‘One Night of Queen’ brings concert experience to Arroyo Grande

Gary Mullen doesn’t care if audience members sing along to “One Night of Queen,” his energetic tribute to the legendary British rock band behind “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are the Champions.”

In fact, he encourages such behavior.

“It’s not our show. It’s the audience’s show,” Mullen, 42, explained in his thick Scottish accent. “We want them to sing along and dance and play air guitar and dance until their hands bleed.”

That’s not to imply that Mullen and his band, The Works, aren’t having any fun.

“We’re having a ball,” said Mullen, who brings “One Night of Queen” to the Clark Center for the Performing Arts in Arroyo Grande on Thursday. “We’re five guys who were bedroom warriors who wanted to play music, who wanted to tour the world. We’re living the dream.”

Reached by phone from his home in Glasgow, Scotland, Mullen recalled his introduction to Queen at age 4.

While watching television, “I remember seeing this flamboyant guy in a black and white leotard with a band behind him. I was just blown away,” Mullen recalled. “I said to my mom, ‘Who’s that?’ She said, ‘That’s (frontman) Freddie Mercury.’ ”

The boy had a follow-up question: “‘Can we buy those records?’ ”

As he grew older, Mullen’s love affair with Queen continued. He bought the band’s albums and started collecting Queen memorabilia.

Queen even became his go-to source for karaoke songs.

“People would come up to me and say, ‘Hey, man, I’ll give you a beer if you sing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ ” Mullen said with a chuckle. (Never one to turn down a free drink, he usually complied.)

But he never dreamed he would make his living channeling Mercury on stage.

Then, in 2000, Mullen’s wife and mother secretly signed him up to compete on “Stars in Their Eyes,” a British TV show that challenged contestants to impersonate show business personalities.

“There was a bit of a conspiracy,” said Mullen, then a Compaq computer salesman.

Mullen was so oblivious to the scheme, in fact, that he refused to believe he had been selected to audition.

When he received a call from a show producer, “I thought it was one of my friends — who’s a complete joker — winding me up,” Mullen said. “I was very sarcastic to the guy from the show.”

Reality finally sunk in when Mullen found himself on stage on “Stars in Their Eyes.” His pitch-perfect performance of “A Kind of Magic” netted him the champion spot.

Mullen also represented the United Kingdom on the European version of the show, “Euro Stars in Their Eyes.”

After that, the performer acknowledged, there was no turning back.

“It took 18 months to put the band together,” he said. Then Gary Mullen and The Works took “One Night of Queen” on the road.

According to Mullen, the show strives to recreate the experience of seeing Queen in concert in its prime.

“(With) a good tribute act … there’s always a minute when you go, ‘Hang on, is that the Beatles? Is that Elvis?’ Is that Frank Sinatra?’ ” he said. “You suddenly find yourself back at that moment in time.”

Recreating that experience can be challenging,

“You’ve got to be in a certain mental state and a certain physical state to do it,” Mullen said.

In order to channel Mercury, known for his theatrical stage presence, four-octave singing voice and powerful physique, Mullen takes singing lessons, runs and lifts weights. (“No one wants to see a fat Freddie,” he joked.) He’s also studied videos of Mercury’s moves to get them just right.

For every concert, Mullen dons a typical Mercury costume — such as a white tank top, striped pants and white Adidas sneakers — plus a wig and a thick, luxurious fake moustache. (The performer tried to grow out his own facial hair, but the result looked like a hairy animal that had been dead for weeks, he quipped.)

Mullen said it’s imperative that “One Night of Queen” feels as close to the real thing as possible.

“(When) people come to see our show, they want to see Queen at their very best, every single night,” he said.

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 10:36 AM with the headline "‘One Night of Queen’ brings concert experience to Arroyo Grande."