The temperature outside may have been below freezing but inside Otley Courthouse last Thursday, Mercury were red hot.

Queen tribute band Mercury thrilled the Otley audience with their interpretations of numerous Queen classics.

Mercury recreate the sound of Queen as well as any of the tribute bands I have seen over the last few years and Lee Jackson portrays Freddie Mercury perfectly. One thing that particularly impressed me was that fact that they included several of Queen's album tracks, which were not released as singles. These included 63' from Night at the Opera', Brighton Rock' from their first album and Lap of the Gods' from Queen II'.

Many of the well-known hits were included starting with One Vision' and concluding with We are the Champions'. Sandwiched in between were Tie Your Mother Down', Seven Seas of Rye', It's a Kind of Magic', Under Pressure', Somebody to Love', Now I'm Here' and We Will Rock You' to name but a few.

The first half closed with Bohemian Rhapsody', Queen's biggest hit, which has topped the UK charts twice and is often No 1 in polls to pick the best song of all time.

The fact that the group performed the middle operatic section live greatly impressed me. Too often this is done with a light show and a recording of Queen's original vocals but here we had a genuine attempt at the intricate harmonies and the band should be applauded for this.

Another great performance was the song Love of my Life' with superb 12-string guitar playing by Glen Scrimshaw.

This was two hours of sheer Queen nostalgia greatly appreciated by the Courthouse audience.