Flashback Concert Review - Queensryche 8/2/97

I was cleaning out some cabinets and came across this review I wrote in 1997. I thought I'd post it to show where I kind of / sort of started with my reviewing. (Found a bunch of pieces I wrote for a fanzine back in 1995 too).

Queensryche

at Great Woods

Mansfield, MA

August 2nd, 1997

What started as a nightmare, when my friend told me the night before the show that he couldn't go and I wound up eating the cost of a ticket, turned out to be the event of my summer.

Queensryche's Hear In The Now Frontier World Tour made its stop at the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts last night.

By virtue of winning a contest on WAAF radio out of Boston, the opening act was the band Dirty Larry. Memo to the 'Ryche guys: Never let this happen again. The best that can be said about the band is that they finally did leave the stage after 30 minutes.

After a 30 minute intermission, the lights went down and Queensryche hit the stage. It was apparent right from the start that the band's goal was to blow the roof off the pavilion. After a 22 song, 110 minute set, it was mission accomplished!

Opening with a video intro on the screens set into the giant ear stage prop (that singer Geoff Tate jokingly said the band got cheap after the Tyson fight), they immediately launched into the track "The Voice Inside", from their latest album.

Throughout the show the video screens were used to display live shots of the band and also conceptual bits either from the band's own videos and made specifically for the show.

The band was in fine form during the entire show. Tate's soaring vocals, bassist Eddie Jackson and the newly shorn drummer Scott Rockenfield laying down a solid foundation (which I find more important than showing off how fancy the rhythm section can play. Both are extremly good at accomplishing this feat). Guitarists Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton appear to be without peer when it comes to sharing the lead duties, be it solos or the song leads. They also blend effortlessly on songs where they play dual leads like "Breaking the Silence" and "Eyes of a Stranger".

Except for the Rage For Order album, each of Queensryche's 6 studio albums were represented by at least one song. The two songs that represented the band's early years were "The Lady Wore Black" and the fist pumping concert staple "Take Hold of the Flame".

Both DeGarmo and Wilton laid waste to the crowd using a combination of guitars including DeGarmo's tri-ryche symbol covered guitar, especially on songs such as "Empire" and "You".

If the fact that the band has been recently dropped by their longtime record company, the gutless EMI Records, it definitely didn't show through.

Another concert staple that the band does every tour now is playing good sized chunks of their mind-blowing concept album Operation:mindcrime. Using video from the home video and previous live shows, they did the opening three songs from the CD, "I Remember Now", "Anarchy X" and the raging version of "Revolution Calling", that gave the crowd and the band quite a workout.

Never afraid to try out different things, the band also kept its foot in addressing social and political issues with songs. Subjects addressed included homelessness ("Della Brown"), the decline of today's world ("Sign of the Times") and the feelings brought on by the abandonment by a parent (the powerful "Bridge").

The encore ended with the hopeful "Some People Fly".

This was the 5th time that I have seen Queensryche and while this may seem a less than completely impartial concert review, I can honestly say they rank as one of the must-see bands in concert. Each time I go to a show they get better and better.

A good time was had, more memories made and the appetite has been whetted for the next album and tour. The goal that should be for all bands, Queensryche has down pat. RYCHE and ROLL!