WOW - what a difference a venue makes! Don't get me wrong, I love intimate gigs at Kyps' cosy Lower Parkstone hall, but the prestige of the newly beautified and restored Opera House was totally befitting the royalty of the best Queen tribute act in the land.

This first venture in the Kyps/Opera House partnership was a resounding success, with punters packed to the restored gods.

With quite a large number of Pretender "virgins", as Steve Littlewood - undoubtedly the next best thing to Freddie - ascertained early on, the near-capacity crowd got straight into the mood , fuelled by Steve's incredible energy and, of course, a massive back-catalogue of some of the best songs ever.

The Show Must Go On and Bohemian Rhapsody really got the arms waving - it's just a shame that no gig could ever be long enough to pack all the classics in.

There's no doubt in my mind that this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful partnership, and The Great Pretender's fantastic showcase was the perfect way to start things off.