I don’t know about you, but life seems to be growing ever more hectic these days. Rather than continuing to run at full pelt, every now and then, it behooves us to pause for a moment, relax, and sniff the roses, as it were.

I’ve seen some of the great musical legends in my time, including Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, 10-CC, The Police, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash, to name but a few.

One of the groups I regret not seeing is Queen. Like most people of my generation, I was stunned when I first encountered Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio in late 1975. This was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera.

Bohemian Rhapsody was unlike anything most of us had ever heard on the radio: nearly six minutes long, no chorus, shifting between ballad, operatic pastiche, and hard rock, then fading out with a coda.

Many people in the music industry thought this song would fail due to its length and unusual structure. Instead, the single shot straight to number one in the UK, where it stayed for nine weeks—a record (no pun intended) at the time.

The reason I’m waffling on about this is that I just saw a video of an incredible flash mob version, involving 30 musicians and singers in the streets of Paris.

I, myself, have spent the occasional afternoon sitting at a table outside a Paris bistro, savoring a bottle of wine and nibbling on crunchy baguette slices accompanied by a selection of cheeses (as one does).

Whilst basking at the bistro, I remember thinking, “Life doesn’t get any better than this.” I was wrong (and that’s not something I expected to hear myself say when I woke up this morning). There aren’t many things that could have improved my bistro bliss, but being caught off guard by this flash mob would certainly have done the trick.

How about you? Have you ever found yourself caught up in a flash mob “happening,” like the legendary Sound of Music event in Antwerp or the Grand Central Station Freeze? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.