Filmed on November 24 and 25, 1981 at the Forum, the legendary concert Queen Rock Montreal these days are winning the gigantic IMAX screens, which will nevertheless struggle to contain the charisma of Freddie Mercury, which his little white shorts themselves struggled to contain. One of the members of the group’s security team, Walt Versen, says.
“Keep this word in mind when you watch the show again: intensity. » Walt Versen’s emotion comes through the phone. A little over 43 years ago, the 6’5″, 250 lb colossus joined the Queen team as a bodyguard, at the invitation of one of his former teammates in the Queen team. football player from Northwestern University in Illinois, Paul Korzilius (now Bon Jovi manager).
The young blocker then had almost no experience of the unpredictable world of showbiz; he still provided security at several shows in Chicago and accompanied Supertramp on tour in 1979, during its first visit to Montreal, at Jarry Park, on July 24 and 25.
« Je ne connaissais rien à la vie en général et chaque jour avec Queen a été une fabuleuse leçon de rock’n’roll », confie l’homme de 65 ans, qui travaille depuis quelques années au tournage d’un documentaire sur l’expérience de six footballeurs de l’Université Northwestern au sein de la caravane de Queen, Play the Game : A Jock ‘N’ Roll Story.
Mais la plus grande leçon que j’ai apprise, c’est que la musique est un travail que l’on doit prendre au sérieux. Pour [les membres de] Queen, the show was more important than anything. Nothing could stop them.
Walt Versen
Brian May also said during the premiere of the restored version of Queen Rock Montreal at the BFI IMAX in London that Freddie Mercury flew into a stormy rage shortly before the start of the first show, after being informed that director Saul Swimmer wanted the band members to wear the same clothes both nights, in order to allow him to edit his film from the two recordings. Which would explain, in part, their “incisive and aggressive playing”, according to the formula used by the guitarist.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY IMAX
Freddie Mercury on stage at the Forum
“I had forgotten before watching the show how much of a raw, punk sensibility Queen had,” adds Walt Versen. “What we see in this film is four guys at the peak of their abilities. On IMAX, the faces of Freddie, Brian, John [Deacon, basse] and Roger [Roger Taylor, batterie] are 30 feet, and they are so beautiful. In November 1981, they were on top of the world. »
In Freddie’s eyes
Launched in 1982 under the title We Will Rock Youthe first version of Saul Swimmer’s recording (The Concert for Bangladesh) will have greatly displeased Brian May, particularly given his problems with synchronism and his (understandable) obsession with Freddie Mercury who, with his mustache and his CH cap, is the focal point of many, many shots.
“At the time, it was a source of consternation to us,” he explained at the premiere, reports the Louder website, because we had always been a group. But today it’s a blessing, because now that Freddie is gone, it’s wonderful to be able to see the world through his eyes. »
Its projection in IMAX format in some way completes the work dreamed of by Saul Swimmer, who wanted to present the show on huge MobileVision screens, a technology of his own that turned off as quickly as it turned on.
PHOTO NEAL PRESTON, PROVIDED BY QUEEN PRODUCTIONS
Bassist John Deacon with, left, Walt Versen
For Walt Versen, who accompanied Queen all over the world in 1980 and 1981 during the tour The Gamethis stay in Montreal already marked the end of his time within the group’s team, where his work consisted of following Brian May step by step (each member could count on his protector) and – he laughs – “to stay standing with the one who went to bed later.
Be kind
For the massive little guy from rural Illinois, born at the dawn of the 1960s, the parties to which Freddie Mercury took them could certainly be surprising. “It was for me a first contact with the LGBTQ community,” he emphasizes. It turns out that the first gay person I knew was one of the most famous people on the planet. »
Walt Versen’s last conversation with Freddie Mercury took place during the Rock in Rio festival in January 1985, where the mirror cabinet accompanied the German group Scorpions. “Fred was sitting on his throne in a room full of people,” recalls the man who worked his entire life in the music business with artists like Genesis, REO Speedwagon and Don Felder (of the Eagles). “He sat me right next to him and talked to me for hours, like I was his prince. »
His most important rock’n’roll lesson? “I learned from Freddie and Brian that you have to be kind. No matter how strong and physically intimidating I was, the most important thing was to be kind. This is what makes the wheel turn. »
On IMAX screens until January 21
“An extraordinary phenomenon”
PHOTO IVANOH DEMERS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Jean-François Pouliot in 2015
What do they have in common The great seduction And Queen Rock Montreal ? A name: Jean-François Pouliot, director of the popular Quebec comedy and assistant cameraman on the 35mm filming of the British group’s concert in 1981. “My main memory is spending a lot of time in the changing rooms of the Forum, where I had to run to empty and refill stores of blank film,” says the filmmaker (Vote Bougon, The tuque war), who was then in his early twenties. “Ah, and I also remember that at the end of the second evening, we all lined up to be paid in cash, like we were coming out of a mine, which was very unusual.
“But what I remember most is that Freddie Mercury was an electrifying phenomenon. Visually, it was extraordinary. »