WHEN Rob Comber hits the stage dressed in that iconic yellow jacket, something special happens, writes Joanna Davis.

His haunting rendition of The Show Must Go On could be Freddie Mercury singing live.

Rob will be singing as part of Queen tribute act The Bohemians at Weymouth Pavilion on Sunday night.

The concert celebrates Queen’s finest live performances from 1974 to the Magic tour of 1986.

Rob said: “There are a lot of Queen tribute bands out there.

“We consider ourselves to be the most exciting Queen tribute band. What we try and remember is that Queen were an exciting rock band, not just a pop band pumping out hits.

“We want to try and be as authentic as we can, we do a lot of the harmonies and we try and act as much like Freddie, Roger, Brian and John as we can.”

Rob, who lives in Derbyshire, has seen his life change drastically since he joined The Bohemians.

He said: “I was doing a job working for a publishing company by day and playing at my local pub by night.

“When I joined The Boheminas a few years ago it became a full-time job.

“When I was asked if I wanted to do this I was a guitarist and I didn’t see myself as that kind of performer.

“I had to learn to move like Freddie, leap around with the microphone stand. It’s quite tough, having to sing so high on the register.”

One of the more unusual aspects of Rob’s life now is boarding cruise ships with the band. They recently performed on one of the largest cruise ships afloat, Independence of the Seas in a 1,400 seater theatre.

Rob said: “We’ve done back to back cruises before where we fly out to wherever they send us.

“We recently flew to Helsinki and were on the cruise ship through to Southampton.

“We then got off and got on the next one to Malaga and did another show there. Sometimes we get to take our family with us and it’s nice for them to have a week on a ship.”

The Bohemians have performed all over the UK, Europe and the world including football stadiums, festivals and theatres.

The band will take in Weymouth while they are doing a West Country leg of their tour, heading to the resort from Falmouth.

Rob said: “I’ve been on holiday to Weymouth a few years back but this is the first time we’ve ever performed there.

“I love getting down to the West Country, there seem to be a lot of Queen fans down there.

“It’s great to do a two hour theatre show and this year we’re doing some of the earlier material and album tracks that people might not normally hear.

“I think Queen have remained so popular because whatever they turned their hand to they were so good at.

“They have such a huge following and our job is to try and reproduce the formula they had.”

l The Bohemians play Weymouth Pavilion on Sunday from 7.30pm.