Queensryche Battle Royal Part II

[SteveSly]

Saw the official version of Queensryche at Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt Pleasant MI Saturday night. Having just seen the Tate version of the band a few weeks ago it was going to be interesting to compare. Although I thoroughly enjoyed both shows overall I would say the La Torre / Wilton / Rockenfiled / Lungren / Jackson version was the winner between the two (I posted a review of the Tate show on the main board a few weeks ago as part I).

La Torre is an incredible vocalist. Not only does he sound very similar to Tate, but he can also hit those really high notes that Tate has not been able to do for years. Instrumentally the band are solid as ever. Rockenfiled is a monster on drums and the Wilton / Lungren guitar combo work perfectly together. The set list was a very cool mix of classics from the first 5 albums and tracks from the new one. Nothing was played from any of the albums in between. It was really cool to hear some of the really early tracks again that the band have not done for years, and vocally La Torre nailed them. I never thought I would hear “Queen Of The Ryche” performed again live and it defiantly got my head a banging. The new material really held up well against the older stuff too. Unlike Tate, who did not play anything off of his new band’s album, these guys seem to be still looking forward towards the future. My only complaint with the set list is it might have been nice to hear some “Promised Land” stuff (still one of my favorite albums), but that is a minor quibble.

Great White opened the show with a solid hour of 80’s / 90’s era rock n roll. They are in the same situation as Queensryche in that they have a relatively new vocalist with the rest of the band being all original members. They also have a fairly new album out and did 1 track from it which was good.

I don’t remember the exact setlist, but it was something along these lines:

NIGHTRIDER
WALK IN THE SHADOWS
BREAKING THE SILENCE
THE WHISPER
EN FORCE
SPORE
WARNING
SILENT LUCIDITY
WHERE DREAMS GO TO DIE
NEEDLE LIES
NM 156
THE LADY WORE BLACK
MY EMPTY ROOM
EYES OF A STRANGER
EMPIRE
QUEEN OF THE RYCHE
JET CITY WOMAN
TAKE HOLD OF THE FLAME

GREAT WHITE APPROIMATE SET LIST:

SHOT IN THE DARK
SOMETHING FOR YOU
LADY RED LIGHT
DESERT MOON
HOUSE OF BROKEN LOVE
SAVE YOUR LOVE
ROCK ME
ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY

[Rick]

wow, great setlist from QR. other than adding in Roads to Madness, not sure how much it could be improved.

would love to see them come down south. Tate's version has made a few stops in the area. but, would rather see the version mentioned above.

[TheLoony]

I haven't paid much attention to their last few albums. Is there a tune called Spore? Or could it be Spool from HITNF? Interesting if the latter as they didn't play that one back then.

[Gryphon-kl]

I haven't paid much attention to their last few albums. Is there a tune called Spore?

Yes, it's from the newest album.

[Rick]

Yes, it's from the newest album.

yeah, i remember Spool was one of the most interesting songs from HitNF. however, from memory, it seemed like an experimental song driven by Tate. thus, would not expect the QR v2 to play.

will have to listen to the new QR again today. when i last heard, it seemed a little rushed and incomplete. as if they rushed it to market to compete with Tate's offering at the time. looking forward to see what they do with more time and Todd being on board for over a year now.

[SteveSly]

yeah, i remember Spool was one of the most interesting songs from HitNF. however, from memory, it seemed like an experimental song driven by Tate. thus, would not expect the QR v2 to play.

will have to listen to the new QR again today. when i last heard, it seemed a little rushed and incomplete. as if they rushed it to market to compete with Tate's offering at the time. looking forward to see what they do with more time and Todd being on board for over a year now.

That is pretty much how I would rate the album as well. It is good, but I don’t think it is as good as what it could be. They did put the thing out in a hurry. I have really high hopes for whatever they do next. Given a longer time to put together more new material I really think these guys are capable of great things.

[TheLoony]

Right, thanks. I did think that Spool would be a odd one to pull out of the vaults. Only listened to the new one once or twice, so was unfamiliar with the titles.