He drank tea with lemon. The beers were for the whole band. Freddie had a 5 octave range. Most recognizable voice in the world. Roger has a great falsetto backup voice too. They were all amazing. Freddie was a gift from god.
This 1981 Montreal Concert was a one off concert. It was originally filmed with these super advanced cameras, and the director was going to make a movie that would be put out worldwide in movie theaters. The whole thing ended up a disaster. The band hated the director, he thought Queen choreographed themselves and would do the same thing each night. Freddie was especially annoyed and angry, hence the tight shorts at the end of the concert. The director also insisted that the crowd be as quiet as possible for the "movie's" sake. Which just made Queen even more angry. Queen eventually bought the right to the film back, and put it back together correctly. It is on DVD now, and even RU-vid has the commentary version of this concert. Great reaction to the greatest singer/frontman to ever live!
I remember when they were talking about making this film. You can tell something was off that night (at one point Freddie actually says “come on you fuckers”!). During the end of Jailhouse Rock, Freddie leans into Brian and says “can we end this?” Brian says no. Lol
Not strictly true. The Montreal show's, there was two by the way, were part of the 1980/81 tour to support The Game album so these show's would of happened anyway. Film or no film!
Just a couple of days ago Brian May was named the best guitarists of all time even ahead of Jimi Hendrix. Thank God Brian finally got credit for his talent because I don't believe that the individual musicians ever got the recognition they truly deserved. They were far better than they got credit for and John is listed number 9 on the best rock and roll bass players Freddy number two front man after Robert Plant.NOT!!! Noo way!! Rodger Taylor number five of the top singing drummers with Phil Collins at number one but Roger had a much better voice than Phil...
@@montrelouisebohon-harris7023 Let's not get carried away, Robert and Freddie obviously have different styles, but Robert is every bit as good a frontman as Freddie. Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden is also a great frontman, watch him work 300,000 people in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, at Rock in Rio, amazing.
@@xr4tihonk I completely understand and I just get over excited when I listen to Freddie Mercury's music and talk about him because he's just a unique individual and I'm the same way over Michael Jackson. Robert Plant is was a good musician and he just had more of a bluesy sound, which is actually what was up when did best. Led Zeppelin was blues rock and I could listen to Kashmir all day long and I think everybody's got one or two songs by a van that they just can't get enough of. " all of my love" is another beautiful song and just beautiful beautiful beautiful and I like that a lot better than Stairway to Heaven because despite the beauty of Stairway to Heaven it was extremely lon. it was a great slow dance song in junior high and High School!!! an individual I think who has a fabulous voice and doesn't often time to get the credit for it is KLAUS! 💞 he's the front man with the Scorpions and that man has an incredible voice, and they are an incredible band. we are all well versed on how good Lou Gramm sings with Foreigner, but I think that the Scorpions got left behind because they're a band from Germany. There aren't a whole lot of rock bands from Germany- not ones that we get to hear much in America.
The best front man of time? Freddie ranks a close second. Bruce Springsteen live in concert take my breath away. He is not the greatest singe. Not even close to Freddie... But MY God, Bruces stage presence and the way he interact with the audience who know every single lyric is just phenomenal. Have you ever seen 10th Avenue Freeze Out live in NYC?
Freddie's the main attraction But the whole band is what make queen Roger taylor on the drums with his backing vocals, it is very hard to play drums and sing at the same time Brian May on his guitar, also giving backing vocals, their voices sound so good together And ofc John Deacon super solid on the bass And the fact all members wrote several hits for the band is something unique We would never have a music genius like Mr Mercury Amen!
@@pinkey943, I’ve seen videos of him drinking from the cups on his piano, and it is definitely not water. Or it’s really disgusting and dirty water. 🤷♀️
Freddie was AMAZING in this performance (as always), but I think Brian & Roger also deserve recognition for their amazing vocals and how amazing they are with their instruments, no Queen song would have been the same without their voices, as well as John for his incredible talent as a bassist. They complemented each other in every possible way. He was just the lead singer, not the leader (like he himself would say) it wasn’t just his tour or his performance or his energy, it was ALL of them who gave their all in everything they did. I think they really shined in this performance and it was sad you didn’t really notice them.
Great work, Dereck! The song is a prayer. Pure and simple. So, that's what drives him to take us to church. He literally takes us to church. And I love that you picked up on this theme. Thank you, Freddie. You're always alive in our hearts.
Queen is Legendary and always will be..Amazing chemistry, totally focused, very harmonized. Freddie, Brian, Roger and John, best musicians by far. Don't forget Roger's backing vocals while playing the drums. Concerts are not like that today. No lip syncing whatsoever. Pure talent. ❤️🔥
You'll never find Freddie explaining the meanings of any of his songs. He left that up to us. He said of his music, like art....if you see it, darling, then it's there! Please react to White Queen at Hammersmith Odeon. It's spectacular.
People in the U.S. seem obsessed by what is on the piano lid..I would have thought that this fabulous band Queen’s performance would have been enough for you..You know what they say about assume?...”it makes an ass of you and me”..the bottle of beer is product placement...there might be a cup with beer.. but mostly honey...lemon..tea..water..just pay attention to the singing🤩
You should watch Queen's set from the Live Aid concert in 1985, they were on stage for 20 minutes amongst a plethora of bands and singers that day, and when someone mentions Live Aid, Queen's set is the one everyone remembers. It's a pure master class in performance and having the crowd in the palm of your hand.
The bottle is beer for sure, little cups water, as far as the clear cups? Freddie would also have tea with honey in it for his throat, so could be that?? Great reaction vid!
Yes! White Queen at Hammersmith Odeon 1975. It shows the talent of the whole band & that was at the start! Queen is the only band where each member wrote at least one #1 hit while part of the same band! They were/are a tight talented group! Under Pressure live at Wimbledon 1985 is also good (as well as at this Montreal concert). Actually the whole Montreal concert (1981) is worth listening/reacting to!
We warned ya! Once you watch this performance from this band you realise that not only do they have the best showman ever with unbelievable vocals you also have 3 other incredibly talented musicians. I’d recommend “save me” from the same Montreal concert for some more ridiculous vocals or go for One Vision, who wants to live forever or under pressure from Wembley 86. His voice for me shows the strain of all the tours but he somehow adapts his voice to a more operatic style and it’s incredible in a different way.
Consensus is that Freddie's greatest songwriting achievement was Bohemian Rhapsody but Freddie said in an interview that he felt Somebody To Love was a better song from the songwriting perspective. If you think you are seeing energy here, please watch something from their final tour in 1986 at Wembley (Its a Kind of Magic, Another One Bites the Dust, Under Pressure). Queen was really confined during the Montreal concert by the size of the stage but at Wembley Freddie ran marathons on their huge stage. He was electric!
1986 Wembley "Now I'm here" is really full of energy! Freddie covers the entire stage. Brian moves up to the 2nd layer of the stage with Freddie. This song is one Roger says the drums wear him out😂 high octane performance! Freddie yells "Go Johnny go" to Deaky!
Freddie was a huge Aretha Franklin fan, as Carla said, and this is his tribute to her. And I agree with her that you should listen to the studio recording video -- the gospel influence is much more obvious in that version. They could use multi-tracking and layer their voices to get the depth of background vocals that are such a characteristic of gospel, with Freddie singing backups as well as vocals, plus everyone multi-tracked in to add richness. And you didn't mention Roger. Freddie's freaking awesome, yes, but Roger has a great voice too, and he was rocking the drums WHILE leaning over to sing into the microphone. He's the steady backbone of the last minute or so of the song, with Freddie free to scat around him. And that last note of his is fantastic. Roger would be the lead singer in almost any other band in rock history; he's back-up in Queen (mostly, he does have some songs where he sings lead) only because he's in a band with Freddie.
Thank you, Dereck for your insight and review...of one of Freddie's favorite song, and he also wrote...that he sang at concerts...it is a masterpiece of sounds and the band was tight ... rip Freddie you brought joy and smiles...plus tears to us, all...thank you for a lifetime of tunes...
You will never see a more talented performer than Freddy ,gives you everything he’s got and then some ,absolutely amazing .The whole band is fantastic,the best best ever ever !!!
Please don't assume every cup of various sizes was beer. His Roadie, Peter Hince provided the drinks for him according to his book. The cups contained tea, tea with lemon, tea with lemon and honey, and water, along with lemon water. The beer stayed in the bottle. Saying that it is all liquor is inaccurate. And yes, his roadie, nicknamed Ratty hands him his mic and is well coordinated to do so. This performance is the last one where there are just the 4 of them. After this, they hired an assortment of pianists so Freddie could spend more time connecting with the audience wothout going back and forth. He also wrote this song. He was a fan of Aretha Franklin.
For me freddie is the best artist of all time 100% no lie. He had it all, voice, charisma, looks, talent. He’s the greatest singer or should I say musician to ever walk this planet hands down.
Each member of queen were masters at there craft. They all could singing. It's truly amazing how much talent this band really had. There will never be another queen. And as far as Freddie he could do it all. Freddie was born a rock god! Keep going down the queen rabbit hole. There live performances are truly incredible Here are just a few great live songs to react to We are the champions and god save the queen live wembley Tie your mother down live wembley One vision live wembley Under pressure live wembley Queen live aid 20min set they made rock history with this one Dragon attack live montreal 1981 Three song medley- lap of the gods, seven seas of rythe and tear it up live wembley Save me live montreal 1981 Play the game live Montreal 1981 There are so many more! R.I.P FREDDIE WE MISS YOU WE HEAR YOU SINGING FROM HEAVEN!!
According to Freddie's roadie, he always had hot water with honey and lemon before every concert. Cups on his piano were usually water in some of them and beer in others. He never drank champagne even when he had a champagne glass in his hands - it was always water in it. Bubbles in champagne made his singing worse so he never drank it or sparkling water before singing.
Have you seen Queen’s performance at Live Aid. It’s epic. Also they say Freddie Mercury has a 4 octave range. Another bit of trivia was that he didn’t want to fix his teeth because he was afraid it would affect his singing.
" LEGEND" in his own to short lifetime is all you need to know....lol .. I enjoy all these new and some older reactors finding Freddie and Queen for the first time or revisiting and it reminds me how we loved Bohemian Rhapsody at school and how we took all the greats of the 60's,70's,80's & early 90's for granted and these live recordings are better than the studio recordings in many cases , keep up the good reacting cheers.....
So happy you treated yourself with this epic performance. :-) EPIC. I would suggest their performance from LIVE AID gala at Wembley Stadium, 13 th of July 1985. LIVE AID was an aid concert for a famine in Ethiopia. It was 72 000 in the crowd at Wembley Stadium and there was also a simultaneous concert in Philadelphia, JFK Stadium (around 90 000 at that arena) and at the samt time it was broadcasted live via satellite to 60 countries with around 400 million viewers. Of course Queen stole the show, they crushed it.
This song was part of Queen’s concert film ‘We Will Rock You’ that was filmed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Montreal Forum on November 24th and 25th of 1981. A new official release of the concert, which was retitled ‘Queen Rock Montreal, was digitally restored and remastered by Queen. It was released on October 29th of 2007 as a double DVD set. There is a double DVD package that includes Queen Rock Montreal, Live Aid and never before seen interviews and rehearsal footage. It available thru Amazon Prime for $14.99. Its WELL worth the money.
The most amazing talented kind cat loving God amongst entertainers he was simply the best there will never be another Freddie Mercury and Dr Brian May astrophysicist is the finest guitarist ever just utter bliss to hear them again wow xxx
Yes - a true performer of an all star calibre [sic - yes, that is how you are meant to spell it]. As a front man, Freddie was simply the best. But the merging of all four outstanding musicians in the unit we all know as Queen - a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that we were blessed in having the extraordinary fortune to experience. If ever the saying "the whole was greater than the sum of the component parts" had any relevance, then Queen is the very epitome of that.
The full Montreal show is up on youtube. It's an hour and a half, but worth the watch/listen. This was very gospel influenced as he idolized Aretha Franklin. If you want something different by Queen/Freddie, give "You Take My Breath Away (Live at Hyde Park 1976).
You just witnessed the greatest front man of all time. He has so much charisma and just commands an audience. Aretha Franklin was a big influence on him and the reason for this song style. Queen as a whole are one of the greatest bands of all time and have influenced so many artists of today and through the years like Lady GaGa who took he name from a Queen song called Radio GaGa, and none other then Michael Jackson, who was a big fan of Queen and often went to there concerts. Freddie wore one glove and military style jackets long before Michael so you can clearly see influence. I don't know how much Queen you have reacted too but they have so many works of art in there catalog and so many different genres of music within. They never wanted to be boxed in to one thing. Every member of Queen were extremely talented. They were all multi-instrumentalists and Roger Taylor, the drummer and Brian May, lead guitarist were incredible singers as well. John Deacon, base player didn't sing much but his base lines are legendary and instantly recognizable as in Another One Bites the dust and We will Rock You and Under Pressure. Roger and Brian have both done solo albums and Roger even Fronted a band called The Cross. Queen are so amazing that it is hard to put into words. Some really good ones to listen to are White Queen at the Odean-Hammersmith 1975 and You take my breath away from Hyde Park 1976. You take My Breath away is so amazing, it's Freddie at his finest, so beautiful. White Queen is also a master piece. Another great one is Who Wants to Live Forever live from Wembley Stadium. Another great one is Its A Hard Life live at Rock in Rio 1985 and One Vision and Under Pressure live at Wembley Stadium. Please react to these gems. I really enjoyed your reaction and I am new to your channel so I have subscribed and hoping you will do more Queen.
Hellooo, there is also 3 others in this band that make this performance phenomenal. Sorry Rogers backing vocals were amazing. This entire concert was one of their best.
So I usually watch everyone’s reaction to this song and many others of Queen’s because it comes to my feed 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑 and I always love to see people’s reaction to this incredible talent (of all 4). You are great! Love your comments and sincere analysis. Keep up the Queen and we will follow you!!!! Queen fan since 1974 so I’m 👵🏻 of course!!
Fantastic reaction to this. Queen were the masters of live performances. The Live Aid concert of 1985 is legendary. I’m sure you will check out more of their songs.
Freddie's voice is a real mystery. They have written their name in the history of music. Their music will be performed and mixed in a hundred years, just like Mozart and Beetoven.
Not sure if I understood your question about why they were touring, but if you meant what I think ... this was part of The Game tour -- their eighth album. It was tradition to release an album and then tour around the world. Just the way it was done.
By the time they did Live Aid in '85 they'd just completed a 12-year cycle of album/tour/album/tour without letup. Live Aid was July '85, they'd just come off a long tour in May '85. The film was grossly misleading in that regard, showing them supposedly "not having played in years". That's totally untrue. They had their ups and downs, every band does, but they never disbanded, never broke up, and Freddie was never a catalyst for ending the band. These guys were workhorses, their work ethic and huge catalogue pretty much unequaled in rock or pop.
You just witnessed the magic of Freddie Mercury, the best male vocalist in the world.He had also honey with tea for his voice there and was a smoker. Queen in general was and still is a legendary band. Try to listen his operatic voice with Monserat Caballe in Barcelona. You will love it Thank you
Freddie always kept tea with honey on the piano whenever possible. He was diagnosed with vocal nodules in 1975 so it was important that he not let his throat get dry during long concerts. He also said he would never drink beer when performing, it would be disrespectful to his audience to risk burping in the mic. This was Freddie's favorite song.
Not that rare David Bowie, Christina Aguilera, Julie Andrews,Leona Lewis,Beyonce,Roy Orbison,Jeff Buckley,Bruce Dickinson,Marvin Gaye,Ariana Grande,Whitney Houston,Jessie J,Myles Kennedy,Thom Yorke,Cyndi Lauper. All four octave singers!
That personal assistant is his personal roadie, Ratty, Peter Hince. He actually has a book out that chronicles his time on the road with Queen. Great book for any Queen fan .
Freddie lived to play for the crowd. An absolute showman, nobody comes close. And the Henie on the piano haha, political correctness wasnt much of a thing back then, the Henie was also on the piano at Live Aid! Freddie deserves ALL the memories and reactions. All of them.
The purpose of this concert in Montreal was to basically film a Concert in the highest definition camera ever, the "35 mm film" and possibly even a 75mm camera was also used for certain angles from what I've heard. This high definition camera can go beyond even 6k video format, to put it into terms it was basically going to be shown a cross the world in theatre's and cinemas. How it happened is a long story, I'll put it into little details, a film director from Montreal Canada approached Queen in New York 1981 possibly in mid October or November, just after the Puebla concert in Mexico, Queen declined at first but was pressured by Saul swimmer the director and he give them the directions of the movie and how special the video format is and what they would expect if they did go ahead with the filming of the concert, after alot of pressure they went ahead with the decision of doing two night concert in Montreal, even though they were no longer on tour, so even though the filming of the concert went ahead and given they was no longer on tour their was going to be some tensions and slight disagreements with Saul the director and Queen. On the first night Saul tried putting his own stage lightings and he tried putting security in the audience to control the amount of activity and behavior from the audience, so basically he wanted near whisper for filming purposes but this did not go as planned Queen did their own thing and the audience was probably one the best audiences Queen had, check out the audience recording of this show which comes from the first night you can hear the audience Roar and screams every few seconds. On the Second night Queen found out that Saul changed their lighting rig, and they was not happy, and Saul asked Freddie and the band to wear the same clothes and do the same dance moves as the previous night 😂 but Queen refused since since the concert was not coragraphed Freddie did his own style and struts. Also both on the first night and second night Freddie wore trousers, but on the second night wore shorts on the encore basically last few sings of the concert, he did this because he wanted to cut between the two nights.
@@moosic2i You do realize this was filmed towards the end of 1981? Do you exactly know the backstory? It has nothing to do with supporting the game album. Saul Swimmer wanted to film a high visual concert to be shown in theatres, Queen where against the idea at first but decided to go ahead given how they where intrigued with the idea of filming in 35 mm the rest is history they flew to Canada on 20/21 November and they did the rehearsals on 22 November.
Freddie Mercury is a legend, he was the best performer ever, only Tina Turner on his level by live performences You must see Queen at live aid, and other concerts!!
They did a scientific study of his voice and while he doesn't have the biggest range, he was able to go through his range effortlessly. He also used both sets of vocal chords.
You’re right on about the gospel sound of the music Friday was a giant fan of Aretha Franklin I’ve read that this was his sort of tribute to her. In my mind there is absolutely no question that is the best from the Best front man of all time. He has a vocal range of about 4 1/2 octaves. He covers so many genres from progressive rock so hard rock to rock ‘n’ roll to jazz gospel the waters of classical music and of course opera. Please please please continue reacting to Freddy and Queen. I don’t think anybody could touch them. True hard-working professionals that are well oiled machine. I really can’t get enough ready. Thank you so much for your excellent reaction.
React to the Wembley concerts 1986. Any song is good. Also, 1981 Montreal concert..."Save me" "White Queen". "You take my breath away" Hyde Park. There are so many live performances by Queen, all are great!!!
Legends!! They have a huge catalogue, and their live performances were amazing. I suggest Fatbottemed girls live at the Bowl. Thanks dear and much bless!
One of the greatest live performances ever (besides Live Aid.) Freddie and Queen as a whole are legends, no other rock band can compare to them, live particularly, they can actually perform. The tragic loss of Freddie, a once in a millennium legend, the magic that the four of them create together, a true Gestalt, the sum is greater that the individual parts. Queen always blows me away, always makes me feel better to listen to them. Freddie lives in his music and our hearts forever, as does every member of Queen. Rock on! Love your reactions, they are very thoughtful, and introspective, I really enjoy your channel.
He’s at the top of every list of great singers, as is the band. Not only are his vocals amazing, he was disputably the greatest rock showman. His energy isn’t limited to this performance. I hope you dig into their catalogue. Every single performance is high energy, and he can control a crowd of thousands like no other.
I would really love to hear you react to him singing "Barcelona" with Montserrat Caballe a famous opera singer who he became very good friends with. The way he was able to mesh his voice with an opera singer was quite amazing
Dereck, your reactions are amazing. I was born in the early 50's and was around the 1st time much of the music you play came out (such as unbelievable Freddie Mercury and the others in Queen). You however make me hear it anew, and hear so much more then I did then. Your insight, warmth and low-keyed reactions are great - and educational! THANKS!!! It would be so great if you react to George Michael (yes, I know you've reacted to him once but he made so many fantastic songs, please listen to A Different Corner for example, One More Try, Fast Love, Freek 04, An Easier Affair....well any actually).
Queen was at that time the biggest and best-known live-band on the planet and went even bigger then! no band back then played (1986) sold-out in wembley! Queen played 3 days in a row sold out and made an extra-concert in knebwort with more than 150.000 people attending, because of the request! The video you saw was acutally the first cinema-concert-movie ever made! As so many people want to see them live, they recorded this concert in the newest - at that time - unknown camera and soundsystem (hd, dolby 5.1, later remixed as 7.1 thx) which became later standard in hollywood! This is actually a cinema-concert which was played around the world and the crowd in the cinemas went crazy! or as freddie would said: "i'm bigger and better! in everything!" ;-) I've been in a cinema for a Queen show ... everybody was standing and singing along and had a good party going on ;-) *cheers_freddie
Great reaction! Astute observations and commentary. This is one song that I also recommend viewing the Official Video Version (there is an extended version of that) because you'll see that Roger (drummer), Brian (guitarist) and Freddie (lead vocals, piano) all do multiple harmonies. of course, not the energy of the live performance, but still - stunning.
I love watching you react. You analyze every aspect of the song. I only wish you reacted to the studio version of Somebody to Love or any of their songs. That's when you really realize how unique and versatile their music is.
Brian May, CBE, PhD, FRAS is a founding member of Queen, a world-renowned guitarist, songwriter, producer and performer, also a Doctor of Astrophysics, 3-D stereoscopic photographic authority From 1970 to 1974, he studied for a PhD[1] degree at Imperial College, studying reflected light from interplanetary dust and the velocity of dust in the plane of the Solar System.
Oh and when you get a chance could you react to "Freddie Mercury-Exercises In Free Love" It's just him exercising his opera voice, and is amazingly powerful and beautiful
Welcome, Derek, to the world of Queen! I'm so pleased to see so many of your generation reacting to the legendary bands. If you haven't done so, PLEASE PLEASE react to Queen's performance at Live Aid in 1995. Rolling Stone Magazine, in its 20th Century end issue, said that performance was "One of the "Greatest 20 minutes in the history of Rocky & Roll." Also, you MUST react to the Freddie and world-renowned opera diva Montserrat Caballe duo of "Barcelona." I saw Queen two nights in 1997 (Senior in HS) at Tampa Stadium. Without question, the best concerts of my life! Same songs, but COMPLETELY different concerts. Different type of energy, different improvisations by Freddie and the band, a completely different audience each night. I left both concerts completely spent. Truly two of the greatest nights of my life!! There's lots more out there, Derek. Explore Queen!!!
OK I'm old, I saw Queen live 5 times. I suggest you watch them at Live Aid, to this day it's the largest concert ever held. It was in aid to raise money for the Ethiopian Famine in the early 1980's. At the time of Live Aid I was serving in the British Royal Marine Commandos in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. We listened to it on the radio. We were surrounded be the horror of the Famine, but when Queen came on the radio those poor soles who were there even reacted in a very positive way. I remember that a lot of us Royal Marine Commandos were crying watching some of the children dancing along, I'm teary eyed just remembering. I looked around at men I had fought alongside, who were tough, hardened Royal Marine Commandos who I had fought along side in a war against Argentinian's in 82. By the end of Queen's set we were dancing with the children. It went along way to help build their trust in us. The famine is one of the two worst memories I have. I only watched it for the first time last year, my son put it on the TV. A lot of memories came back and a lot of tears.
You mean to tell me that you’ve never heard Freddie before? I can’t believe it? That’s our Freddie! He was on tour. Queen had been touring since like 1974 or 1975. He’s a let! As Queen is and Brian May and Roger Taylor, Queen, is still touring
Genius level talent. 🎼🎶😎No auto tune, click tracks....real raw talent. One of a kind, and yes he’s a classically trained pianist. Queen was on tour , in 1981 everyone in rock n roll was on tour it seemed. This is a concert, not one song. His drinks are mostly tea, but Heineken...yeah if I was singing for an hour, I’d need one too.
