Rocking night as Shrewsbury enjoys Queen tribute

A weekend of musical extravagance got off to a wonderful start as hundreds of people flocked to Shrewsbury's West Mid Showground to relive the magic of rock band Queen.

The atmosphere may have been a little more relaxed than the real deal were used to in their day – there were no picnic tables or gazebos at Wembley Stadium in 1986 – but those that saw Queen II more than enjoyed a nostalgic night of rock classics.

The main arena was packed by the time the four-piece band took to the stage opening, as Queen did in 1986, with One Vision followed by Tie Your Mother Down.

Sure 'Brian May' had a ridiculous wig, and 'Freddie Mercury' had a ridiculous moustache, but that was easily overlooked.

All the Queen classics were present and correct and there were also moments for the die-hard Queen fans to enjoy.

A version of Love Of My Life was beset by technical difficulties and the crowd was maybe not quite packed enough at the front of the stage to give it its full sing-along effect, but nevertheless it went down very well.

Throughout, fake Freddie had enough moments where, if you closed your eyes, you'd have struggled to tell the difference.

A well-honed version of Bohemian Rhapsody inevitably wrapped up the show with a mass crowd sing-song before the even more inevitable encore of We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions.

Queen II set up the weekend nicely. Tonight it is Last Night Of The Proms. They have a hard act to follow.