Killer Queen at Ravinia

** I love Freddie Mercury and the sounds of his band Queen, so when I was picking a night to attend my favorite outdoor venue for concerts, I selected Killer Queen ( a Tribute to Queen) and its lead Patrick Myers as Freddie Mercury. Jane was returning from a visit to the family in Connecticut, so I picked her up at the airport and headed to Ravinia in Highland Park. We parked the car, picked up our tickets and went to one of the many dining spots for a quick bite before the show. We were ready!

FYI- the grass area of Ravinia was packed. Sidewalk to sidewalk of people dining, drinking and having fun. We made our way to the Pavilion, found our seats and settled in waiting for the cover group, or should I say, “Tribute Group” to take the stage. “Killer Queen” is in fact a British group and had its start pretty close to the start of the actual Queen group. Jane and I took our seats and watched Myers work the crowd. He seemed to lack the Mercury magic and did not get the crowd to join in quickly. He also played with his microphone metal rod a lot and kept yelling out Hello Highland Park”. We all knew where we were and he might not know it, but a great number of those in attendance do not live in Highland Park.

During the first set, Myers left the stage for a costume change leaving, the guitarist to do about 10 minutes of great work, but not what the audience paid for. Thank God for “The Real Life”. We watched many an audience member depart before the first act was over, and a great number never came back for the second half. The people sitting behind us made a statement that Ravinia might want to take into consideration. When Myers said, this  is our first time in this fabulous venue, he said ” and I hope your last!”.

In my 50 plus years of Ravinia concerts, this was probably the first one where I was disappointed. These guys worked hard, trying to get the audience into it, but never had the magic that Freddie was known for. Myers tried very hard to emulate and imitate the man, but came up short on all ends. The evening was not a waste as the ones they got right, were very right.

To see what else is happening at Ravinia visit www.ravinia.org