Black Jacket Symphony channels Queen’s ‘Opera’
Black Jacket Symphony will spend “A Night at the Opera” with Queen tonight and Friday, Feb. 23-24, but only tonight’s show still has tickets. It was added after the initially scheduled Friday show sold out.
BJS is the Birmingham, Ala.-based outfit that presents classic rock albums, note for note, in a live concert setting. Also on their play list this month and next are Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon,” Led Zeppelin’s “IV,” “Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” and Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty.”
These faithful re-creations are no small feat, but trying to find a singer who can capture Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury’s signature vocals adds another level of stress. But BJS founder J Willougby says Nashville talent Marc Martel is up to the challenge. Even original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor thought so. They tapped him as the vocalist for the “Queen Extravaganza,” a live show of Queen music Martel toured with for several years.
“We always go to great lengths to find ‘the guy’ who can make these albums come to life,” says Willoughby. “We’ve had our eye on this one for a while, and when we say we’ve found ‘the guy’ to do Freddie Mercury, we’ve found THE GUY!”
“A Night at the Opera,” released in 1975, was the fourth studio album by the British rock band. It has frequently been cited as one of Queen’s finest works, particularly its centerpiece single, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”