The first band I ever saw as a kid was Queensryche, so I was pretty stoked when I heard they were coming to Sioux Falls. And they didn't disappoint.
First, the bad news. Tate's voice is still fantastic, but he has lost the very top of his range, and he just can't reach/didn't attempt to nail those parts in
Take Hold of the Flame, Walk In The Shadows, etc). Within his still considerable range he still sounds amazing, just doesn't have it up top.
Maybe more disappointingly, Chris DeGarmo is not touring with the band. I was very sorry to see this, in part since he did write on the new disc, but also because he was the primarily backing vocalist, and part of the reason they used to sound so good live.
Still, those quibbles aside, their performance was among the best I've ever seen by a live band. Since I saw them nearly 20 years ago Tate has become a fantastic frontman and showman, and had the crowd eating out of his hand all nite. And musically the band was rock solid. Micheal Wilton particularly impressed me. They haven't missed a beat despite having been broken up for almost 7 years.
Every since
Mindcrime they've integrated their performance into an A/V presentation featuring 2 large projector screens to the rear of the stage, which leads to interesting possibilities. At some points their songs are accompanied by filmed images, and at other's Tate ends up doing a duet with his own bizarre on screen alter ego.
Musically they played a good assortment of songs, but I did have a couple of criticisms. One, they seemed determined to distance themselves from the heavy metal style of their early years: they didn't play that many of the early songs, and when they did they tossed in hip-hop-esque elements that completely ruined the performance. The worst example of this was the outright slaughter of
NM 156, from
The Warning. This is one of my favorite QR songs, so I was dismayed to hear them play it as a TechnoRap song.
Secondly, they didn't play a single song from their first EP, they played 2 songs from their second and only a single song from their third. I found that perplexing, and you could tell the crowd did too. Nary a soul was singing along with anything from
Promised Land or
Ear In The Now Frontier. That's unsurprising as those albums bombed, coming at a point in their career when they couldn't get arrested.
But those are minor complaints about a fantastic show. Overall one of the best concerts I've seen.
Oh yes, the Sound...simply amazing! I've lost count of all the concerts I've seen, but I've never experienced anything like this. All the bands I've seen (rock bands, that is) have been in arenas & clubs with poor acoustics. Actually, I came to think that was part of the PA systems sound. Until last night. What a revelation to hear a rock act in a venue as astonishing as The Great Hall of the Washington Pavilion! I can see now why John Atkinson chose to record
Cantus' new album there. The incredible acoustics of the place really reinforced the intimacey of the performance. I really wish I could buy a recording of the performance there.
Whew...anyone who read this whole post must really like Queensryche!
At any rate, a great time was had by all.
