Friday, October 06, 2006

Queensrÿche

I just got back from the Queensrÿche show at the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal. I've seen Queensrÿche many times dating back to their first tour opening for KISS in 1985. The show tonight consisted of the band playing Operation:Mindcrime and Operation:Mindcrime II back to back.

I saw them perform Operation:Mindcrime live in its entireity back in 1991 on the Empire tour. That was a great tour, a huge arena show, they had just finally captured the hearts of the mainstream and even had a hit single with Silent Lucidity. It was a full on rock show, no gimicks, just a band on stage performing.

Tonight's performance was not a rock show and was instead a theatrical performance. The entire band dressed in black and had virtually no interaction with the crowd or each other. Geoff Tate was fron and center and performed the show with actors on stage to help create the scenes of the story. A very ambitious effort and you must respect them for trying to pull this off but I wanted a rock show and I didn't get one.

Mindcrime II came off as much more inspired than the original Mindcrime. The band looked to be going through the motions on Mindcrime 1 but appeared enthused about the new material. Mike Stone their new guitar player looked to appreciate the new material the most.

The highlight of the show is Ronnie James Dio performed "The Chase" with the band. He looked great and sounded even better. It left you wishing he was involved with more of the material. Pamela Moore who sang the parts of Sister Mary was also a primary performer throughout the show and allowed the band to authentically recreate the material live.

I'm glad I went to see the experience but I think they need to stick to putting on a rock concert. For the final encore they played "Walk In The Shadows" and closed the show with "Jet City Woman". Fortunately we got a mini concert at the end of the show where the band interacted with the crowd and moved around. Geoff Tate looked more comfortable as a frontman than he ever has and it was good to close the show this way.

Before the show I ate at the Saddle Ranch and met a guy that worked at NBC named Mitch. We were both sitting at the bar and begin talking. He also was going to the show and had an extra backstage pass that he gave me. This meant you got to hangout in a VIP area and get free beer and snacks. After the show the band was supposed to come out but after 30 minutes of waiting I decided to leave. Although I was able to get a picture with Rudy Sarzo. He was hanging out like everyone else. If I can figure out how to get the pictures off my Helio I'll post them.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

very cool review! i actually only went there to see Ronnie (James Dio) perform his part (as a matter of fact I came up from San Diego to see him). Ronnie of course was phenomenal!

But about Queensryche I'm not really a fan of their music but I think their performance was awesome! They deserve "mad props" for taking a chance like that. There is so much crap out there and here you have a 20+ year old band still performing to task. The band was very tight. They are a quality act and they sound just like their records. If nothing else they're pretty damn unique to be able to put on a heavy rock show together that mixes a large part theatre and rock together and for that I commend them. I heard they may have filmed it for a DVD and I'm not even a fan and I'd buy it! That's got to say something!

joeyniji said...

i actually only went there to see Ronnie (James Dio) perform his part (as a matter of fact I came up from San Diego to see him). Ronnie of course was phenomenal!

But about Queensryche I'm not really a fan of their music but I think their performance was awesome! I was pleasantly surprised. They deserve "mad props" for taking a chance like that. There is so much crap out there and here you have a 20+ year old band still performing to task. The band was very tight. They are a quality act and they sound just like their records. If nothing else they're pretty damn unique to be able to put on a heavy rock show that mixes a large part theatre and rock together. For that I commend them! I heard they may have filmed it for a DVD and I'm not even a fan and I'd buy it! That's got to say something!

The Underworld Radio Show said...

This is one big reason why I'm in radio. I had the unbelievable experience of interviewing one of my top five favorite musicians - Geoff Tate of Queensryche. I have two new words to describe this incredibly talented singer: Total Class.

We've been honored now by interviews with TWO members of this legendary band. The first was Michael Wilton. You can find the podcast our our talk with this amazing guitarist on iTunes, or by downloading the mp3 from The Underworld main web page, accessible from our blog. It's the show from Aug. 7, 2007.

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