Queen formed in 1970, but its original incarnation with Freddie Mercury on piano and lead vocals ended with Mercury’s death in 1991, which means that Killer Queen frontman Patrick Myers has been singing Queen songs longer than Freddie Mercury.
In June 1993, Myers, a drama student at London University, played his first gig with Killer Queen, a tribute band, which means he’s been at it 33 years!
“Horrifying, isn’t it?” Myers deadpanned during a recent Zoom call from the U.K. “It’s been my whole life, basically, and it’s been good fun. But it wasn’t intended to be a long thing. It was supposed to be a sort of big celebration. Our first gig was an end-of-year party for the whole university. For some reason, we got selected to do it. It was our first-ever show and it just sort of took off from that point, really. We knew when you do these songs in front of an audience just how powerful they are.”
Myers was too young to see Queen live, but around age 13, he was turned onto the band.
“My mom was into the Beatles, and we had very few records in the house, and I thought, ‘Oh, I really like the Beatles.’ I said to my friend, ‘Look, I need a band that’s like the Beatles.’ You know, John Lennon had been killed, and the Beatles weren’t doing anything else, and that was it.”
Myers also was an ABBA fan and liked songs by Adam and the Ants and Boomtown Rats, but he “wanted a whole band with a massive repertoire. We were on a school trip, and my friend put some Walkman earphones on my ears and said, ‘Listen to this.’ He didn’t say who it was, but it was Queen’s Greatest Hits, and I had heard some of them before, but I didn’t know they were all by the same band.”
So began a lifelong Queen love affair. Myers is a scholar of the band, encyclopedic in his knowledge of every song it ever recorded. Hence, his Queen tribute act Killer Queen plays the hits, but he also goes for the deep cuts, the kind of hidden gems only a hardcore Queen fan would be familiar with.
Myers’ deep respect for the band and Mercury’s at-the-time fairly recent death made him question if it was appropriate in 1993 to be doing a tribute show. This was, after all, before the current tribute band fever that’s currently gripping the music industry
“I figured we had this opportunity to do this one show,” he recalled. “We’d been rehearsing the songs. We had a lovely costume designer who worked with me. So, we were ready to go. It was a bit like Cinderella without the invite to the ball. Then we got this invite. And we thought, ‘OK, well, let’s do it.’ It was terrifying, but it was brilliant fun. And it just really took off from there.
“We got offers to do the Marquee Club, which is huge, national tours, and then the West End; within about 13, 14 months of us starting, we were doing the equivalent of Broadway,” Myers marveled. “And then a few years down the road, we started winning awards, and then the awards led to us being offered things like the same arenas that Queen played in their heyday. That’s when it got really trippy. It went from being this project in the back of your head to, ‘Oh my God, how did this happen?’ We were all college kids.”
Mercury’s voice was a unique instrument, but Myers has worked hard at not impersonating but inhabiting Freddie’s physicality and stage presence.
‘People just go crazy for our show, which is wonderful to watch. I would say a lot of the heavy lifting is down to how brilliant the songs are, because the songs are phenomenal.’
—Patrick Myers, Killer Queen
“People just go crazy for our show, which is wonderful to watch,” Myers said. “I would say a lot of the heavy lifting is down to how brilliant the songs are, because the songs are phenomenal. I mean, I’ve lived with them now since I was about 13, but I’ve lived with them professionally since I was 21.
“These songs are great and it’s been a privilege to play them,” he continued, “but I’m not going to match Freddie’s voice, because I think he’s matchless, but I think I’ve got vocal chops, and I can employ my voice in a way that makes people feel Freddie, that there’s a Freddie ‘thing’ going on. I work at it all the time.”
Nederlander Concerts presents Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen featuring Patrick Myers as Freddie Mercury at Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Sunday, Oct. 4 (doors at 6:30, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $45.85 to $236 at ticketmaster.com).
Also from Nederlander at Vina Robles, see Slightly Stoopid on Thursday, Oct. 8 (doors at 6, show at 7 p.m.; all ages; $52 to $400 VIP at ticketmaster.com). The reggae and punk act formed in 1996, and two founding members—Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald—are still fronting the band. Be prepared to bang your head.
Feel the Vibez
Promoter Good Vibez has a ton of shows this week, but its biggie is the Holo Holo Music Festival at the Avila Beach Golf Resort on Saturday, Oct. 3 ($58 general or $183 beach balcony at tixr.com), with headliner Common Kings. Born from a love of island and reggae music, this fest, now in its fifth year, keeps expanding its reach, coming to Avila for the first time. Also on the bill are Steel Pulse, The Green, Mike Love, and Eli-Mac.
Over at the Fremont Theater, Good Vibez presents stand-up comedian, actress, and producer Jessica Kirson on Friday, Oct. 2 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $38.60 to $62.80 at prekindle.com). She’s a regular in NYC comedy at Gotham Comedy Club, Laugh Factory, Caroline’s, and the Improv. She frequently references her experiences with sobriety, her Jewish upbringing, and her identity as a lesbian.
Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOD VIBEZ
Rapper and singer-songwriter CupcakKe performs on Saturday, Oct. 3 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $49.92 at prekindle.com). Born Elizabeth Eden Harris, she’s “known for her hypersexualized, brazen, and often comical persona and music,” her bio explained. LA brother-sister dance pop duo Big Sis and DJ DFO open.
FYI, Lukas Nelson and Molly Tuttle on Monday, Oct. 5, tickets still available.
Michelle Branch was just 17 years old when she signed to Madonna’s Maverick Records in 2001. She’ll play Fremont as a stop on her Everywhere and Back Again tour on Tuesday, Oct. 6 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; VIP only $158.59 to $260.82 at prekindle.com). The pop, rock, and country singer-songwriter has had hits with “Everywhere,” “All You Wanted,” “Breathe,” “Goodbye to You,” and “Are You Happy Now?” She won a Grammy Award for her 2002 collaboration with Carlos Santana, “The Game of Love.” Sasami opens.
Two-time Grammy nominated EDM DJ and producer Morgan Page plays on Wednesday, Oct. 7 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $32.93 at prekindle.com). He’s been at the forefront of the electronic dance music scene for years.
Blues rock, country, and Americana
Numbskull and Good Medicine are covering three roots music subgenres this week starting with LA blues rock trio The Record Company at The Siren on Saturday, Oct. 3 (doors at 6:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $35.74 at goodmedicinepresents.com). They’ll be performing their debut album, Give it Back to You (2016), live in its entirety. The Grammy-nominated band’s live show emphasizes high-energy, no-frills rock ’n’ roll delivery. Kam Franklin opens.
Tomball, Texas, act the Eli Young Band plays at BarrelHouse Brewing Amphitheatre on Sunday, Oct. 4 (6 p.m.; all ages; $41.92 at goodmedicinepresents.com). The band’s charted eight times on the Billboard country charts and enjoyed No. 1 hits with “Crazy Girl,” “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” “Drunk Last Night,” and “Love Ain’t.”
Americana band The Deslondes play The Siren on Sunday, Oct. 4 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $24.93 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Their most recent album covers songs by their heroes and influences, but—according to press materials—“they didn’t want to simply exalt their heroes and catalog their influences. They wanted to give their friends a boost as well. The poignant and powerful Don’t Let It Die Vol. 1 includes new interpretations of old songs by artists who’ve guided the band for years, including Swamp Dogg, Johnny Cash, and Clifton Chenier, alongside new songs by peers, tourmates, and collaborators, including Nick Woods, Pat Reedy, and the Kernel.” Desiree Cannon opens.
Also at The Siren …
In addition to the Good Medicine and Numbskull shows, The Siren has some in-house shows including Americana, blues, classic rock act Scott Cooper & the Rosebud Band on Friday, Oct. 2 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $7 to $10 at tixr.com).
Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF HOSTILE TAKEDOWN
“The band is set to release a new album of studio recordings in September,” Cooper said. “Titled Record of the Year, the album features a mix of original music and our arrangements of ‘Baby’s in Black’ (Beatles), ‘Señor’ (Dylan), ‘When Push Comes to Shove’ (Grateful Dead), ‘Cleaning Windows’ (Van Morrison), ‘The Big Question’ (Ike Turner), and ‘That’s the Way the Whole Thing Ends’ (Gillian Welch). Original material includes Lachlann Kane’s ‘Winnemucca Girl’ and ‘It Ain’t Here,’ as well as my ‘You Never Need to Say’ and the fan favorite ‘Ghosts of La Honda.’”
Proving punk’s not dead, it’s just middle-aged but still kicking ass, comes D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles) on Thursday, Oct. 8 (6:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $29.59 to $41.59 at tixr.com). The crossover thrash band formed as a hardcore punk act in Houston in 1982 but later relocated to San Francisco where their sound morphed into thrash. Phoenix metal band Scattered Guts, Orcutt-based hardcore punk and thrash metal band Hostile Takedown, and local melodic skate/punk act Carry the 9 open.
Meet ‘The Rock’
Looks like the new proprietors of the live music venue out near the SLO airport have settled on a name: The Rock. SLO Brew Live will continue to be the “presenter,” hence SLO Brew Live presents First Friday with Brass Mash at The Rock on Friday, Oct. 2 (doors at 6 p.m.; all ages; $25.41 general, $14.70 student at my805tix.com). Brass Mash is a killer horn band that mashes up hits into a head-bobbing good time.
Credit: COURTESY PHOTO BY SILKEN WEINBERG
Also this week from SLO Brew Live at The Rock, see The Bends on Sunday, Oct. 4 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $29.27 at ticketweb.com). This up-and-coming alt-rock band recently released their debut album, If You Insist, on Warner Bros. Records. The Baton Rouge-bred and Nashville-based quartet—Hayden Field (vocals, guitar), Ian Marmande (guitar), Jacob Rhodes (drums), and Chase Perkins (bass)—met at LSU and have gone from a college bar band to a full-fledged touring act.
Finally, SLO Brew Live and Numbskull present Soulfly playing nu-metal, groove metal, and thrash on Tuesday, Oct. 6 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $35.95 at ticketweb.com). Hailing from the Sonoran Desert, Soulfly will be heating up mosh pits with opening acts Nailbomb and Incite.
Be classy
The SLO Symphony presents Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s groundbreakingly brilliant 1913 ballet score The Rite of Spring at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo on Sunday, Oct. 4 (3 p.m.; $12 to $92 at pacslo.org). Stravinsky’s score imagines a pagan ritual where elders watch a young girl dance herself to death as a sacrifice to the god of spring. Also on the program is the world premiere of Sense of Place composed by Grover Beach resident Stefan Podell, with an opening performance of Danse Nègre by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The three pieces will be performed by a 90-musician orchestra under the baton of Maestro Andrew Sewell, who’ll offer a 2 p.m. pre-concert talk. ∆
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 1-8, 2026.
