In the next 3 weeks I am going to be seeing both versions of Queensryche. Last night I saw the Geoff Tate version at The Intersection in Grand Rapids MI. Personally I come down on the side of other guys with the right to use the name, and with Tate calling this his “ Queensryche" farewell tour” it looks like he is going to give up using it after this tour is over………maybe…..
Anyway………I was debating about going to this one, but in the end decided to take the plunge, since this would probably be my last chance to see “Operation Mindcrime” performed in it’s entirety. I have seen Queensryche about a dozen times over the years and they have always been one of my fave’s. Tate’s version of the band is pretty much an all-star project. The only musicians with previous ties to Queensryche are guitarist Kelly Gray (who is a former member) and the keyboard player (can’t remember his name off the top of my head), who has played on some Queensryche albums in the past. The rest of the band consists of Rudy Sarzo on bass (Whitesnake, Blue Oyster Cult, Quiet Riot), Simon Wright on drums (AC / DC), Robert Sarzo (Hurricane – who opened the show), and Sass Jordan on female vocals.
I have to admit that I was surprised at how strong Tate’s vocals were. The last few times I have seen him he has struggled at times, but last night he was really on his game. He can’t hit the really really high notes anymore, but I would say that he still has about 85% of his vocal range left. As a front man he is still very good at working a crowd. I honestly think it was the best I have seen him in at least the last 10 years or so. The band are all pros, so the playing was top notch all night. They basically came out and did “Operation Mindcrime” front to back as their main set. For an encore they did about half of the “Empire” album. Nothing was played from the Tate version of the band’s latest album “Frequency Unknown” which I found a bit strange. In fact nothing was played from any album other than “Mindcrime” and “Empire”. I would say the club was maybe a little over half full (I think it holds around 1000) which is quite a bit less than the last time the band played this venue on the “American Soldier” tour when it was pretty packed. The crowd that were there seemed to be really into it though.
All in all I really enjoyed it more than I expected I would. I will seeing the “other” Queensryche in about 3 weeks for comparison.
Here is the setlist from last night:
MAIN SET:
OPERATION MINDCRIME
ENCORE:
SILENT LUCIDITY
BEST I CAN
ANOTHER RAINY NIGHT
JET CITY WOMAN
EMPIRE
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