Review : We Will Rock You
This is a post that originally appeared last week, but was lost when the site crashed. Luckily I managed to save it in time ! For those who have already read it, feel free to comment again ;)
I’ve been wanting to check out a show in London for sometime, but the problem is I’ve never been interested in watching a group of unknown people perform a bunch of songs I’ve never heard of. Then I read about We Will Rock You which is a musical of Queen’s greatest songs. Now I wouldn’t call myself a fan of Queen but I do know most of their hits, so I when I was in London a couple of weeks ago I thought why not ?
I was pretty amazed that the show has been running for 8 years and to find that the theatre is still packed (there are over 2000 seats !). The Dominion is a beautiful theatre built in the 1920s, and it does feel extra special sitting there to watch a show.
I had no idea what to expect. I thought this would be some cover band doing Queen songs. How wrong I was ! Its a funny story set in the future where all music is digital pop, sounds the same and everyone wears the same clothes. Rock music is banned and so are real musical instruments. However there is a small band of people resisting and wanting to play rock music. Yeah I know, the story is a bit silly but you roll with it because it is not meant to be serious stuff.
They’ve cleverly fitted the Queen songs around the story. For example when one character meets an a nasty end, the character getting rid of him starts singing “Another One Bites the Dust”. All the famous songs are there and I was surprised how many I remembered. The cast have all got Queen referenced names like Killer Queen (a female Simon Cowell), Scaramouche and Galileo (you know, from Bohemian Rhapsody !!). There are some pretty good jokes thrown in too.
Performances were excellent and I was astounded with the singing of some of the cast. The stage sets were very impressive with a good mix of traditional and high tech back drops. And the last half an hour is just phenomenal. When they played We Will Rock You, the place rocked with everyone clapping and singing. At the end I joined most of the audience in giving a standing ovation. I never owned a Queen CD before the show. After the show I couldn’t stop singing the songs. If there is one show you should see in London, its got to be We Will Rock You.
Top 5 Tips for Seeing ‘We Will Rock You’
1. Getting there : The Domion Theatre is right outside the Tottenham Court Road Tube station. You can’t miss it, there is a huge glittery statue of Freddie Mercury outside !
2. Booking Tickets : You have to book in advance to get good seats, the earlier the better - especially for Friday and Saturday nights. There is a show very night except Sunday, so if you’re flexible you shouldn’t have a problem. There are many sites that you can book on - The show’s official website will re-direct you to Ticketmaster. They are reliable but I doubt you get a very good deal and they charge a pretty high handling fee. Shop around. The Time Out web site usually has special offers on a lot of shows. Best tickets sell for £60-£70 direct from the theatre but I only paid £36 for my ticket on the Time Out website !
3. Where to sit : The best seats are in the Circle (rows A-G), which is the front section of the upper level seating and where you get the best view. I was in seat C5 of the circle - excellent seat. The stalls (the ground seating) are OK if you are not far back. Check out the seating plan on the website before you confirm your purchase of tickets on-line to make sure you are happy with your seats.
4. Before the show : Get there early to beat the line to pick up your tickets, but also to enjoy the fantastic collection of photos of Freddie Mercury’s life. The photos are on display on the 1st floor where food and drinks are sold.
5. What to wear : The theatre gets incredibly warm so short sleeves are a must ! By the time the interval arrived I was boiling. When the lady came by selling ice cream she told me that because the building is of historic importance (ie. listed) no major changes to the original construction can be made. So A/C cannot be installed !! At that point I bought a Haagen Dazs and hoped for the best.
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They were selling the Wii game of the concert during the boxing day sales. The game comes with the guitar. It literally flew off the shelves. Must be a good concert!
Sounds like Guitar Hero. It’s a lot of fun !