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Marc Martel – One Vision of Queen at Toyota Oakdale Theatre

Marc martel - one vision of queen tickets, toyota oakdale theatre | wallingford, connecticut.

• | Marc Martel – One Vision of Queen

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The Ultimate Queen Celebration with Marc Martel

• Date Sep. 08 , 2022
• Event Starts 8:00 PM
• Venue The Riverside Theater
• Doors Open 7:00 PM
• On Sale Availability On Sale Now

Event Details

The Ultimate Queen Celebration is a highly theatrical, eye-popping production that incorporates 23 of the songs that Queen made famous: “We Will Rock You,” “Radio Gaga,” “We are the Champions,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Somebody to Love,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and many more. In a novel twist, the concert will also include a selection of songs that reflect Mercury’s interest in musical styles beyond rock – including “Ave Maria” and the great operatic aria, “Nessun Dorma” – all performed by Marc Martel as they might have been performed by Freddie Mercury. Prior to being known “as the vocal doppelganger for the Queen frontman” (The New York Times), Martel recorded and toured with the Canadian rock group Downhere for over a decade. Martel’s path changed 2011 when he submitted a video of himself covering “Somebody to Love” as part of a contest spearheaded by the members of Queen. The video landed him an appearance on the Ellen Show and he was hand-selected by Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen to be the voice of their official tribute group “The Queen Extravaganza.” Martel has appeared on American Idol with the Queen Extravaganza and contributed vocals for the Oscar winning Queen biopic film Bohemian Rhapsody."

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SMALL PURSES ONLY, PLEASE. PURSES ARE SUBJECT TO SEARCH To efficiently create a positive and safe experience for all patrons, only small purses (13″W x 4″D x 9″H and smaller) are allowed into the theater and all are subject to search.

All other bags  including backpacks and oversized purses are  strictly prohibited  and  bag storage is NOT available  at The Pabst, The Riverside, Turner Hall Ballroom or The Back Room @ Colectivo.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE PROHIBITED AND ARE NOT ALLOWED INTO ANY OF THE VENUES. Weapons, laser pens, signs, banners, electronic smoking devices (vapes, Juuls, etc.), oversized bags, backpacks, outside food and beverages including water, cans, bottles, alcohol, illegal substances, iPads/tablets, selfie sticks, laptops, professional audio recording devices (unless approved by artist), and any professional photography equipment. The use of vape pens inside the venues are prohibited as well.

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Concert Review: The Ultimate Queen Celebration starring Marc Martel; Miami, FL 12-16-18

Review of The Ultimate Queen Celebration starring Marc Martel, in Miami, FL Dec 16th, 2018

There are few bigger bands on the planet than Queen right now.  The new film Bohemian Rhapsody has been a huge success, as has the song, recently named the most streamed song of all time.  So, it is no surprise that the show titled ‘The Ultimate Queen Celebration’ was sold out on December 16th at the elegant Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, FL .  Starring in the show is Marc Martel who has been heading up this show for a few years.  Martel was discovered by Queen when a video of Martel singing “Somebody to Love” went viral all over the internet sparked by the amazing resemblance Martel had to the legendary Freddie Mercury.  Martel would eventually take part in a show called The Queen Extravaganza with a full band sanctioned by Queen.  But now he is doing this show with a brand new band and paying homage to one of the iconic bands of all time in a brilliant 2 hour show.

The band kicked off the show with the rocking “Tie Your Mother Down” and immediately you see why the notoriety Martel has garnered is warranted.  You can close your eyes and it sounds like Mercury.  Then you look and Martel moves and dances like Mercury.  It is uncanny, yet it does not feel contrived or forced.  This is not a “tribute” show in the traditional sense.  The band do not wear costumes or wigs or look like Queen.  They are a kick ass rock band that just happen to play amazing versions of Queen classics. Rounding out the first set is a hit parade that includes “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Hammer to Fall,” “Killer Queen” and many more.  The set closes with a breathtaking version of the classic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It is hard to convey just how good the band are in pulling this off.

The second set surprisingly begins with the deep track “Death on Two Legs” but then dives into “I Want it All” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and more hits.  The amazing thing about Queen is that after this show filled with 20 Queen classics, you immediately think of 10 more hits the band could have played. Martel then sits at the piano for the delicate ballad “You Take My Breathe Away”, again displaying the ability channel Mercury in his piano playing as well.  Then comes the highlights of the second set, “Radio Ga Ga” into “Somebody to Love.”  The two songs together are played with such precision and so emphatically, not a single person was seated, and everyone was doing the patented Queen clap and singing along.  Of course, the encore consisted of “We Will Rock You” and “We are the Champions.”

Martel is indeed a star frontman and performer.  But the band are all clearly top notch musicians.  In addition to Martel, the band includes Tristan Avakian (lead guitar and backing vox), Brandon Ethridge (Keyboards/piano, backing vox and music director), J.R. McNeely (bass, backing vox) and Jason Gianni (drums, backing vox).  This is a show that could and should run for years.  It is more than a celebration of one of the greatest bands of all time; it is also just a really great show and a hell of a good time.

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Exclusive interview with marc martel of downhere and winner of the queen extravaganza.

Exclusive Interview with Marc Martel of the Christian rock band Downhere and Winner of The Queen Extravaganza contest.

The Christian Post: Where did you develop this passion for music when you were younger and who did you dream to be?

Marc Martel: Definitely my passion for music came from my mom. She is a piano player and a choir director at my church. My earliest memories of music and just really loving the sound of music itself was her playing the piano for me and my brother and sister at night as we were falling asleep at night, and she'd play Beethoven to us and I think that's where it all started to me. I ended up taking piano lessons at a really young age, I took like years of piano lessons and I always loved to sing.

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My biggest influences when I was a kid – I listened to a lot of top 40 radio, so whatever the big artists were so like the mid 80s. I think of artists like George Michaels, but my biggest influence at that age was probably Keith Green. His passion and his piano playing and his singer was something that I always wanted to strive toward.

CP: You're also in the band Downhere, when you guys started why was it important for you to come to the U.S. as Canadians and how did that whole process of getting signed work out for you?

Martel: We started our band in college, at a college called Briar Cliff College in Saskatchewan. None of us are actually from Saskatchewan, but we kind of all met there and started there. We got signed to a record label in Nashville in 2001 and before that all came about we were all just planning on moving to Toronto or something and trying to make the best of it there and staying in Canada.

We never saw it as kind of a thing to do, to move to the states and when we got that offer from this big record label in Nashville we thought “Well this is a door that either God was opening for us” and we were very careful about it and very prayerful about it and after eight months of negotiating to make sure it was really worth it for us, we moved down in 2001 and that's when we kind of went full time. 

CP: Where does the name Downhere come from?

Martel: The name Downhere comes from a song I wrote after a friend of mine died in college and it was kind of the first time I was dealing with loss and you know real mortality and it was a song of how down here on Earth we don't have the big picture. We rarely know why things happen and why God allows certain things, but it's a song of faith that God is in control and has a purpose for everything that happens in our lives. As hard as it is to believe at certain times.

Later on when we were looking for a band name we thought we wanted something that had a lot of layers of meaning. The name also means just being down here. When Christ was down here and the example he set for us as a way of life and trying to emulate that as much as possible. We want our music to be a soundtrack for down here and obviously our world views are Biblically based and obviously that's where our music is centered on. So yeah, just being down here on Earth and trying to figure it out like everyone else.

CP: When did you guys finally start to feel established as a band?

Martel: The first year and a half in Nashville we actually all shared a four bedroom house and there were two married couples and three single guys trying to figure out how to live in community and learning to take care of the daily schedule, “Who's cooking what?” “Who's cleaning what?” That really was kind of a pressure cooker for us trying to figure out if this was going to work for us. That first year and a half we had to live together because we didn't have any money. I was making about $300 a month back then and we made it work and that's when we really gelled.

CP: Who pushed you to try out for this and what were your initial thoughts, what did you think would actually happen by you trying out?

Martel: The whole Queen thing came around in a really timely fashion. I was thinking about what I was going to do in 2012, our families were growing in the band and that's always been our first priority, so we planned to take some extra time off the road so the guys can be with their families.

My wife and I don't have kids yet so I figured “Well while we still have no kids I have the freedom to travel a little more than the other guys probably” and I figured, “Well instead of trying to get some other part-time jobs to supplement the loss of income from not being on the road, I'll look into singing with other bands or do some session work whatever it may be.”

Right around that time I got this email from a friend of mine here in Nashville. I pretty much got that email the day the Queen Extravaganza started in late September. I read the contest rules and the vision behind and seeing that it was an official thing put on by the band Queen themselves I thought, “It has never been my dream to be in a tribute band. I love to write my own music, I love what I do in Downhere and hope to keep doing it for a long time,” but just the timing of the whole thing and the fact that people have been telling me for years that I sound like Freddie Mercury, it just was kind of a no brainer for me.

I still had some self doubt about the thing and I haven't heard a lot of guys sing like Freddie Mercury, I know there's a few of them out there for sure, but I felt like I had a good chance of at least moving on to one of the vocalist spots. They were looking for three singers, so I thought I had a decent shot at it so I thought, “Well if I win this what is it going to mean for Downhere?” And at the time I really had no idea what it meant for Downhere and whether it was the potential of taking the place of Downhere. I had the video all ready to send and submit, I was sitting there on the couch next to my wife and I was like, “Yeah I don't know if I really want to do this. I love what I do, if I win this I don't know what to do with my band” and she's like “Marc, this is like cut out for you. This is a no brainer for you.”

And so I'd have to say that the final word went to my wife, and I listened to her, as a good husband should and here I am today with a new job, for next year.

CP: When you started getting viral feedback for the Youtube video, what were your first impressions of that?

Martel: A little bit of fear honestly, excitement obviously. I had no idea that was going to happen, you can't predict a viral video. It doesn't really happen to a lot of people. I submitted the video on the 21st of September, and the next morning I checked what the views were at and I remember specifically it was at 303 at like nine in the morning and I thought “Well that's about what I expected,” I honestly didn't expect much. That's about what a Downhere video gets.

Then in the afternoon, it's funny because it had exactly doubled in views. It was at 606 and I was like well that's kind of funny. Well this is going to be a small thing if I win, who even knows if they'll carry on with the whole Queen Extravaganza, maybe they are hoping for more views than that.

At the same time the contest had just started and maybe they haven't gotten the word out. I had no idea what was going on, and in the evening around 9 p.m.

I went to check and all of a sudden it was in the thousands and in the tens of thousands, I think it was around 18,000 views and I had noticed that the comments were coming in almost every second, and people were saying “Hey the Internet has arrived welcome to the Internet guy, dude you've gone viral” And I was like, “What does that even mean, viral video? Let’s see if this is really true, maybe it'll just spike after a few hours and then stop.”

Sure enough the next morning it was in the hundreds of thousands, and for probably the first week or two it was just really surreal all the attention I was getting. I mean people have told me I sound like Freddie Mercury for years and I didn't really think it was that big of a deal honestly. I thought “Well, I know there's other guys who can sound like Freddie Mercury, it's not terribly unique, sure I can do that, but what does it all really mean in the end?”

It caught on so crazy over the Internet, it surprised everybody, it was kind of an outer body experience. I keep telling people it's so weird being the one guy that can join in with everybody and say “Hey way to go this is so exciting for you, this is awesome.” It's kind of weirdly lonely in a way. Just being the center of attention in that way, it's a strange thing. I think I've seen enough people have their 15 minutes that I can sort of manage my 15 minutes of fame with it. I knew it would eventually die down, but it was sure fun while it lasted.

CP: How did it feel when you got the phone call from Ellen to go on her show?

Martel: That was crazy because a lot of the comments that were being left early on in the viral thing were saying we need to get this guy on Ellen. I didn't know my wife was such a big Ellen fan at the time, and I said 'Hey check out what this guy said, he said I should be on Ellen.' She freaked out and said 'What you're going to be on Ellen!' And was like, 'N o, no, no, he was saying that I should be on Ellen, there's a big difference.' But obviously I got the call from my manager a few days later saying I got Ellen.

Yeah that was kind of the next step up from that whole thing, it kind of made the whole thing real. Up until then it was just kind of people commenting on Youtube and videos, that was about it. The Ellen thing was the first real world, yeah this is changing my life. I'm going to actually go to L.A. and be on a television show, this is really crazy.

CP: What does your job entail and do you feel any pressure?

Martel: I feel really oddly well prepared for it. Being a professional musician with Downhere for 11 years now, I feel completely at home on stage. Obviously a lot of people are going to have expectations as far as my performance on stage whether I'm expected to emulate Freddie Mercury on stage. Which I don't think is expected of me from the Queen people. A lot of tribute bands have Freddie look a likes, even though a lot of people tell me I sort of look like him, you know they grow the mustache and wear the same costumes and all that and try to act like Freddie. I think it helps that I'm not expected to be Freddie Mercury, I think what they want of me is to sort of bring my own artistic self into this thing.

Obviously, I sound remarkably like him and that's definitely an advantage, I think people are going to always be critical when you're in the public eye like that. People are going to say whatever they want especially on Youtube where there is no accountability and complete anonymity. People have a chance and do take that chance to do and say whatever they want. That really doesn't bother me, I'm just excited to do something a little different than what I've done for the last decade or so. It's going to be a really fun time to branch out and play some other music that just so happens to be some of the greatest music ever recorded, so that doesn't hurt either.

CP: How long is this actual gig with Queen, and what happens when you are ready to do stuff with Downhere again?

Martel: I think so far what I know, the Queen thing is supposedly a three month tour in the middle of next year going possibly into the fall a bit, sort of playing it by ear as to how long they are taking this tour out on the road. It's going to depend on the success of it. Obviously touring is a lot harder than it used to be. Maybe do a test run in the beginning. They're really wise about it, I don't think anyone knows how long this Queen Extravaganza thing is going to be. My guess was temporary, which is great because Downhere is still planning to tour next year and we are going to be doing a second leg of the "Called Love Tour" with Aaron Schust and Jason Gray which was really successful last fall. We are already planning gigs for that in the spring, then Queen Extravaganza from then through the summer and the fall is kind of up in the air. All I can tell you now is that Downhere is definitely not breaking up. Still planning on recording some music sometime next year, that's pretty much all I can tell you at this point.

CP: What was your biggest rock star moment before any of this?

Martel: It's kind of funny to put it that way because we have been the anti-rock star band in a way. Even our biggest fans know this about us. They respect us as humans and don't objectify us. Our demeanor as musicians when we are on stage kind of squelches that desire for people to elevate. We've always managed to remain humble and down to Earth as much as possible when your job involves being under lights and people watching you.

Probably the biggest moment we've had as a band throughout the years was in 2006 when we played in Morocco which I believe was in front of 60,000 people. That was a very surreal moment just to see a sea of people in front of you. People that didn't even know our music at all, but I'm sure about 99.9 percent of them never heard a single Downhere song. But yeah just to play in front of that many people is mind boggling.

CP: What's your biggest failure?

Martel: I don't think I could point to one, there have been far too many of those to count. And everybody has their own idea of what a rock star moment would be and the antithesis of that might be sleeping on someone's floor because our promoter couldn't afford a hotel or a place with a spare bed. We've done that plenty of times. Breaking down on the side of the highway in your 15 passenger van is a lot of fun. Having to unload your gear on the side of the road because your trailer broke down. There's so many of those moments that I'm actually really thankful for because they have prepared me for the realities of what comes next.

I think I have some pretty good expectations. And the whole fame thing which I've tasted in a very small amount is a weird thing. Not that I think I'm really famous or anything like that, but just this small amount of attention I've gotten with this viral thing. Comparing myself to the ultimate rock star of today (Justin Bieber), I feel like all the things that have happened over the years and being around the other members of Downhere who really have their heads on straight, because of that I think it has helped me keep my head on straight and I can keep it in stride and really focus on what the important things are in all of this – my relationships first with my wife and God, and the people I come in contact with. The rock star thing is all kind of fluff.

CP: Last thoughts?

Martel: Finally I'd like to say I'm really excited for what's about to happen in 2012. There's a lot of questions as far as what it's going to look like. If you're a praying person, pray for me that I make good and wise decisions with all of it and be the representative of Christ I'm called, we are all called to be in situations. We’ll keep you posted as much as possible on my website, Marcmartelmusic.com, Downhere.com, come out to a show it'll be fun to see you.

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The Ultimate Queen Celebration with Marc Martel

Since 2017, Martel has fronted The Ultimate Queen Celebration, an explosive, attention commanding tribute where some of the most iconic rock anthems merge with a theatrical performance style and eye-popping production. Martel and his band perform Queen’s greatest hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are The Champions,” “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Under Pressure,” and “Somebody to Love.”

Prior to being known “as the vocal doppelganger for the Queen frontman” ( The New York Times ), Marc Martel recorded and toured with the Canadian rock group Downhere for over a decade.  Martel’s path changed 2011 when he submitted a video of himself covering “Somebody to Love” as part of a contest spearheaded by the members of Queen. The video landed him an appearance on the Ellen Show and he was hand-selected by Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen to be the voice of their official tribute group “The Queen Extravaganza.” Martel has appeared on American Idol with the Queen Extravaganza and contributed vocals for the Oscar winning Queen biopic film Bohemian Rhapsody.   

Marc Martel evokes Freddie Mercury as he brings the Ultimate Queen show to Indian Ranch

Marc Martel was a singer in a Canadian Christian rock band named downhere when the bassist pointed out something that others had noticed as well:

When he sings, Martel's voice has an uncanny resemblance to the late, great Freddie Mercury of the beloved British rock band, Queen. That's quite a compliment given that the legendary Mercury (1946-1991) reputedly had a four octave range with a voice described as "escalating within a few bars from a deep, throaty rock-growl to tender, vibrant tenor, then on to a high-pitched, perfect coloratura, pure and crystalline in the upper reaches."

Martel wasn't really all that familiar with Queen at the time, but "I would learn a lot by listening to the music," he said. "It is definitely the most challenging material that I've sung, and I've definitely become a better singer because of it."

Martel now sings in a different band, Ultimate Queen Celebration Starring Marc Martel, which will revisit Queen classics and deeper cuts (and more) in a show at Indian Ranch in Webster at 1 p.m. Sept. 4.

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” "We Will Rock You,” “We Are The Champions,” "Another One Bites The Dust,” “Under Pressure,” “Somebody To Love” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” are likely all part of the set list.

Queen represented a bit of a shock to rock and pop when it started out in England in the 1970s with its almost operatic style. Nothing quite like it had been heard before, or has been since. 

But there is Martel's voice.

The Ultimate Queen Celebration show has great production values and visuals, but the band won't be dressed up like Queen. "We're all about the music," Martel said during a recent telephone interview.

"But at the same time you're not  going to hear anything that's closer to the music anywhere else."

The makers of the 2018 movie "Bohemian Rhapsody" noticed Martel's vocal similarities to Mercury as well, bringing on Martel to sing parts at Abbey Road studios in London that tapes of Mercury could not be matched up to.

Martel grew up as a son of a church pastor father and church choir director mother in Montreal. In college he became a member of downhere, as the band was stylized, which had some success and relocated to Nashville — where Martel still lives, now with his, wife, Crystal Martel.

In his mid-teens Martel had seen the opening scene of the movie "Wayne's World," which features the Queen masterpiece "Bohemian Rhapsody," but "I didn't even realize there was band called Queen," he said. Indeed, in Montreal, "I didn't even know anyone who was a professional musician."

In developing his own singing voice, Martel had in mind Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. But, "When I listened to Queen I started to develop what I had naturally," Martel said.    

He had discovered somebody to love.

"The fact that you can  fill up two whole hours with greatest hits, it's hard not to love that … It was just a treasure trove of accessible music that's really hard to play. Second only to the Beatles, in my opinion, in terms of the work they were able to crank out in such a short period of time," he said. 

Downhere "worked, we like to say, longer than a band with our level of success should have. We lasted for about 13 years," Martel said. By 2013 the band been wrapped up.

Martel also writes and performs his own music, and has released several Christmas albums and EPs.

Meanwhile, in 2011, encouraged and prodded by friends, Martel entered a competition launched by Queen original drummer Roger Taylor to join an official Queen  tribute project, the Queen Extravaganza.

Martel uploaded a video of himself singing Queen's "Somebody to Love" and the soaring vocals quickly generated more than one million views on YouTube. Martel not only won a spot as the lead singer on Queen Extravaganza but also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Queen Extravaganza made its debut in 2012, ahead of its first tour as guests on "American Idol."

Taylor remarked to the Daily Record: “That voice. You listen, close your eyes and you think it’s Freddie. It’s really uncanny.” 

Martel has toured with Queen Extravaganza, and, in 2017, he also  started The Ultimate Queen Celebration. Both shows have toured all over the world.

Besides the classic hits, in the Ultimate Queen Celebration Martel explores another aspect of Mercury that fits in with the often operatic nature of Queen. “Near the end of Freddie’s life, he explored other styles of music beyond rock, including opera, so with that in mind, the show also includes a segment of familiar songs in the flavor of what they might have sounded like had Freddie ever gotten the chance to sing them,” Martel said. “For instance, I perform ‘Ave Maria’ by myself on piano and also the great opera aria ‘Nessun Dorma’ in the style of Freddie, so it gives the night some imaginative elements in the spirit of Queen, rather than strictly the letter of Queen. You could call it a greatest hits show with a twist where I get to explore other things that I wish Freddie could have recorded himself and wonder what could have been.”

The Academy Award-winning 2018 film "Bohemian Rhapsody" tells the story of Queen and Mercury leading up to their famous performance at Live Aid in 1985. Rami Malek (Oscar for Best Actor) plays Mercury, but as he told The New York Times, “No one wants to hear me sing.” 

Film producer Graham King said in a Rolling Stone interview that Mercury's singing vocals came from either Queen master tapes or new recordings by Martel. "Literally, you could close your eyes and it's Freddie," King said. 

"It was an amazing ride to be part of that," Martel said of the experience. "I got to see how a movie's made, brush elbows with really talented people, and be part of the whole thing."

It "definitely didn't hurt" his career, either.

Particularly as a Queen tribute singer in America.

Queen has always been more popular in Great Britain, Europe and other parts world-wide than in the United States, Martel noted.

"England is probably my favorite place to perform Queen. The Brits are mad about Queen, that's for sure," he said.   

"I would say the United States lags behind every other country I have performed in. In the 1970s American music was saturated with many talented acts." Also, the classical operatic style might not have been to everyone's taste here.

However, the success of the movie "Bohemian Rhapsody" might have changed things.

"Now it's funny to see people catching on to this music that's about 40 years old," Martel said. "I think the move 'Bohemian  Rhapsody' put  the band up front and center. It's interesting, you can see up front which songs people  know."

For the Queen song “Radio Ga Ga,” international audiences will do raised arm handclaps unprompted, but here it is a different story, Martel observed.

 Still, when the Ultimate Queen Celebration is onstage, "We're simply being ourselves," he said. So no one has to copy.

"I've never donned the yellow jacket (Mercury's iconic stage costume). That's a stipulation Roger Taylor had for his band."    

Asked if he would have left Nashville were it not for the Queen shows, Martel said, "I don't think so. I think I would have stayed in Nashville. I had just got married two years prior. My wife and I really loved Nashville."

Martel mostly recently performed in Massachusetts in 2019 in a Queen celebration with with the Boston Pops at Tanglewood. 

The pandemic shut down Martel's touring for a while. "You know what, I got to wake up in my own bed and it was really nice. We were able to make it work with the technology available now, taking some vocal recording jobs. I got to see my wife quite a bit, and work around the house."  

But back on the road, "it's going awesome," Martel said. "Awesome to see how essential live music is to people. To  see the look of elation on their faces confirms how important art is, live art is. We're glad to be back on the road."

Regarding how long he can keep performing Queen shows, Martel said, "Time will tell. Right now there doesn't   seem to be any sign of slowing down. The world still seems to have an insatiable appetite for Queen."   

On the other hand he does enjoy writing his own material, and he will have more Christmas songs to put out his year, he said.    

"There's so many levels of just being thankful that I've been able to perform for a living and perform some of the most beloved songs in rock and roll," Martel said.

What : The Ultimate Queen Celebration starring Marc Martel

When : 1 p.m. (doors 11:30 a.m.) Sept. 4

Where : Indian Ranch, 200 Gore Road, Webster

How much : $15 to $55.50. www.indianranch.com

Marc Martel: The king of Queen's Freddie Mercury vocals is back with Black Jacket Symphony

• Tickets for the Black Jacket show on Aug. 18 at Montgomery Performing Arts Centre range from $37 to $57.
• Tickets can be purchased online at mpaconline.org or by calling the MPAC box office at 334-481-5100.

When it’s time to recreate a note-for-note live rendition of the late Freddie Mercury’s iconic voice from Queen, Black Jacket Symphony has THE guy — and he’s no stranger to Montgomery.

“To those coming again, thanks for supporting the cause and being so loyal to Black Jacket, Queen and myself,” said singer Marc Martel. “For those of you who are coming for the first time, get ready for an amazing show.”

He’ll be singing with the BJS band at the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre on Friday, Aug. 18, at 8 p.m.

“Whether you’re a huge Queen fan, or just a music fan in general, you’re going to have a great time. I promise that.”

In the first half of the show, they’ll be recreating all 12 tracks from Queen’s iconic 1975 album “A Night At The Opera,” with hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Death On Two Legs,” and “You’re My Best Friend.” After that, they’ll be back to play more Queen favorites from other albums.

“The music itself is so intricate,” Martel said. “It keeps us on our toes.”

To reunite with Black Jacket, Martel is taking a brief step away from an ongoing tour with his band One Vision Of Queen.

“I don’t think I’ve played with Black Jacket at all this year, just because I’ve been so busy with my band,” Martel said. “When I come to Montgomery, it’ll be our second weekend out together.”

Martel has bounced between Black Jacket and OVOQ for a few years now. He said the transition isn’t that difficult, at least not anymore.

“I don’t play with Black Jacket nearly as much as I do with my own band,” Martel said. “Every time I go back to Black Jacket, I have to do a little revision of the songs that I don’t perform with my other band. It’s a great group of guys and gals. We have a good time. It’s a different vibe.”

BJS is also a different presentation than what Martel does with OVOQ. With Black Jacket, presenting the "A Night at the Opera" is a straight shot through the tracks, without audience interaction, just like listening to the album. That changes in the second part of the show, when they play more greatest hits.

“I’ll brush up on my ukulele part, and usually be good to go,” Martel said.

2023 has been a very busy year for Martel and OVOQ. He’s already completed his 13-stop international tour of the Americas — Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Chile, Columbia, Equador, Guam, Costa Rica and El Salvador.

He’ll jump back into OVOQ’s U.S. dates on Aug. 23, and then head overseas in September for a six-week European tour through mid-November — with a whole lot of Germany, and a sprinkle of Switzerland, Austria and Iceland.

“It’s 28 shows. That’ll be our biggest tour,” Martel said. “It keeps rolling. People don’t get tired of Queen.”

In March, he and OVOQ released a live album from their concert in Cologne, Germany.

“It’s actually a performance from our first tour in Germany in 2020,” he said.

While he does speak another language — French — and picks up a few words from whatever nation he’s touring in, Martel said his international shows are always performed in English.

“We definitely don’t change the music, depending on what country we’re in,” Martel said.

It doesn’t seem to matter to international audiences if they can understand all the words to Queen. The energy from the crowd is often even greater than when he’s in the U.S.

“Sometimes, American audiences can surprise me,” Martel said. “I usually expect a little less exuberance, but they’re still super into it.”

Around the world, different Queen songs seem to capture the imaginations of different countries. Martel said it kind of depends on what singles were playing on the radio there back in the day. While “Fat Bottomed Girls” is a huge favorite in the U.S., in other countries it’s likely considered more of a deep cut.

“’Radio Ga Ga,' which is one of Queen’s really big hits, I had actually never heard it growing up in Canada, before I started performing the music of Queen,” Martel said.

Martel and OVOQ have been together since 2017.  A year after that, Martel’s voice helped take Mercury’s sound to the big screen in the 2018 “Bohemian Rhapsody” film, starring Rami Malek.

“Being a part of the making of that movie was such a blast,” Martel said. “Definitely one of the highlights of my career… If that’s a one-off movie thing for my whole life, I’m pretty cool with that.”

Without a doubt, Martell knows that he’s gotten better at singing Mercury’s music over the past decade. Early on, he auditioned for and got a part in a band called The Queen Extravaganza.

“Eventually, the challenge becomes making it interesting for yourself every night,” Martel said. “I try not to lock myself into one way of performing the show. I’m just kind of opposed in my own spirit to phoning it in.”

So even if you’ve seen Martel in action here with BJS before, the show’s likely a little different than you remember — in a good way.

“I’m going to give them the best show that I can,” he said.

Tickets for the Black Jacket show range from $37 to $57, and can be purchased online at https://www.mpaconline.org/events/ or by calling the MPAC box office at 334-481-5100.

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at   [email protected] .

Marc Martel – The Ultimate Queen Celebration

Marc Martel is a Canadian Christian rock musician. He was born in Montreal, Canada, to father Michel Martel and mother Barbara Beresford Martel. He attended Briercrest College and Seminary in Caronport, Saskatchewan, where he formed the band Downhere with his roommate Jason Germain and a few friends in 1999.

Aside from his own work, Martel is known for his Queencovers, and his vocal likeness to Freddie Mercury.

His band, Downhere, developed their sound while touring on behalf of Briercrest College. After four years of college, the band relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where they signed with Word Records. Downhere went on to win multiple Juno Awards, Covenant Awards and a Dove Award. They released 10 albums, including On the Altar of Love, before going on hiatus effective January 1, 2013.

In September 2011, Martel entered a competition to join Roger Taylor’s (original drummer for the rock band Queen) official Queen tribute project, the Queen Extravaganza, with a video of Martel singing along with the Queen classic “Somebody to Love”. It generated more than one million views on YouTube after being up for only a few days and as of February 2021 it has over 22 million views. This led to an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show a week following the release of the video. Martel went on to be one of the winners of the competition which led to a six-week tour with The Queen Extravaganza in 2012. The Queen Extravaganza had continued to tour with Martel until the end of 2016.

Martel released an EP, Prelude, on February 1, 2013. The EP was recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles with producer John Fields. His full-length debut, Impersonator, released on September 30, 2014.

In September 2016, he collaborated on “Last Christmas”, featured in the video game, Just Dance 2017. On November 18, 2016 The Silent Night EP, a collection of Christmas songs, was released.

In 2017, Martel left Queen Extravaganza and joined the Ultimate Queen Celebration.

In 2019, Martel recorded a new version of “Silver Bells” with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Christian AC Monitor charts, and the Mediabase Christian AC. This was Martel’s first career No. 1 song. He accompanied them on their annual Christmas Tour.

Martel contributed vocal recordings for the Queen biographical film, Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). Film producer Graham King confirmed that Marc Martel recorded vocals for the film in Rolling Stone article:

Most singing scenes in the movie rely on either vocal stems from Queen master tapes or new recordings by Marc Martel, a Canadian Christian rock singer whose voice is practically identical to the late frontman’s. “Literally, you could close your eyes and it’s Freddie,” says King. “And that’s a very tough thing to do.”

And in an interview to FilmJournal International he revealed more details about Martel’s involvement in the making of the movie:

Rami sings a little bit in the film, there’s a lot of Freddie Mercury obviously, and a lot of Marc Martel. He sent a video to Brian May and Roger Taylor and he sounds exactly like Freddie Mercury. We knew that we had someone we could use for parts that maybe Rami couldn’t do and obviously Freddie didn’t do. So we were in Abbey Road recording studio for maybe two and a half months with Marc and with Rami, recording bits and pieces that we knew we needed. It’s hard to find someone who can sing like Freddie Mercury and I’m not sure the movie would have happened if we didn’t have Marc.

Watch the video below to learn more about Marc Martel and hear his amazing cover of Let Me Entertain You!

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