00:00Is this real life? Is this just fantasy?
00:03Our words, the Queen tribute band frontman Phil Copping probably recites daily,
00:09but took on a whole new meaning once he realised his tour van,
00:14containing thousands of pounds of band equipment, had been stolen just hours before a show.
00:21It was quite an organised theft.
00:23They turned up in a stolen vehicle, unregistered, with masks and hoods,
00:28and ten minutes later, after ten minutes of breaking into the van and hot-wiring it,
00:34they were made off with the van and all of our equipment.
00:37So it was about £22,000 worth of all the stuff we'd spent years cobbling together and everything.
00:46Just, yeah, gone in an instant. Heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking.
00:50As part of Supersonic Queen, one of the UK's most prolific Queen tribute acts,
00:56Phil's Freddie Mercury has taken years to perfect.
01:00And him and his bandmates spend their lives touring up and down the country,
01:05and sometimes out of it, performing shows from university balls to outdoor festivals.
01:11But despite having to cancel a show for the first time in his career,
01:16the band certainly weren't going to let the tour bite the dust.
01:20Many lights, staging equipment and instruments were stolen from Supersonic Queen.
01:26And yet, the key takeaway from Phil seems to be that the show must go on.
01:30That weekend was all the emotions, you know, and the worst thing was seeing the guys broken like that.
01:37That was really hard.
01:38But you, you know, again, our job is not to wallow in self-pity, but we're still there to entertain.
01:47It doesn't matter what's happened, our job is to give the audience a good time.
01:50And I think that does help because you have a switch with your mindset of like,
01:55OK, right, that's all the horrible stuff that's happened.
01:59We've got to now go on stage and give people a good time.
02:02Thankfully, Phil's personal instruments and his many costumes weren't in the van when it was taken,
02:08and the police are looking in to be fast.
02:11But for Phil and his bandmates, for now, it's just them and the career's little thing called support from their
02:19fan base.
02:20Megan Short for Kame TV in Tunbridge.
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