The Union Ballroom hosted an almost contradictory event Friday — an arena rock show in an intimate environment.

Contradiction or not, it was definitely a hand-clapping good time for audience members when Almost Queen — a Queen tribute band — hit the stage with screaming guitar solos, monstrous drum beats and heavenly vocal range.

"Really, we started the band when we found a guy that looked exactly like Freddie Mercury," said Tom Cavanagh, guitar player for the tribute band, before the show.

Cavanagh, who has a striking resemblance to Queen's guitar player Brian May, was right about his band mate Joseph Russo looking like Queen's late great lead singer Mercury.

Russo wore the trademark white tank top with white jeans and, of course, sported the Mercury mustache. Not only did Russo look like Mercury, but he also stretched out his vocal chords to sing like the legend too — even speaking in an English accent between songs.

Almost Queen did a wonderful job mimicking the real Queen, especially since all the members of the tribute band are native to the United States' east coast.

Education senior Danielle DeVore was awed by the tribute band's performance.

"I was surprised at how much they looked like Queen," DeVore said. "They played all the songs I wanted to hear."

Some of the highlights from Almost Queen's set included "Bicycle Race," "Stone Cold Crazy," "You're My Best Friend," "Under Pressure," "Bohemian Rhapsody" — the song list goes on and on with the many hit Queen songs they played.

"My favorite song was 'Fat Bottomed Girls'," said Corrinne Thomas, a biochemistry and microbiology freshman.

Cavanagh also spoke about the difference between a cover and a tribute band. He said a cover band plays a bunch of songs by different artists, whereas a tribute band — such as Almost Queen — plays homage to only one band and dresses up like the band to which they are playing tribute.

"There's a lot of tribute bands in New York City and not so much around the country. That is why we tour so much," Cavanagh said.

And the student price was just right for the Union performance — free. Especially since the real remaining members of Queen are charging anywhere from $33 to $200 for tickets to see their current tour with Paul Rodgers. So it was great to hear the sounds of Queen for a price all college students could afford.

For more information about Almost Queen's tour dates, pictures and fun facts about the band go to www.almostqueen.com.