INTERVIEW: Almost Queen are the champions of tribute bands

Photo: Almost Queen’s musicians are Joseph Russo, Steve Leonard, John Cappadona and Randy Gregg. Photo courtesy of Christopher Appoldt / Provided by official press site with permission.

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With the global success of Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queen biopic that won Rami Malek an Oscar for portraying iconic frontman Freddie Mercury, new and old fans are celebrating the music of this popular band with unparalleled fervor. Songs like “We Are the Champions,” “Killer Queen,” “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “Another One Bites the Dust” have been part of the mainstream consciousness for a long time, but now they have been catapulted to even higher heights, attracting the listening ears of new generations and nostalgic Baby Boomers.

Here’s some solid evidence of Queen’s mastery in 2019: Almost Queen, one of the most respected tribute bands in the business, sold out the Stone Pony Summer Stage at a recent concert in Asbury Park, New Jersey. That’s an impressive feat because tickets are still available for newer, modern-day acts in the same venue, but Almost Queen ran out of tickets well in advance of the show. And the secondary market was asking for three or four times the asking price.

Almost Queen feature the musical talents of singer Joseph Russo as Mercury, guitarist Steve Leonard as Brian May, drummer John Cappadona as Roger Taylor and bassist Randy Gregg as John Deacon. Their set lists include most of the fan favorites: “We Will Rock You,” “Tie Your Mother Down,” “Bicycle Race” and “I Want It All.”

In addition to performing in the tribute band, Gregg also manages and books the group. For him, the Stone Pony show, in the historically significant town of Asbury Park, was a highlight he’ll remember for some time.

“It was completely, completely sold out,” he said in a recent phone interview. “That was the largest hard-ticket show we’ve ever played. There were more than 4,500 people.”

Becoming Queen

Gregg admitted that the members of Almost Queen are, to be expected, hardcore Queen fans. That’s what drove the quartet to start Almost Queen, their shared love of this British band with so many mega-hits.

“When I got the call, I was playing in a lot of different bands,” said Gregg, who has played with many other musicians, including a stint with Dee Snider. “That call was in 2004, I believe. The band is 15 years old, and it took longer than we expected to get going. Now it’s getting really good. It did take a few years because we wanted you to hear what you heard on the radio.”

What sets Almost Queen apart is that 15-year longevity, which has resulted in fine-tuning of the May riffs, Mercury vocals, Taylor pounds and Deacon plucks. When they first started there were not too many Queen tribute bands around, and now it has become a crowded marketplace. However, few of these groups can claim the success of Almost Queen — one look at their upcoming concerts can prove their dominance: gigs in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Delaware. They have a big date Saturday, July 20 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, a venue that’s also played by the likes of the Flaming Lips, Slash, Rob Thomas, Bryan Ferry and Gavin DeGraw.

The Life of an ‘Almost’ Band

Two of the band members have good-paying jobs, which means Almost Queen’s gigs are mostly on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Gregg called them “weekend warriors.” They are musicians who know one another so well they only need to get together once or twice a year to actually rehearse because their constant playing keeps them fresh.

Choosing the set list for a band with so many hit songs can be a daunting task. There are mainstays that never leave, like “Radio Ga Ga,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Somebody to Love.”

So here’s the edict Gregg sticks by: For towns where Almost Queen has not performed before, the band will run through a hit list. For repeat towns, Gregg will look through his archive of set lists (he keeps them all) to make sure there is some variety in the performances. That’s when Almost Queen might turn to some B sides and other deeper tracks.

For the bassist, his favorite album growing up was Sheer Heart Attack, featuring such tunes as “Brighton Rock,” “Now I’m Here,” “Killer Queen” and “She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos).” He eventually transitioned (like so many fans) to Queen II, featuring “Some Day One Day,” “Ogre Battle” and “Funny How Love Is.”

Nowadays he loves all the albums, and when performing live, he loves when the concert turns to the classics “Radio Ga Ga,” which usually entices a sing-a-long, and, of course, the great David Bowie duet of “Under Pressure.”

“There’s not a song that we do that I shrug my shoulders to,” he said.

Gregg is a fan of Queen in its present-day incarnation, which still features May and Taylor, and now has American Idol contestant Adam Lambert singing the lead vocals. He has never seen this particular grouping of the band, but he did catch a concert when Paul Rodgers was fronting the quartet a few years ago.

He, of course, also saw Bohemian Rhapsody, the successful film that lit up the box office and attracted the attention of the Academy Awards. “Of course, in the end, I cried,” he said of watching Mercury’s life cut too short. “But for me, personally, I love the fact that it turned more people on to Queen.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Almost Queen have concerts scheduled through 2020. They will play Saturday, July 20 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. Opening for them are Black Dog, a tribute to Led Zeppelin. Click here for more information and tickets.