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

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 sheupel@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Marc Martel is back for Black Jacket Symphony's Freddie Mercury vocals