Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Trieste / Dom pristaniških delavcev (Teatro Miela) / Italy
Concert date: December 2, 2015
Attendance: 350
Geoff Tate is more than a familiar name on the international rock and metal scene. The former frontman of the legendary Seattle art/heavy metallers Queensryche, he quickly got back on his feet after leaving the band. After a court ruling, he won the right to use the name Operation:Mindcrime (the title of one of Queensryche’s 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.
But Tate is a creative guy, so of course he’s also writing completely new music. This year he recorded and released the first album by his new outfit, called Operation:Mindcrime, titled »The Key«. It’s a concept record, actually a trilogy, with »The Key« as the first part of the story. Two more albums will follow.
Solid turnout at the famous Dom pristaniških delavcev in Trieste. There could have been more people, but never mind. Before Operation:Mindcrime, the crowd was warmed up by British metallers I.C.O.N. Apart from a pile of generic junk, the band didn’t come up with anything musically interesting. The group, who had shared stages with established names like Blaze Bayley, Furyon, Conquest of Steel, Diamond Head, Voodoo Six, Witchfynde, Logan, Jaguar and Zico Chain before this tour with Operation: Mindcrime, are 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 newer one, »The Blacklist«, released this June, naturally getting the lion’s share. The band comes from traditional heavy metal values, with Black Sabbath influences and even a touch of rock’n’roll dirt (Motörhead). Still, I.C.O.N. don’t really »bite« all that hard. A quickly forgotten set.
Almost at half past ten in the evening, Geoff Tate finally took the stage with his new band, which besides 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 were on Geoff and his vocal form first and foremost. After the intro, the first chance to check that out was Revolution Calling. And yes. The start wasn’t exactly promising. Tate was missing a good half tone of range here and there, and as expected he adjusted the melody lines in places. Things didn’t improve much with the next song, Operation: Mindcrime. »Is he even going to get through this show?« was my panicked question. But 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 a great level, just as the material demands. The band also got very close to the original Queensryche sound. Kelly Gray, as expected, handled most of the solos and harmonic guitar flourishes, and generally most of the trickier guitar parts.
A live performance of an album as artistically powerful as Opration: Mindcrime creates its own atmosphere and experience on its own, and with the Italian crowd going nuts, the emotions were magnified even more. The intensity of the feeling running through the performance was really strong. It makes you think: »What the hell did Queensryche and Tate split up for anyway? The man has the voice, he has incredible charisma, everything would be fine (and then comes that one word), if,…« Whatever. The »The Key« album is also very, very good. As expected, after finishing the »Operation Midncrime« tracks, the band moved on to The Key and played the punchy, highly melodic Re-Inventing the Future (a masterfully »reworked« version of the Queensryche song I Don’t Believe In Love), followed by the dark The Stranger and then Burn. The regular part of the show was closed out by two more Queensryche classics, Damaged (»Promised Land«, 1994) and »The Warning« classic Take Hold On The Flame. Led by the charismatic Geoff, the band got through it all at a high-quality level, totally confident and without any hiccups or flubs. In the sound mix, only the keyboards were a bit hard to hear throughout the show, and the bass was slightly too loud at the start, but otherwise the sound picture was more than exemplary.
After returning to the stage, Geoff Tate took his time and got the audience ready 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 obligatory encore also belonged to the »Empire« album (1990), with The Thin Line, Jet City Woman and Empire.
The show wrapped up after an hour and three quarters. Tate and Moyer headed straight to the official merch table after the gig, shaking hands with fans, signing autographs and taking photos with them. An Operation: Mindcrime show is way more than just a great night out, and a must for all fans of classic Queensryche, since they mostly play Queensryche music in a set built around Operation: Mindcrime. And on top of that, Tate has kept his vocals in superb shape even in his later years.
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
Photo Gallery
