Last month Queen announced a cinema release for Queen Budapest, the concert film of the 1986 show that saw the band headline the first stadium show by a Western band behind the Iron Curtain. And now, they're going to use a screening of the film to recreate the atmosphere of a Queen show for fans in London.
Across two screenings at London's iconic Roundhouse on October 3, the newly restored film will be shown on a giant LED screen, with the visuals augmented by surround sound and synchronised lighting. A range of original Queen merchandise will also be on display.
"It’s going to be definitively the most real experience ever of us, Queen, in our glory days," says Brian May, presumably excluding the experience of seeing them in their actual glory days. "I think people will get lost in it and even forget they’re watching a film."
The two screenings on October 3 will take place at 2pm and 7pm, and tickets are on sale now. A VIP package includes drinks tokens and a bespoke merchandise package including a tote bag, laminate and lanyard, poster, commemorative ticket and a Freddie Mercury-style sweatband.
Queen Budapest is of major significance to fans as it represents the last filmed live performance of the band with Freddie Mercury, showing the quartet at the height of their powers as a live act on the Magic tour, just a month before their final show at Knebworth Park in England.
The footage, which has been restored by a team led by Sir Peter Jackson, will be accompanied by a multi-format package via Legacy Recordings, the catalogue division of Sony Music, internationally and Hollywood Records in the U.S. and Canada on October 30.
The soundtrack, newly remixed from the original multitrack by Queen’s studio team, will be released alongside the Blu-Ray, DVD, CD & Digital editions as a 3LP vinyl set for the very first time. It can be pre-ordered now.
