I once had a collection of Queen bloopers, and one of them was when May and Mercury didn't start the song (Save Me) off so well - which he actually did say right after...
Anyway, on the Montreal DVD Mercury comes over to May on the piano when they were about to start the song, and they're both smiling... I know this is nerdy, but do you know if it was the night after...?
I really like that little moment between them at Montreal. It seems like a genuine, spontaneous, warm communication between colleagues and friends. I like it! :)
My interpretation of the Montreal incident was that Fred forgot the lyric in the beginning and came over to Brian to retrieve it? And forgot it once more a bit later on, but remembered in only a few seconds and recovered nicely. I've never been certain, however, if this is truly what happened.
The band had some "fights" with the director for the Montreal recording. Freddie and Brian were probably laughing about how they were going to foil the director's plans for the shows.
Freddie was giving Brian his starting cue in Montreal, they obviously didn't want to rely on the monitoring on such a large stage. That's OK for loud guitars and drums, but it's easy to miss a cue in such a delicate intro. Eye contact helps.
The best moment in Montreal's "Save Me" is the momentary look of sheer terror on Freddie's face at the beginning of the second verse, as he realizes that he has no clue what the next line is, then the look of utter relief as he remembers it and races through it to stay up with the music.
Ha ha I think you're right Thunderbolt! I'd not noticed that before. Love this performance regardless. Here it is, cued up on YouTube to the probable 'oh hell' moment... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XahhAkTtlo#t=1m27s