It's A Kind of Magic as Queen Symphonic's Bohemian Rhapsody rocks Hatfield Park

Queen Symphonic rocked Hatfield Park last night (Saturday, August 6) with the greatest hits of one of the biggest bands of all time.

An orchestra, a five-piece rock band, and four outstanding vocalists who have appeared on stage in hit musical We Will Rock You entertained fans of Queen in the grounds of Hatfield House.

There was even a fleeting appearance of Freddie Mercury near the end – in life-size cardboard cutout form in the crowd!

West End leading lady Jenna Lee-James, one of the impressive vocalists, later posted on Instagram: "Thank you so much to everyone who joined us last night at Hatfield Park.

"What a night!!

"Hearing over 6,000 voices singing along with us and seeing everyone jump up and down during Bohemian Rhapsody….well there’s nothing quite like it!

"Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jenna Lee-James (@jennaleejames)

Singer Emma Hatton, who has also appeared in Wicked on the West End stage, only just made the Hatfield show.

Emma posted on her Instagram stories: "Bit of a quick turnaround after a delayed flight home from a cruise gig but I made it! Loved tonight with @queen.symphonic performing at Hatfield House.

"Thank you to everyone who came to see us."

Staged by the Bedford-based independent promoter, LPH Concerts & Events, the show was the second of three nights of concerts at the Hertfordshire park following Paloma Faith on Friday and ahead of Simply Red tonight (Sunday, August 7).

It's no surprise given the rock band's impressive back catalogue that Queen's Greatest Hits collection has recently become the first album in the UK to top seven million sales in this country.

Queen songs such as The Show Must Go On, Innuendo, with its dramatic rock-opera sound along with a touch of Flamenco, and Who Wants To Live Forever naturally lend themselves to a rock symphonic treatment, and all three tracks featured in last night's set list.

Following performances by Irish singer-songwriter Jack Lukeman and Rock Choir, who performed Bastille hit Pompeii and I Wanna Dance with Somebody among others, Queen Symphonic's four lead singers – Jon Boydon, Emma Hatton, Jenna Lee-James, and Peter Eldridge – took centre stage with The Heart of England Orchestra and conductor Richard Sidwell.

The first half of the concert saw the performers get the crowd clapping along to Queen anthem Radio Ga Ga.

They also performed Under Pressure, Queen's number one hit with David Bowie, These Are the Days of Our Lives and I Want To Break Free as well as Fat Bottomed Girls and Bicycle Race.

As the sun set, things stepped up a notch after the interval with hit after hit being performed.

One Vision, Who Wants To Live Forever, from the film Highlander, and Hammer to Fall came and went.

There were also crowd-pleasing performances of Don't Stop Me Now, Somebody to Love, A Kind of Magic, Another One Bites the Dust, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

The set, of course, climaxed with a rousing performance of Bohemian Rhapsody, with all four vocalists sharing singing duties.