RESEMBLING the famous 1975 Hammersmith Odeon concert, the Palace Theatre is all glittering, flashing light beams and smoke. Missing only a strutting Freddie figure to appear and strike a pose!

Writer Ben Elton transports us to the distant future of an earth where all musical instruments and live music are forbidden. In it’s place a sanitised clone-like youth culture is in place, controlled by Killer Queen (Tiffany Graves) and her evil empire, Globalsoft.

A time in history is identified as the beginning of the end for real music. Jokingly the X Factor and Simon Cowell are culprits Into the plot, Galileo (Noel Sullivan) a nerdy, misfit who dresses differently and is haunted by dreams, names and lyrics, of past classic rock. A second more rebellious character ridiculed by her cruel peers shows up soon named by Galileo as Scaramouche (Amanda Coutts).

I Want To Break Free and Somebody To Love follow quickly on.

The heroes escape the clutches of sinister and henchman Khashoggi (Earl Carpenter) and find themselves in the lost underworld of the Bohemians and other rebels and dreamers cleverly named after the pop culture figures of the past. Noticeable here are Britney (Leon Lopez) and Meat (Jenny Douglas).

Rock is rediscovered and music restored and Globalsoft defeated.

The show has it’s wobbly bits, like the songs running into each other too quickly and after a promising start the first half becomes rather laboured and slow.

* Until January 15. The box office is on 0844 847 2295. Star rating - ***