Almost Queen are the first to admit that they’ve got big shoes to fill as the group aims to recreate an ‘authentic Queen experience’. The all American tribute to the British rock band is made up of (pictured) John Cappadona, Randy Gregg, Joe Russo and Steve Leonard (playing Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Freddie Mercury and Brian May respectively). Individually, they boast impressive musical resumes and as a group, once decked out in costume and elaborate lighting effects, they promise to give the penultimate live Queen concert. Before their upcoming show at the B.B. King Blues Club on February 29^th, Randy Gregg spoke to Timesquare.com. 

Times Square (TS): How did Almost Queen form?

Randy Gregg (RG): It has been almost seven years now. John and Joe have been in the band the longest and Steve for about three and a half years. It was initially formed by the original bass player and I entered around 6 months after it was created, which was a touchy situation! Once they had found the right Freddie Mercury, it was really just a case of filling in the gaps.

TS: How far have your gone to change your physical appearances?

RG: Not really too much! Joe just grew the moustache and as Steve unfortunately does not have the curly hair like Brian May he wears a wig. Apart from that we definitely lend ourselves to getting wardrobe but no one has gone to any ridiculous measures like hair transplants! Everybody was fit to begin with so we didn’t have to lose any weight or anything like that. It is just the wardrobe that we rely on really.

TS: Have you met any members of Queen and if so what do they think of your work?

RG: I was lucky enough to speak to Brian May on the phone once. I play in a ton of bands and do so much travelling that I became friends with a couple of the customs agents in JFK airport. One called me when Brian was walking through and he was kind enough to get me on the phone and speak to me for five minutes. It was thrilling to say the least!

TS: What did you talk about?

RG: I told him that Queen was the first band I've ever heard in my entire life. I was five years old and a neighbour played Tie Your Mother Down for me. I froze and then I heardBohemian Rhapsody and I believe I said ‘That’s what I want to do’. I have done some extensive touring and I have played in bands such as Angel from the 70’s, with Dee Snider from Twisted Sister and also Thin Lizzy for two years. I told Brian that I had done a huge amount of extensive touring all the way up to Madison Square Garden and it was basically a conversation thanking him for being one of my major influences. In the end I just said that if it wasn’t for him I would not have achieved what I have done and he couldn’t have been kinder.

TS: Are you ever criticized for being a tribute band?

RG: To be honest, most tribute bands are really criticized: it is a rough field. There are some big shoes to fill and a lot of people do not agree with the tribute route. I kind of agree with critics of tribute acts of bands who are still touring. But when it comes to a band that people can no longer see anymore, whether it is The Beatles, or Led Zeppelin, or in this case Queen, I find it to be an amazing thing to do. We get compliments all the time of people saying that they never saw Queen and thanking us for the experience. Even better is when people say they have seen Queen back in the day and that we have done great justice to it. Queen is held in such a high regard, as it is such an incredible band with incredible song writing skills and vocals, which means that they are not an easy band to pull off. When we first started we got a little slack, but as time went on and we really honed in on the skills, we were able to really pull off all the vocals in the band.  We have got nothing but compliments over the last five and half years.

TS: Where do you see Almost Queen in 5 years time?

RG: We are not your average bar band, we are not going to play every three weeks down the block. We never saturate any market whatsoever because we don’t want to be seen that way. In the last year or so we have been leaning towards a theatre tour in venues that apply more to Queen. We are hoping to do theatre tours. We’d love to take this so far as to do something like Broadway because that is basically what this band lends itself to. A Broadway stage is what Queen was all about and we would like to put them in the light that they deserve to be in.

TS: What does it mean to be playing in New York?

RG: Half the band is from New York and half is from Jersey so if you average it out we are basically from New York City. Specifically, I’ve been to so many countries and it really is true that New York is the greatest city in the world, so to play there is always above exciting. It is such a thrill to be in the city and play in midtown in the middle of everything. To play any show, anywhere is exciting enough, but you ice the cake being in New York City.

 Photo Credit: Christopher Appoldt

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