AS SEEN ON BBC
TV
Killer Queen still working
its own magic
Express & Star, Monday April 15th 2005
Thirty years after classic rock anthem Bohemian Rhapsody took over the charts, a Black Country
tribute act is still going strong with its own kind of magic.
Queen fans up and down the country have been paying homage to the legendary group that
became a global phenomenon and secured its place among rock music’s elite.
And for Scott Maley, aka Freddie Mercury and his fellow band members there is double cause
for celebration as Queen Mania once again takes Britain by storm.
As Europe’s biggest Queen Tribute band, Killer Queen is fast becoming a household name
after leaving behind its humble beginnings to enjoy international acclaim.
And the song that became the best-selling single of all time is once again being embraced
by music fans across the globe thanks to Killer Queens own brand of talent.
Scott said: “We are all huge Queen fans who have taken on a role and work hard at it. We
began as a cover band called Kid Gluvz and we used to end each set with a Queen Medley.
The whole thing just snowballed from there and we became Killer Queen back in 1993. It’s
now 2005 and we are still going strong. It’s been excellent; we’ve just got bigger and better”.
“What we do is very much a rock show, it’s very visual, dynamic and extremely authentic.
The band has gone through a lot of changes in the last few years but we now have a
dedicated line-up and are working better than we have ever done”.
“The proof’s in the pudding as we now play all over the world. I think I look totally like
Freddie Mercury, I’m quite blessed in that department”.
Bohemian Rhapsody hogged the number one slot for a total of 14 weeks. In 1997 it was
voted best single of the last 25 years.
Express & Star, Monday April 15th 2005
Thirty years after classic rock anthem Bohemian Rhapsody took over the charts, a Black Country
tribute act is still going strong with its own kind of magic.
Queen fans up and down the country have been paying homage to the legendary group that
became a global phenomenon and secured its place among rock music’s elite.
And for Scott Maley, aka Freddie Mercury and his fellow band members there is double cause
for celebration as Queen Mania once again takes Britain by storm.
As Europe’s biggest Queen Tribute band, Killer Queen is fast becoming a household name
after leaving behind its humble beginnings to enjoy international acclaim.
And the song that became the best-selling single of all time is once again being embraced
by music fans across the globe thanks to Killer Queens own brand of talent.
Scott said: “We are all huge Queen fans who have taken on a role and work hard at it. We
began as a cover band called Kid Gluvz and we used to end each set with a Queen Medley.
The whole thing just snowballed from there and we became Killer Queen back in 1993. It’s
now 2005 and we are still going strong. It’s been excellent; we’ve just got bigger and better”.
“What we do is very much a rock show, it’s very visual, dynamic and extremely authentic.
The band has gone through a lot of changes in the last few years but we now have a
dedicated line-up and are working better than we have ever done”.
“The proof’s in the pudding as we now play all over the world. I think I look totally like
Freddie Mercury, I’m quite blessed in that department”.
Bohemian Rhapsody hogged the number one slot for a total of 14 weeks. In 1997 it was
voted best single of the last 25 years.
Tribute outfit’s jet set
jaunts
Express & Star, Front Page, Wednesday September 24th 2003
A Walsall tribute band is living the luxury jet-set life, having played on super-yacht ‘Christina
O’ then flown to London Heathrow today for a concert at a top Hotel.
Killer Queen flow out to the South of France yesterday to play on the yacht on which Sir
Winston Churchill, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, Great Garbo, John Wayne and Maria
Callas have been guests.
After playing to guests of the De Prouton family at a private birthday party, Scott Maley,
Vocals, Simon Lilley, Lead Guitar, Glenn Williams, Keyboards, Dan Wilkes, Bass and Ashley
Sheehan, Drums, stayed in a luxury hotel near St. Tropez overnight then flew to Heathrow
Today.
There they went to the Radisson Edwardian Hotel Heathrow to play a corporate function for
Chevron Texaco. Then it’s back home to play the Prince of Wales centre, Cannock, on October
19th.
Express & Star, Front Page, Wednesday September 24th 2003
A Walsall tribute band is living the luxury jet-set life, having played on super-yacht ‘Christina
O’ then flown to London Heathrow today for a concert at a top Hotel.
Killer Queen flow out to the South of France yesterday to play on the yacht on which Sir
Winston Churchill, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, Great Garbo, John Wayne and Maria
Callas have been guests.
After playing to guests of the De Prouton family at a private birthday party, Scott Maley,
Vocals, Simon Lilley, Lead Guitar, Glenn Williams, Keyboards, Dan Wilkes, Bass and Ashley
Sheehan, Drums, stayed in a luxury hotel near St. Tropez overnight then flew to Heathrow
Today.
There they went to the Radisson Edwardian Hotel Heathrow to play a corporate function for
Chevron Texaco. Then it’s back home to play the Prince of Wales centre, Cannock, on October
19th.
Mamma Mia, the music was
so fab we had to get up and dance
The Ultimate Tribute Concert
“Scott Maley is touted to be the world’s best Freddie Mercury Impersonator and
he definitely lived up to that reputation on Sunday night”.
Quoted from a review of a concert performed by Killer Queen at Suntec City,
Singapore on August 18th 2002.
The Ultimate Tribute Concert
“Scott Maley is touted to be the world’s best Freddie Mercury Impersonator and
he definitely lived up to that reputation on Sunday night”.
Quoted from a review of a concert performed by Killer Queen at Suntec City,
Singapore on August 18th 2002.
A Killer Show
Birmingham Evening Mail
Revelers will be welcoming in 2003 with a riot of noise and colour in the city’s Centenary
Square.
Birmingham’s New Year celebrations will include performances by Joolz, Rhythm and Blues
band, Soul Survivors and Queen Tribute band Killer Queen.
As the clock strikes midnight, a spectacular firework display will light up the night sky.
The city centre festivities, which kick off at 7pm, will be hosted by BBC Radio 2’s Janice Long
and BBC WM breakfast show presenters Tony Wadsworth and Julie Mayer.
Councillor Ian ward, Cabinet minister for leisure, sport and culture said, “New Year’s Eve
marks the end of what has been one of the busiest and most success years ever for City
Council events.
This night of free entertainment in the city centre will be one of the biggest organised
events in the country and will show that the people of Birmingham really know how to party
and that we deserve to win the title of European Capital of Culture 2008.
A BBC film will be broadcast showing highlights of the year from around the world in 2002,
including footage of Birmingham’s successful Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Big Ben will be broadcast live at midnight and then fireworks, choreographed with music,
will be set off. There is free admission and people are advised to arrive early to be sure of
a place – the square will be closed when full.
Birmingham Evening Mail
Revelers will be welcoming in 2003 with a riot of noise and colour in the city’s Centenary
Square.
Birmingham’s New Year celebrations will include performances by Joolz, Rhythm and Blues
band, Soul Survivors and Queen Tribute band Killer Queen.
As the clock strikes midnight, a spectacular firework display will light up the night sky.
The city centre festivities, which kick off at 7pm, will be hosted by BBC Radio 2’s Janice Long
and BBC WM breakfast show presenters Tony Wadsworth and Julie Mayer.
Councillor Ian ward, Cabinet minister for leisure, sport and culture said, “New Year’s Eve
marks the end of what has been one of the busiest and most success years ever for City
Council events.
This night of free entertainment in the city centre will be one of the biggest organised
events in the country and will show that the people of Birmingham really know how to party
and that we deserve to win the title of European Capital of Culture 2008.
A BBC film will be broadcast showing highlights of the year from around the world in 2002,
including footage of Birmingham’s successful Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Big Ben will be broadcast live at midnight and then fireworks, choreographed with music,
will be set off. There is free admission and people are advised to arrive early to be sure of
a place – the square will be closed when full.
Killer Queen at ‘The Ashfield
Show’
Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts. by Claire Ward – August 14th 1999
It was one Saturday, in mid-August and we were going to see Killer Queen at an
outdoor gig. Well you’ve guessed it the English weather was true to form and it
threw it down for at least three days before hand but as Saturday wore on the
weather seemed to brighten up… so early morning we packed all our stuff up
(rain macs, binliners to sit on and of course the ever important beer) and headed
off to ‘The Ashfield Show’, The Lawns, Sutton-in-Ashfield.
It was very muddy but we were prepared for this… it was wet which we could
handle… there were some God awful acts on that very nearly broke the spirit.
As the time got nearer for Killer Queen the venue seemed to get more cramped,
as thousands of people descended to have a look.
Killer Queen burst on to the stage and immediately had the crowd rocking… the
whole crowd seemed to be having fun… then what must be a nightmare for any
band… the power failed… they went off and came back on a number of times,
each time the power letting them down again. In the end they had to cut some
parts of the show out and some of my favourites were missed but despite all
this the crowd got behind them and if there had been a roof it would have been
lifted with the chorus of voices singing the Queen anthems at the end. They
remained professional to the end and the audience appreciated that… after all
we had been stood in that wet field for hours waiting to hear them and not one
of us went home disappointed.
It was one if those nights when you can’t remember exactly what was sung,
although you can remember singing along, what stayed with you that night was
the atmosphere and the camaraderie of the whole “we are in this together”
type thing. I have seen Killer Queen a few times now and they always seem to
give it all they’ve got, always with enthusiasm for the music and always out to
give the audience a good time… this was no exception. Thanks KQ for giving us
all a great great night… which will be remembered for a long time… for better
reasons than just the generator packing up.
Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts. by Claire Ward – August 14th 1999
It was one Saturday, in mid-August and we were going to see Killer Queen at an
outdoor gig. Well you’ve guessed it the English weather was true to form and it
threw it down for at least three days before hand but as Saturday wore on the
weather seemed to brighten up… so early morning we packed all our stuff up
(rain macs, binliners to sit on and of course the ever important beer) and headed
off to ‘The Ashfield Show’, The Lawns, Sutton-in-Ashfield.
It was very muddy but we were prepared for this… it was wet which we could
handle… there were some God awful acts on that very nearly broke the spirit.
As the time got nearer for Killer Queen the venue seemed to get more cramped,
as thousands of people descended to have a look.
Killer Queen burst on to the stage and immediately had the crowd rocking… the
whole crowd seemed to be having fun… then what must be a nightmare for any
band… the power failed… they went off and came back on a number of times,
each time the power letting them down again. In the end they had to cut some
parts of the show out and some of my favourites were missed but despite all
this the crowd got behind them and if there had been a roof it would have been
lifted with the chorus of voices singing the Queen anthems at the end. They
remained professional to the end and the audience appreciated that… after all
we had been stood in that wet field for hours waiting to hear them and not one
of us went home disappointed.
It was one if those nights when you can’t remember exactly what was sung,
although you can remember singing along, what stayed with you that night was
the atmosphere and the camaraderie of the whole “we are in this together”
type thing. I have seen Killer Queen a few times now and they always seem to
give it all they’ve got, always with enthusiasm for the music and always out to
give the audience a good time… this was no exception. Thanks KQ for giving us
all a great great night… which will be remembered for a long time… for better
reasons than just the generator packing up.
One Vision
Maltese Times, Tuesday April 30th 2002
Anyone approaching the stage of the Mediterranean Conference Centre yesterday could have
been forgiven for thinking they were listening to the voice of the late Freddie Mercury belting
out his legendary band’s greatest hits.
Upon reaching the stage, I was even more dumbstruck by Scott Maley’s uncanny resemblance
to the former Queen frontman.
Killer Queen were tuning their instruments to give Maltese fans of British band Queen a taste
of the almost-real thing tonight and tomorrow and for many of the fans it will be the closest
they will ever get to experience the raw power and sheer energy of Queen.
The response to today’s and tomorrow’s shows, organised by Pres International, has been
overwhelming: the venue has been sold out, which means that about 4,000 people will be
swarming the MMC which has had part of its seating area removed to create the concert
atmosphere.
The performance consists of a 90-minute plus set of live music with a complete sound and
lighting crew to reproduce the Queen show. Scott is determined that the concert will recreate
the same spectacle, flamboyance and quality sounds associated with Queen. “We are very
dedicated and work very hard at this job and admit it’s not easy” he said. Killer Queen started
back in 1994, when they used to perform a 30-minute medley of Queen Hits in their repertoire.
Thanks to the response they dedicated themselves exclusively to Queen.
Eight years and hundreds of shows later, Killer Queen are critically acclaimed as the finest
of several Queen tribute bands in the UK, to the extent that they were chosen to headline at
the International Queen Convention in 2000. All the members in the band are professional
musicians who leave no stone unturned when they reproduce classics like “We are the
champions”, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Under Pressure”. Scott confessed that it had taken
endless hours of watching Freddie on videos to emulate him to a tee but he adds most of
the mannerisms on stage come naturally.
For the Malta shows, the band will be taking a snapshot of Queen through the years, focusing
especially on their late 70’s and early 80’s period, since Queen stopped touring in 1986, no
songs from the last three albums will be played.
The lead singer said he was aware if the massive popularity of Queen in Malta and urged
everyone to treat the show as a real concert – it is not a cabaret event.
“You can never replace Queen as a band and that is not our intention. Freddie’s death left a
big hole in the music industry and we are just trying to fill that hole a little bit. All we are
doing is paying our little tribute” he said.
Maltese Times, Tuesday April 30th 2002
Anyone approaching the stage of the Mediterranean Conference Centre yesterday could have
been forgiven for thinking they were listening to the voice of the late Freddie Mercury belting
out his legendary band’s greatest hits.
Upon reaching the stage, I was even more dumbstruck by Scott Maley’s uncanny resemblance
to the former Queen frontman.
Killer Queen were tuning their instruments to give Maltese fans of British band Queen a taste
of the almost-real thing tonight and tomorrow and for many of the fans it will be the closest
they will ever get to experience the raw power and sheer energy of Queen.
The response to today’s and tomorrow’s shows, organised by Pres International, has been
overwhelming: the venue has been sold out, which means that about 4,000 people will be
swarming the MMC which has had part of its seating area removed to create the concert
atmosphere.
The performance consists of a 90-minute plus set of live music with a complete sound and
lighting crew to reproduce the Queen show. Scott is determined that the concert will recreate
the same spectacle, flamboyance and quality sounds associated with Queen. “We are very
dedicated and work very hard at this job and admit it’s not easy” he said. Killer Queen started
back in 1994, when they used to perform a 30-minute medley of Queen Hits in their repertoire.
Thanks to the response they dedicated themselves exclusively to Queen.
Eight years and hundreds of shows later, Killer Queen are critically acclaimed as the finest
of several Queen tribute bands in the UK, to the extent that they were chosen to headline at
the International Queen Convention in 2000. All the members in the band are professional
musicians who leave no stone unturned when they reproduce classics like “We are the
champions”, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Under Pressure”. Scott confessed that it had taken
endless hours of watching Freddie on videos to emulate him to a tee but he adds most of
the mannerisms on stage come naturally.
For the Malta shows, the band will be taking a snapshot of Queen through the years, focusing
especially on their late 70’s and early 80’s period, since Queen stopped touring in 1986, no
songs from the last three albums will be played.
The lead singer said he was aware if the massive popularity of Queen in Malta and urged
everyone to treat the show as a real concert – it is not a cabaret event.
“You can never replace Queen as a band and that is not our intention. Freddie’s death left a
big hole in the music industry and we are just trying to fill that hole a little bit. All we are
doing is paying our little tribute” he said.
Killer Queen at Langdale
Hall, Witney – by Paul Long
Having only ever seen Queen live once back in 1973 at Alexandra Palace, my
lifelong regret will always be that I never got to see them live again. So when
the chance to see Killer Queen in my home town arose it was not to be missed.
I can honestly say it was as good as I remember the real thing. I was very happy
to find the inclusion of a lot of the early stuff, Liar for instance.
Langdale Hall is renowned locally as a crap venue but the largest in the town
but this did not detract from a thoroughly entertaining night. We at the back had
to stand on tables to get a good view as the stage there is virtually non-existent.
The classic encore of ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and finally
‘God Save The Queen’ took me back to December 22nd 1979 and “Ally pally”.
Thank you boys for bringing back some fantastic memories from my youth and
adding some new ones.
Paul Long – via. Email
Having only ever seen Queen live once back in 1973 at Alexandra Palace, my
lifelong regret will always be that I never got to see them live again. So when
the chance to see Killer Queen in my home town arose it was not to be missed.
I can honestly say it was as good as I remember the real thing. I was very happy
to find the inclusion of a lot of the early stuff, Liar for instance.
Langdale Hall is renowned locally as a crap venue but the largest in the town
but this did not detract from a thoroughly entertaining night. We at the back had
to stand on tables to get a good view as the stage there is virtually non-existent.
The classic encore of ‘We Are The Champions’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and finally
‘God Save The Queen’ took me back to December 22nd 1979 and “Ally pally”.
Thank you boys for bringing back some fantastic memories from my youth and
adding some new ones.
Paul Long – via. Email
I'm sure you could
tell from the audience response just how much your performance was
appreciated and I hope you enjoyed performing as much as the audience enjoyed watching
you. It truly was remarkable - amazing music, amazing vocals and amazing energy!
Considering that this is a free community event, the production was impressively slick
and professional and this was in no small part due to your appearance. Watching video
clips back you could quite easily be watching a televised event on the BBC and I am so
proud of it and so pleased that you were part of it.
I noticed that there are a few other YouTube clips taken by people in the crowd, one with a very
nice comment from a loyal Queen fan who says you are the closest you could get to seeing
the original band back in the day!
Thanks to you Scott, and to the rest of the band for being so easy to work with, I am sure there
will be opportunities to work together again in the future
Extract from email from the event organiser.
Newham ‘Under the Stars’ Festival, Central Park, Newham London
August 2011
appreciated and I hope you enjoyed performing as much as the audience enjoyed watching
you. It truly was remarkable - amazing music, amazing vocals and amazing energy!
Considering that this is a free community event, the production was impressively slick
and professional and this was in no small part due to your appearance. Watching video
clips back you could quite easily be watching a televised event on the BBC and I am so
proud of it and so pleased that you were part of it.
I noticed that there are a few other YouTube clips taken by people in the crowd, one with a very
nice comment from a loyal Queen fan who says you are the closest you could get to seeing
the original band back in the day!
Thanks to you Scott, and to the rest of the band for being so easy to work with, I am sure there
will be opportunities to work together again in the future
Extract from email from the event organiser.
Newham ‘Under the Stars’ Festival, Central Park, Newham London
August 2011