God Save the Queen

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My parents went to see Queen play in Kansas City at Kemper Arena in 1983. So when I was little I wanted to get to see Freddie Mercury live too. I mean I ran around in diapers to fat bottom girls and killer queen. It’s a part of me, really. Sadly, my dreams were crushed when Freddie Mercury died. Little did I know, though, that a decade later my dreams would be ‘renewed’! An Argentine Queen cover band known as Dios Salva la Reina (or God Save the Queen) was coming into Buenos Aires to play a show at the city’s big venue, Luna Park. I didn’t really know what to expect, however. An Argentine queen cover band…could be really bad or really good, but either way I thought it sounded like fun. Anyway I thought the name of the band was pretty clever.

I entered the auditorium that night to find a packed house of essentially all Argentines. Sitting near the back, I waited in giddy anticipation for what I hoped to be an awesome show. As smoke slowly began to fill the stage floor, the audience grew quiet. From somewhere in the back a figure suddenly emerged, who I quickly realized was ‘Freddy Mercury’. I was fairly impressed; the guy actually does look a whole lot like him. And thus began a four hour performance, complete with two encores. It was pretty wonderful. They sounded and performed just like Queen, except for one or two times that they spoke in Spanish and an occasional Spanish accent that would emerge from his singing voice. Bohemian Rhapsody was probably my favorite song of the night because it’s just so fun to sing to. The thing that caught my attention though, was the fact that most of the Argentines didn’t know Bohemian Rhapsody all that well. They definitely didn’t sing it with the passion that an average American would. Most of their energy was spent singing a number of Queen’s love ballads. It was weird, because the band actually sang quite a number of slow, passionate songs that I had never heard. The crowd loved it too; especially a woman in front of me who appeared to be crying and swaying to each sappy love song. That night would be just a taste of the Argentine musical preferences I would get to know better.

So why do Argentines love the heart wrenching love ballads? I think it’s the Latin American culture in them to be lovers (and often cheaters, I’ve found). Buenos Aires is better known for its European influence, but it is a Latin American city nonetheless. Even so, it’s quite easy to hear the European influence as well. If you go into an Argentine club, the music more than likely will be techno. Reggae tone, the popular music in most other Latin American countries, is not as commonly found. One taxi driver on 9th de Julio Avenue warned me that clubs that play reggae tone are considered sketchy and therefore I shouldn’t go. While I was in Chile, however, clubs with reggae tone and cumbia were the place to be (along with 80s dance clubs. Chileans LOVE the 80s.). In Brazil, the music is much more eclectic. There are quite a number of bands from Brazil ranging from reggae-rap to slow jazzy tunes. The style of music in each of the countries tends to be a manifestation of their personal identity. Latin America wants to be European (but they are still Latin American), Brazil tries to embrace a mixed race society, and Chile holds a more traditional Latin American role. A final and more personal note, though, is that I highly recommend Dios Salva la Reina to any Queen aficionado out there. They are a great band.

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