Symphony and tribute band put on a tasteful and crowd-pleasing homage to Queen at Segerstrom
By Brooklynn Wong
Pacific Symphony recently completed a two-night run at Segerstrom Center for the Arts that thrilled audiences. On the programs for the evenings of April 26-27, the first half offered four pieces of traditional symphonic offerings.
But what they came for, most likely, was the second half—the music of Queen.
The 1970s-80s rock band’s music has had staying power as it is because of their slew of iconic songs, but it is experiencing a real resurgence now with the 2018 release of the motion picture “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which led to an Academy Award for Best Actor for Rami Malek, who brought frontman Freddie Mercury back to life and introduced the music of Queen to a new generation.
And the sold-out audience at Segerstrom Center for the Arts got a terrific semblance of a Queen concert, as Pacific Symphony played its instruments and shared the stage with tribute band Windborne, which provided vocals and the instruments necessary to turn the evening into a rock concert.
But first, a look at the first half:
Pacific Symphony, the resident symphony of the beautiful Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, in its 40th season, is in the midst of an exciting calendar year that includes a similar tribute band-accompanied concert singing the music of The Eagles on the 4th of July, playing the score of “Star Wars: A New Hope” while the movie plays on-screen behind them in August, a Tchaikovsky Spectacular at the OC Fairgrounds in September, and Handel’s Messiah just before Christmas.
The first half of the April 27 show was conducted by the whimsical Albert-George Schram, whose animation and action made him rival his musicians for most entertaining thing on stage.
They started with Russell Peck’s “The Thrill of the Orchestra,” in which the conductor speaks throughout, introducing the various sections of musicians.
Next up was Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody,” followed by Carlos Gardel’s “Tango,” made famous by “Scent of a Woman.” In this piece, the symphony was joined by violin virtuoso Aubree Oliverson. It was a treat to hear performed live.
And rounding out the first half was a tribute to the Beatles, a soft, symphonic medley of about five of the group’s songs.
But the second half took on a wildly different tone from the moment tribute band Windborne took the stage.
It would be understandable if audience members and Queen fans went into this portion of the show skeptical or nervous about whether the symphony-plus-tribute-band would do the band’s music justice. But those worries were quickly put to rest.
Windborne does tribute music for several different classic rock bands, and have now found a niche in performing in these kinds of shows—rock music with symphonies.
Their frontman who was tasked with emulating Mercury was Brody Dolyniuk, a Las Vegas-based entertainer. And by and large, incredibly, Dolyniuk sounded like Mercury, not like a tribute singer trying to sound like him.
Windborne has been working on its “Music of Queen” set since long before this recent resurgence, having performed it as part of their repertoire since 2009.
The voice and the movements were well crafted, and at no moment in the 60-minute set did the show come across as cheesy or forced, or a cheap knockoff version. Of course nothing can beat the original, headed by the late lead vocalist, but Windborne and Pacific Symphony had the sound and the energy down very very well.
The group performed most of Queen’s biggest hits, including the full version of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and a couple of the group’s slightly less-identifiable tunes.
George Cintron and Dan Clemens were great on bass, and Powell Randolph was on the drum kit, with one very impressive solo. Justin Avery was on the keyboard and sang background vocals, and the conductor and arranger was Brent Havens.
One song that really spotlighted the symphony and showed the power of the two components performing together was “Who Wants to Live Forever.”
The lights were queued up too, changing and often being set on Queen’s traditional yellow and purple.
The show was truly excellent, and the crowd ate it up, rising to their feet and singing along.
Pacific Symphony put on a lovely show for the first act, and when they were joined by Windborne in the second, they put on a deeply satisfying show that took everyone back decades and made us wish Freddie and the band as it was, were still with us.
One complaint? I didn’t want it to end, and Windborne could have done without so much chatter and joking between songs, as that would have allowed time for one or two more songs.
See pacificsymphony.org for more information on Pacific Symphony, windbornemusic.com for Windborne.
