Undoubtedly one of the greatest bands to ever walk the earth, Queen are truly special. Most music legends have golden eras, but Queen are one of those rare bands who have had numerous purple patches over a long and very illustrious career. One of their many career-defining highlights was their infamous 1981 concert in Montreal, Canada. Now for the very first time, we can relive the momentous gig as if we were right there in the audience, as one of the world’s biggest rock bands perform some of their incredible greatest hits up on the UK’s biggest cinema screens for this global release, exclusively in IMAX – for a 4-day special event beginning January 18th.
Queen – made up of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon – were already coming off the back of numerous hit albums and were firmly established as music icons in 1981. After embarking on an extensive tour over 2 years, they returned to the UK but were booked up for two special shows in Canada. As Brian May revealed at the press screening during a live extended introduction, Queen were not best pleased to have to go back out on the road. It was a mammoth task getting their crew back so soon after such a lengthy tour and he admits they were all a bit frustrated at the late booking in November of ‘81. However, this fuelled what was to become one of their most defining moments – with an energy and attitude that would become legendary for the band and their music.
Queen played two consecutive sold-out nights in Montreal, with director Saul Swimmer at the helm. He had big ideas on what he wanted to achieve with this project, and it becomes very clear when watching this film, that he and his team were very much ahead of their time. ‘Queen Rock Montreal’ was originally pitched as a recording of the band that would subsequently tour the world, being projected onto huge outdoor screens to give fans a festival-like experience of watching the band and giving audiences as much of a live experience as possible with a filmed concert. The end result is a staggeringly effective movie that works on many levels.
Firstly, and most importantly, it perfectly captures the magic and energy of every single member of the band. ‘Queen Rock Montreal’ is remarkable in that this performance was just the four band members performing with no supporting artists/musicians on-stage (as would usually happen with big scale concerts). So this film really showcases why Queen were so powerful as a 4-piece band, and gives us a fascinating, up-close look at the geniuses of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon (who were all masters of their craft by 1981).
The dedication to capture the film in such painstaking detail may have gone unnoticed at the time, but Saul Swimmer’s grand scale vision for the film has finally been achieved. Sadly, he passed away in 2007, but his pursuit to capture the magic of the band has finally been achieved – which at the time was not easy given the huge format cameras used and the camera crew having to position themselves onstage without getting in the way of an energetic band that always makes full use of their stage. ‘Queen Rock Montreal’ is a fantastic technical achievement way ahead of its time, that really places you in the crowd. The start of the film is shot from around the halfway mark of the audience on the ground level, and the energy is palpable as Queen make their way onto the stage in a flurry of light and sound.
And then of course, there’s the band themselves. This is very much a greatest hits concert from Queen, but they are such an iconic outfit with so many amazing songs that they could have easily played a whole other concert of greatest hits only made up of tracks post 1981, and you’d still think it was a definitive collection. That’s how many outstanding songs the band have, and why they will be legends for eternity. Their back-catalogue is stunning, with ‘Queen Rock Montreal’ featuring 24 outstanding songs including ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Another One Bites the Dust’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘Somebody To Love’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ to name but a few.
Regular readers will know how much I love the IMAX experience. It’s simply unparallelled in the world of cinema, giving viewers a staggeringly immersive environment to enjoy big screen entertainment. ‘Queen Rock Montreal’ has been digitally remastered and edited for the first time into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience, giving it a clarity of vision that is simply jaw-dropping, with crystal clear images of the band that truly place you in the front row of music history. You get a close-up look at geniuses at work – the charismatic Freddie Mercury’s raw talent and power over the crowd is there for all to see in intimate detail, proving why he is truly one of the greatest frontmen of all-time. Brian May’s electric performances are simply stunning to watch, Rob Deacon’s iconic basslines ripple through the audience and Roger Taylor’s boundless energy and verve on drums are truly uplifting and otherworldly.
‘Queen Rock Montreal in IMAX’ is one of the greatest live concert films of all time – it’s that good. Don’t miss your chance to witness a historic moment in time, captured and remastered in perfect clarity. It’s a fitting tribute to the band themselves too, their unmistakable talent and their breathtaking catalogue of songs. It also places you firmly in the audience – but unlike a lot of modern concert films which I feel always focus far too much on the crowd, ‘Queen Rock Montreal’ makes sure that the band are the main attraction, letting their magic shine onscreen. An exhilarating and unmissable event of true rock royalty.
Cast: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon Director: Saul Swimmer Duration: TBC Released by: Pathé Live/IMAX Release date: 18th-21st January 2024
