Location: Trieste / Dom pristaniških delavcev (Teatro Miela) / Italy
When: 02.12.2015
Geoff Tate is a more than familiar name on the international rock and metal scene. The former lead voice of the legendary Seattle art/heavy metal outfit Queensryche got back on his feet fast after leaving the band. A court ruling gave him the right to use the name Operation:Mindcrime (the title of one of the Queensryche albums, and one of the most impressive albums of the entire heavy metal era), as well as the right to perform the whole Operation: Mindcrime album live on stage.
But Tate is a creative guy, so of course he’s also making brand-new original music. This year he recorded and released the first album by his new lineup, Operation:Mindcrime, titled »The Key«. It’s a concept piece, actually a trilogy, and »The Key« is the first chapter of the whole story. Two more albums will follow it.
Solid turnout at the famous Dom pristaniških delavcev in Trieste. There could have been more people, but never mind. Before Operation:Mindcrime hit the stage, British metallers I.C.O.N. warmed up the crowd. Apart from generic filler, the band didn’t come up with anything musically interesting. The group, who before this tour with Operation: Mindcrime shared stages with established names like Blaze Bayley, Furyon, Conquest of Steel, Diamond Head, Voodoo Six, Witchfynde, Logan, Jaguar and Zico Chain, is made up of Mark Sagar (vocals), Scott Knowles (guitar), Reece Bevan (bass) and Larry Peterson (drums). The quartet got just under an hour to present original material from their first two albums, with the new one, »The Blacklist«, released this June, naturally getting priority. The band comes from the traditional values of heavy metal, with Black Sabbath influences and even some rock’n’roll grime (Motörhead). Still, I.C.O.N. don’t really »bite« all that hard. A quickly forgettable set.
Close to eleven at night, Geoff Tate finally took the stage with his new band, which alongside Geoff features: Kelly Gray (guitar, ex-Queensryche), Scott Moughton (guitar) , Randy Gane (keyboards), John Moyer (Disturbed, bass) and a true hard rock legend, Simon Wright (drums), who has also played with AC/DC, DIO, UFO, Rhino Buckett,…
All eyes (and ears) were on Geoff and his vocal form. After the intro, the first chance to check it out was Revolution Calling. And yeah. The start wasn’t exactly promising. Tate was a good half-step short of the high notes in places, and in others he reshaped the melody lines, as expected. Things didn’t improve much when Operation: Mindcrime followed. »Is he even going to make it through the show?« was my panicked question. Then it all got better, fast. Shockingly better, even. For the rest of not just the »Operation: Mindcrime« album but the entire concert, Geoff Tate sang at an excellent level, as demanding as the material is. The band, too, got really close to the originals of the classic Queensryche sound. Kelly Gray, as expected, handled most of the solos and harmonic guitar embellishments, and generally most of the trickier guitar parts.
Just performing an album as artistically powerful as Opration: Mindcrime live creates its own atmosphere and experience, and with the Italian crowd going wild, the emotions were that much more amplified. The intensity of feeling that ran through the performance was really strong. You can’t help thinking: »What the hell did Queensryche and Tate split up for? The man has the voice, he has incredible charisma, everything would be fine (and then comes that one) if,…« Whatever. The album »The Key« is very, very good too. As expected, after finishing the »Operation Midncrime« tracks, the band turned to The Key and played the punchy, highly melodic Re-Inventing the Future (a masterfully »converted« take on the Queensryche song I Don’t Believe In Love), followed by the dark The Stranger and then Burn. The regular set closed with two more Queensryche classics, Damaged (»Promised Land«, 1994) and the »The Warning« classic Take Hold On The Flame. Led by the charismatic Geoff, the band got through it all at a high level of quality, completely confident and without any hiccups or slip-ups. In the sound mix, only the keyboards were hard to hear throughout the show, and the bass was a bit too loud at the start, but otherwise the sound picture was more than exemplary.
After coming back on stage, Geoff Tate took his time and prepared the crowd for one of the most famous ballads of the rock era, the one that helped Queensryche to big commercial success. No need to guess. Silent Lucidity. The rest of the encore also went to the album »Empire« (1990), with The Thin Line, Jet City Woman and Empire.
The show wrapped up after an hour and three quarters. Tate and Moyer headed quickly to the official merch table after the gig, shaking hands with fans, signing autographs and taking photos with them. An Operation: Mindcrime show is more than a great experience, it’s practically mandatory for anyone who loves classic Queensryche, since the band’s repertoire is mostly Queensryche music. And on top of that, Tate still keeps his vocals in superb shape, even in his later years.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. I Remember Now
2. Anarchy-X
3. Revolution Calling
3. Operation: Mindcrime
5. Speak
6. Spreading The Disease
7. The Mission
8. Suite Sister Mary
9. The Needle Lies
10. Electric Requiem
11. Breaking The Silence
12. I Don’t Believe In Love
13. Waiting For 22
14. My Empty Room
15. Eyes Of A Stranger
16. Re-Inventing the Future
17. The Stranger
18. Burn
19. Damaged
20. Take Hold On the Flame
—encore—
21. Silent Lucidity
22. The Thin Line
23. Jet City Woman
24. Empire
