'queen rock montreal' captures the world’s most iconic rock band at the very peak of their live powers.
recorded in 1981 and recently released as a record-breaking digitally restored imax concert film, this landmark moment in the band’s history is now being released as both double blu-ray and double 4k ultra high definition packages, plus double cd and triple vinyl packages.
queen rock montreal presents freddie mercury, brian may, roger taylor and john deacon at their most exciting and exhilarating. as brian may puts it, this is queen “live and dangerous.”
queen were on all-conquering form when they returned to montreal, canada for the fourth time in november 1981 to play two huge concerts at the 18,000-seat forum.
this pair of montreal concerts marked an historic moment for queen. after their massive success in the 1970s, the band entered the 80s bigger than ever, with the hugely successful the game album producing their two biggest ever us singles in another one bites the dust and crazy little thing called love (both billboard no.1’s), followed by the uk no.1 single under pressure.
queen’s return to montreal came after almost two years of touring, including their very first tours of south and central america, which saw the band playing two nights at sao paulo’s morumbi stadium to more than 150,000 devoted fans. as a result, when the band arrived in canada in november 1981 they were in electrifying form.
“montreal is one of our favourite cities, it’s a great audience there, very full of energy,” says brian may. “we’d played this particular venue, the forum, several times before, and it was always full of really enthusiastic people giving us a lot of energy back.”
the original concerts, which took place on november 24 and 25, 1981, were truly ground-breaking. they were arranged specifically to be filmed for a full-length concert film to document their live show. director saul swimmer planned to shoot them using state-of-the-art double anamorphic 35mm footage, which allowed it to be projected on a gigantic, five-storey high screen. backstage tensions between the members of queen and swimmer could have caused problems, but instead they propelled the band to new heights.
side a
- intro
- we will rock you (fast)
- let me entertain you
- play the game
- somebody to love
side b
- killer queen
- i'm in love with my car
- get down, make love
- save me
side c
- now i'm here
- dragon attack
- now i'm here (reprise)
- love of my life
- under pressure
side d
- keep yourself alive
- drum and tympani solo
- guitar solo
- flash
- the hero
side e
- crazy little thing called love
- jailhouse rock
- bohemian rhapsody
- tie your mother down
side f
- another one bites the dust
- sheer heart attack
- we will rock you
- we are the champions
- god save the queen