It’s 40 years this summer since Queen’s final tour, and to mark the occasion, the band have announced the reissue of Queen Budapest, the film of their show in the Hungarian capital that summer.
The original footage has been restored by Peter Jackson (who’s fast becoming the go-to guy for this sort of project). It’ll be getting a limited cinema and IMAX release on 7 October, before editions on all formats – DVD, Blu-Ray, digital, LP and CD – become available from 30 October.
The show was one of the first by a Western act behind the then-Iron Curtain – though not the first, as Sony’s publicity material is insisting, as good ol’ Cliff Richard toured the Soviet Union in the mid 70s. Nevertheless, it was a big deal at the time. The tour film was shown in Poland, East Germany, China and Czechoslovakia, and after Queen came a deluge of rock stars playing the Communist bloc, including Bowie, Springsteen, Big Country and Billy Joel.
For Queen, though it was the end of the road. Or almost. The original four-piece only played five more gigs, and their final date on the Live Magic tour, at Knebworth in August 1986, would be the last time Freddie Mercury would be seen on stage with them.
Brian May has said of the Budapest show: “For years, fans behind the Iron Curtain had been able to listen to Queen music only on illegal cassettes. It was a forbidden thing to listen to rock bands like us, so to see them play in a live show would have been unthinkable. This concert, when they could finally come and see us live in person and interact with us, was a huge emotional moment for them and also for us. Perhaps the most memorable highlight of all was performing that beautiful Hungarian folk song, which Freddie and I had learned for the occasion. Not a dry eye!”
Roger Taylor adds: “I know Freddie tried to learn this folk song, but he had the words written phonetically on the back of his hand. When the audience just started singing, we realised, wow, music really can be a great cause.”
Fans who want to see it in the cinemas are being encouraged to sign up at the Queen Budapest website to be alerted to all the relevant information as to when pre-sale tickets are available.
“Peter Jackson’s team have done a magnificent job of restoring the original film footage, at the highest resolution ever," says May. "It's pristine and the quality is breathtaking. I think people will get lost in it and even forget they're watching a film.”
