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The
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©
We Are The Champions |
Site
produced by |
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| In Nov 2002 Al Toogood (Freddie) auditioned musicians for the Queen tribute band which was to be known as Killer Queen. |
| After rehearsing solidly from late Jan to Aug 2003, (and a small informal tryout at the Hollywood Hotel in Surry Hills) their first full gig in costume was performed at the Off-Broadway Hotel in Sydney. |
| In Sept 2003 this outfit joined with the management of the old We Are The Champions tribute show and performed solidly over the Christmas period. |
| The band members then bought the naming rights to We Are The Champions in 2004, have produced new promotional material and are again the owners and managers of the show under the agency of The Edge Entertainment. |
| The band are ... |
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AL TOOGOOD aka Freddie Mercury |
| lead vocals / keyboards | |
Al is the founder, lead singer, choirmaster & artistic designer of the band. |
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| He grew up in Hobart where he started singing with the Tasmanian Conservatorium Chorale (1993), performed in Les Miserables at the Theatre Royal (1994), the role of The Russian in Chess (1995) and Frederick in Pirates of Penzance (1996). | |
| Al moved to Perth to study and also performed in Anything Goes at His Majesties Theatre (1997). He completed a B.A. in Musical Theatre at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts [WAAPA] in 1999 and moved to Sydney. | |
| Since then Al has worked in musicals including Chang & Eng in Singapore 2000-01, worked as a fight director on the film Darklands (2002) and the stage production Twelfth Night (2003). Al also teaches singing, stage combat, and acting, privately and in schools. | |
| He recently completed the Post Graduate Diploma of Voice Studies at NIDA. | |
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KIRK BURGESS aka Brian May |
| guitar / vocals | |
Kirk has been playing guitar and performing since his early teens. He believes that students who continually forget their guitar picks are cute and endearing. |
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| His first CD was actually Queen Greatest Hits II! | |
| He played with a number of bands at high-school, then at university Kirk had his first (moderate) taste of success with original three piece Oracle, playing in venues such as Round Midnight, Guildford Hotel, Uncle Buck's and Macquraie Uni. | |
| Kirk enrolled in an Advanced Diploma in Music at the School of Creative Arts, Sydney. Whilst there he formed a duo called Big Harmony with Brent Austin on lead vocals. | |
| Big Harmony continued with Sheila Kumar on lead vocals, performing at Off Broadway and other inner city venues. Kirk then joined We Are The Champions. | |
| Kirk has since completed his Advanced Diploma in Music and is working as a guitar tutor, as well as playing for singer Alison Lenton, and continuing his role as Brian May in We Are The Champions. | |
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BRAD PATTERSON aka Roger Taylor |
| drums / vocals | |
| Brad is the drummer & chief dwarf wrangler of the band. He picked up sticks at age 14 and started playing in bands at age 15. | |
| The bands in order were: Aurora, Oracle, The Chiefs, 1984, The Pam Spencer Band, Streamline, The Tracy Vaughan Band, Seclusion, Kesaya, and Katrina Burgane. | |
| Brad played numerous gigs around North-West NSW with many of these bands. | |
| He also played for the Gunnedah Shire Band for 2 years. | |
| Brad studied for 2 years at the JMC Academy of Music. During this time he did session work and recorded with Kesaya and Rodger Armstrong. | |
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STEVE LAKE aka John Deacon |
| bass / vocals | |
| Steve is the bass player and the eater of the largest number of sausage rolls at rehearsal. He even had a brief foray into microwavable nachos. | |
| He attended the Conservatorium of Music age 9, played in the East-Gosford Big Band age 11, and studied under Ian Westen from age 13 for 4 years. | |
| In 1997 he formed hard-rock band 3-Fold. | |
| He then played with numerous punk/metal bands in his home town of Erina, before forming a 5 piece metal band Descent that gigged around central coast. | |
| Steve went back to more study for a year at JMC College under Phil Scourgie before joining We Are The Champions in 2002. | |
| He has also played with various session musos around Sydney including Rodger Armstrong and Kesaya. | |
| MATT BOURNE aka Spike Edney | |
| extra keys / guitar / vocals | |
| Matt took up guitar in his mid-teens, influenced by artists as diverse as Pearl Jam, Tommy Emmanuel, and even Miles Davis. He soon added the piano to his interests. Matt has absolutely no sense of humour and would be shocked and appalled if his bio included humourous anecdotes. | |
| Completing a Bachelor's degree in music in 2002, Matt has been playing guitar & keys in various bands around Sydney, and has shared stages as a backing vocalist with such artists as Jon Stevens, John Paul Young, David Campbell and Joanne BZ. | |
| Current influences include Gomez, Muse, Pink Floyd & of course Queen. | |
| He currently teaches guitar at the Five Dock Music School and Wesley Institute. | |
| Matt plans to continue building a playing career, moving into session work and producing in the future. |
