be able to breathe long enough to finish the show.\u201d<\/p>\n