Brian May And Kerry Ellis

Brian May And Kerry Ellis’ unplugged concert in the candlelit intimacy of St George’s Church was mesmerising. The dates are aimed at building awareness of the Born Free Foundation, which works to conserve and protect threatened species and they opened the show with the song ‘Born Free’, recorded in support of the charity. Musical theatre star Kerry’s vocal range is incredible and the set mixed Queen classics, rock standards and musical numbers including reminders of Kelly’s theatre career in ‘Wicked’. Queen anthems such as ‘We Will Rock You’ brought the crowd to their feet and moving tributes were made to Freddie Mercury. Equally special and perhaps more surprising were pared down rock classics like ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ and simple re-visitings of standards like ‘The Way We Were’ with everything stripped back using just guitar, vocals and keyboards – very special. A final highlight for Queen and Brian May fans was the expected classic May guitar solo which was met with screams and cheers of appreciation.

St George’s Church, 10 November 2012

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