Gary Mullen & The Works, a Queen cover band, took on the State Farm Center for one night only on Friday.
Lead singer Gary Mullen is a lifelong fan of the British rock group and formed The Works as a tribute to them in 2002, according to the band’s website.
Since then, the band has toured the country performing their “One Night of Queen” concerts, which feature covers of iconic Queen songs.
Gary Mullen & The Works opened their two-hour set with “Tie Your Mother Down.”
After most songs on the set, Mullen gave short speeches and interacted with the audience.
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After the opening tune, Mullen welcomed the audience and scolded latecomers.
“If you’ve come to sit on your ass, I suggest you go home right now,” Mullen said.
Mullen encouraged everyone to stand out of their seats and to dance around. The band’s frontman suggested that audience members take off their clothes.
Mullen followed his advice by taking his shirt off for “I Want to Break Free.”
Mullen was hardly ever seen standing still. During songs, he would jump around the stage much like Freddie Mercury would during performances. By impersonating Mercury’s mannerisms, Mullen took on the role of both singer and actor.
Mullen jumped all around the stage and the upper platform of the stage. At one point during the set, the singer did pushups on the drum stand.
Mullen then left the stage entirely and sang standing on empty seats next to the crowd. He ran up the aisles to the lower bowl section while high-fiving audience members.
Another engaging aspect of the performance was the lighting. Spotlights were used during solos and flashing strobe lights emphasized the rock ’n’ roll beat driving the songs. The lights were also played on the roof of the arena and the seats which brought the space together.
Bruce Bartling, a University alum, enjoyed the different engaging aspects of the performance.
“It was loud and it was energetic,” Bartling said. “And the lights were wonderful. He has a good voice. I’m not sure it’s a dead copy of Mercury, but it’s a really excellent voice.”
There was a 20-minute intermission around 45 minutes into the performance, during which audience members got up from their seats and chatted.
Towards the end of the performance, in one of Mullen’s speech interludes, he thanked Champaign for its energy.
“What you lack in number, you make up for in rock ’n’ roll,” Mullen said.
Tara McGraw, a Fighting Illini fan, said the performance was a fun experience as a lifelong fan of Queen.
“Oh, it was just fun because Queen came out when I was in high school,” McGraw said. “It was a big thing then and so it was just kind of fun to reminisce and dance a little bit and have fun with our friends.”
