Just to clear the air at the outset: I had no idea who Kerry Ellis was until I saw The Candlelight Concerts – Live At Montreux 2013. Since then I’ve learned she’s an English actress and singer, easy on the eyes, with appearances in several plays, including the London production of Queen’s We Will Rock You. She toured the UK in 2012 with Queen guitarist Brian May, and by the looks of the Blu-ray release I received from Eagle Rock, they came together again in July 2013, this time before the cameras, at the renowned Stravinski Auditorium during the Montreux Jazz Festival.
If you’re expecting some big Queen-type of production, you’re in for surprise. The set, sparsely decorated with candles, is relatively mild, strictly acoustic on the first three numbers – “I Who Have Nothing,” “Dust In The Wind” and “Born Free.” Ellis is a fine vocalist and it’s great to see May working out of his known element, capably strumming the acoustic. The choice of material – at least for the first three, with “Born Free” accompanied by video of lions and a message of their possible extinction – is quaint, if not challenging.
Speaking of lions, when May, regal in his mane of white hair, with great support on piano from Jeff Leach, launches into Queen’s “Somebody To Love,” the crowd livens up, just as they do on Queen’s “’39.” You might say “Nothing Really Has Changed” makes for an intriguing diversion, but “The Way We Were” and George Harrison’s “Something” ring a bit hollow. Guitar fans will rejoice in knowing May pulls out his trusty Red Special for some fiery soloing and texturing with Leach on “Last Horizon.” Even without drums, there’s plenty of power behind those crashing chords.
May picks out “Love Of My Life” on a 12-string as Ellis delivers an eloquent vocal. Their original “The Kissing Me Song” is a fun and spunky number with a signature lead that validates the collaboration to a varying degree. Feeling a bit saucy at this point, May leads the way through a slow bluesy pass at “Tie Your Mother Down” with Ellis on the chorus and second verse. Then, if by osmosis, May is handed the Red Special and he scratches out the familiar intro again, which seems strange without Roger Taylor’s powerful accents. Fortunately, the crowd knows where and when to clap.
The guitarist goes on to prompt the audience to stomp and clap some more, setting in motion the epic “We Will Rock You” with both Ellis and the crowd singing the famous chorus. That ends the show to a rousing applause, which allows for a two-song encore. “No One But You” is a solemn way to get back into the proceedings, but May saves the day by dedicating “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” to the late Claude Nobs, the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival. The Candlelight Concerts – Live At Montreux 2013 is filled out by a bonus video of May and Ellis performing “Nothing Really Has Changed” in the wilderness of the Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa. Clearly, as represented through the Montreux show, both May and Ellis are animal activists of the highest order. Blu-ray and DVD sets also include the Acoustic By Candlelight CD, recorded live on the UK leg of May and Ellis’ tour in the autumn of 2012.
~ Shawn Perry
