Just caught live in Montreal again on Sky, who have a bit of Queen night on channel 129, but I've had this since the original WWRY VHS, and still do not understand why record this gig. Yeah the guys give it all, although I do think Freddie gives up at one point, but why record that gig? I mean it was not the hotspot of Queen fandom, and they are not really known for rocking out. A bizarre choice. Loads a more venues on that tour would've been great, but the audience is a joke. To think that was first vid of Queen live was such a shame
matt z · Member since
Ask Brian on his soapbox for the real reason. . But I can only speculate it had something to do with the NIGHT of the Tour as per the schedule (earlier concerts)
Feasibility in getting permissions for stage adjustments
Securing the SAME venue for coverage on both nights
International business connections
And most importantly TAXATION.
Being that it would be Canada. I'm assuming filling clearances and taxes due would have been less than at a more famous arena or theater like MSG
I'm guessing another fan hit the nail on the head when he guessed the upcoming tour will be filmed in las Vegas due to a couple reasons above
Maybe there's more information on the newer Commentary with Brian and Roger?
The Real Wizard · Member since
The audience isn't a joke.
As has been explained many times - the reason why the audience isn't loud on the older We Will Rock You versions is because it was MIXED that way. Separate mics are placed on the audience for most live albums, and their level can be turned up or down just like a guitar or vocal.
The band had no control over the releases. The company, Mobilevision, wanted to create a concert video to be showed in theatres without the sound of an audience in the mix, because audiences would be seeing the video.
Listen to the show as taped from the crowd. They were digging the show like any other..
And on the Queen Rock Montreal release, they are heard just as well. They were able to make a good mix after securing the rights to the show after the film's director died.
matt z · Member since
When did you become the real Wanker?
I recall the Real Wizard had similar post count
Sheer Brass Neck · Member since
Nope. Without looking at the tour from The Game and pre-Hot Space, I think they booked two nights as a stand alone at the Montreal Forum, and Montreal comes to mind for a few reasons. IIRC, Saul Swimmer and MobileVision wanted to strike while Queen were the biggest band in North America, and in the fall/winter, lots of arenas in North America were booked for hockey or basketball. He was probably able to get two dark nights at the Forum on not a ton of notice, and the rest is history. The reason I remember is that I was going to go to Montreal and was surprised they were there as they weren't on tour at the time.
musicland munich · Member since
^this
Montreal was picked for a reason. They wanted to film there. I have read a more complete story about why they choose Montreal. But as far as I can remember the above story is true.
musicland munich · Member since
the original scanned VHS Cover...sigh I just can`t put things like that in the garbage...
it also runs in german cinemas.
I believe the reason that concert exists was because of circumstance,Queen always wanted a film print of a concert as early as the seventies,and they tried many times on magnetic tape,but never was happy with the result. So after a really great touring experience from the 1979 tours,they decieded now was the time to get that magic on film. Shows were recorded in 1979 on film but never in full,so after getting all the equipment,all the necassary paperwork done,all the personell in place, the location was picked to be at the end of the tour to maximize their performance of that tour. It would be a well rehearsed and excited show. Two nights were given and the best would be combined to create the final release in the cinema. Then to follow would be the video release. It just so happened to be that show. So no special reason why it was chosen,just everything fell into place at that time..........http://ow.ly/vR6qz
MadTheSwine73 · Member since
Maybe it's because Montreal is awesome? That could be it, I think.
matt z · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wanker wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]matt z wrote:[/b]
When did you become the real Wanker?
I recall the Real Wizard had similar post count[/QUOTE]
Our incredible and exceptional Manager, Jim Beach, normally is a very good judge of character, but he had struck up a friendship with someone who even he would admit was a little risky – a character called Saul Swimmer (now deceased, RIP, so I won’t slag him off too much!) Saul Swimmer had the idea that he could film a Queen concert, in a very high quality 35 mm double anamorphic way, and project the resulting film onto a huge screen three stories high, in an arena, and charge people to come and see it, like a concert. So a Queen show would be able to be seen in all sorts of places we could not get to in person. It seemed like a nice idea, but we were no longer on tour. So two special one-off concerts were booked in Montreal Forum, a well-known great audience for Queen, on the 24th and 25th of November 1981. This was, and IS, prime Queen territory, so we were guaranteed a great audience, but the scheme was fraught from the beginning. For a start, we were not on tour, so all the sound and lights and production and CREW had to be reassembled just for this occasion, and we had to rehearse ourselves up to speed. Plus, we didn’t get on with Mr Saul Swimmer at all. Freddie in particular took an instant dislike to the man, and this turned to something like hatred, when we discovered on the first night that Swimmer had put up his own lights on the audience, changed the colours in our lights, and had cameras all over the stage … obviously we were not going to be able to treat it like a normal gig. It got worse on the second night, when Saul Swimmer demanded that Freddie wear the same clothes as the first night … and make the same moves … this guy had no idea that the show wasn’t choreographed … we basically did what we liked … So tempers flared … and it shows.
THE GOOD AND THE BAD
What you will see in this film is a very edgy, angry band, carving out a performance in a rather uncomfortable situation. But it does mean it’s very high energy, real, and raw. In addition, although the actual quality of the film was great, you will see camera work from camera men who did not remotely know the show, directed by a director who didn’t know the show either. The subsequent editing was consequently chaotic. They cobbled together bits of both shows visually, choosing the bits where the cameras had found the right person at the right time. They then matched up the sound as best they could, but there were many bits where you were hearing sound from one night, but watching the visuals from the other. Still, the film went out, and WAS seen by a lot of people in a 'Live' situation.
ON TO A BAD VIDEO
But then the thing went further wrong … somehow no-one had realised that Saul Swimmer would assume the rights to put the thing out as a Video. So, against our will, the VHS version, confusingly called We Will Rock You, was put out around 1984. Of course the concert had not been shot with this in mind. And the sound had been mixed dry, with no audience, so it would work in a ‘live’ situation … so it was really unsuitable for a video, as well as being a bad mix in the first place. To cap it all, it was transferred at the wrong speed on to video, so the whole thing ran at the wrong pitch. We made lots of complaints, and so did many of the people who had bought it, but this did not stop the Swimmer commercial thrust … the video was a thorn in our side for 25 years … out there with our name on – but something we had no control over. They even went to DVD around 2001.
FINALLY WE BUY
Finally, we bought the whole thing off Swimmer last year with the kind help of Eagle Rock. Finally it could be sorted. The work that has gone into rescuing it is immense … I can’t even get into all the details, but Justin Shirley-Smith, and Kris Fredriksson have put nine months of loving care into rebirthing this baby … It involved finding the master 24-track tapes, figuring out how they had been chopped up, digitally copying them, and rebuilding them into complete performances, and then after much cleaning up, making a splendid new mix in 5.1 surround. The visuals were in a sense harder. The surviving negative went to be doctored in the USA – by a process using using algorithms invented by John D Lowry of NASA for rescuing the film from the Apollo Moon missions. (Astrophysics gets everywhere!) You know how quick computers are these days … ? Well, to give you an idea of the huge number-crunching involved, it took 700 Apple Mac G5’s one MONTH to process this film. The computation compares a frame with the ones before it and the ones after, and uses the comparison to remove dirt, scratches and some of the defects of the original filming. In the case of the feature film Singing in the Rain … it apparently removed the RAIN! So adjustments had to be made! In our case it worked well, as you will see – the quality is magnificent – particularly noticeable in the incredible close-ups of Freddie in "Bohemian Rhapsody". Having said this, the close up of Freddie is just about all you will see in "Bo Rap". Saul Swimmer’s editors made their selection of shots to use, and the footage they left on the cutting room floor has never been seen again. So no proper re-edit of the visuals was possible. It’s kinda sad, because in addition to all the cut-aways we might have liked to use, bits of songs are missing, and the whole of "Flash" and "The Hero" will never be seen because the visuals don’t exist. These tracks ARE however on the CD version of Queen Rock Montreal – and sound great! And in view of what happened later, no-one is upset now that this is a document which concentrates on Freddie.
END PRODUCT
So our boys, stuck with very few options, were still able to restore all the songs to their full length, and, with modern digital artistry, make lots of improvements. But to end up with a version that is much much more true to what actually happened at any given moment, Justin and Kris mostly had to match up all the sound bites to picture. It’s a great piece of work. Well, Maybe I’ve spoiled it for you by telling you all this, but I wanted you to appreciate the work that’s gone into it, and how worthwhile the project has been, made possible by Eagle Rock. And I do find that once I’m five minutes into the film, I’m caught up in it as a real live show.
