Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid

I just finished watching this DVD on my Roku player via Netflix. When I read that the release of this concert was a rocky road, with the band not particularly interested in its release, and not pleased with the director it answered my question as to why it had not been released earlier. Fortunately for all of us, Queen finally agreed. Of course modern technology makes it possible to remix and edit the original tapes and whatever else they do.

It's the best of everything. I had the wonderful experience of 'discovering' Queen at Live-Aid. Watching Freddie take control of the audience, especially during Radio Gaga, was a rare experience. He owned the stage and the audience. I became a fan for life.

This concert is a must-see. As is true of most of Queen's music, it is not dated and their songs are so good I never tire of hearing/seeing them again.

That summary refers to the fact that after this tour, the band lightened up a bit and released songs like "Radio Gaga" and "Flash Gordon". Good tunes, but a lot of us want to hear the raw sound which made this quartet a major act on vinyl and in concert. And what a concert this is! I went to a theatre for a special one time presentation to watch this on the big screen before the disc release and other than a few of my favourite numbers that were left out, they touch on all their hits.

Back when the Montreal Forum was the Vatican of hockey, it also played host to all the huge names in popular music. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and so many others performed there before it was no longer home of the team synonymous with the Stanley Cup and converted into a 22 screen movie complex. Queen launch into a super charged version of "We Will Rock You" and it's on from there. Freddy Mercury is no doubt one of music's great spirits, not to mention powerful vocalists. He's the irreplaceable front man that defines an era. Roger Taylor and John Deacon made up a rock solid rhythm section (as well as writing so many first rate songs) and Brian May is an amazing guitarist that never gets upstaged by all the considerable talent around him.

I didn't want this to end, but unfortunately it must. Apparently, most bands in the older days didn't capture their concerts in 35mm for the highest quality documentary possible. That was and is their loss and ours. Along with the Madison Square Garden section of the Stones' "Gimme Shelter", "Queen Rock Montreal" ranks as a band at their height in both popularity and stage power.