So, Queensryche rolled through San Francisco last night, and I went to the show. I can't add too much to what has been said here already, but here are some notes/thoughts.
The best thing I can say is that this really is a pretty unique event in metal. Geoff Tate really did "act," through the whole show, and the addition of non-band actors and video etc. was very cool. The first couple of songs in I thought, "uh oh, this is gonna be kinda cheezy...." but really? It wasn't at all. Once it hit full steam it was actually arty in an abstract way that really worked. Tate kind of alternated between Dr. X and Nicky to account for the perspective of whatever song was being played, and an actor was the "other," character, whoever that was at the time to compensate. During Mindcrime II he pretty much just played Nicky though. Pamela Moore (I think that's her name) was a great addition, and sounded awesome in the role of Mary.
The centerpiece of the night, for my money, was Suite Sister Mary, but then that is pretty much the best song on Mindcrime. The crowd loved it, but then Queensryche has pretty diehard fans, methinks. Unlike the show Poundingmetal saw in Canada, the audience was, at the very least, almost as responsive to Mindcrime II as they were to the first half of the show. Again I say, an underrated album. It works very well as a "third act." No Dio last night, so that song was handled kind of strangely, in that Tate wasn't even on stage and a video was played with the two more or less duking it out and singing back and forth. The band played with a vocal track.
Overall it was just plain excellent, though the crowd could have been larger. I guess they are paying the price for wandering so far from their roots - not an altogether bad thing that - play what you wanna play - but I should have thought it would have been sold out...and it most definately was not.
Encore consisted of Walk in the Shadows and Take Hold of the Flame - both excellent.
Bitchin' show, glad I went.
Oh, and a last aside, the metal crowd sure is aging. Lots of gray hair and pot bellies there. haha. Oh well. Also, I walked out behind a guy in a ProgPower 2006 shirt - wasn't one of you was it?
The best thing I can say is that this really is a pretty unique event in metal. Geoff Tate really did "act," through the whole show, and the addition of non-band actors and video etc. was very cool. The first couple of songs in I thought, "uh oh, this is gonna be kinda cheezy...." but really? It wasn't at all. Once it hit full steam it was actually arty in an abstract way that really worked. Tate kind of alternated between Dr. X and Nicky to account for the perspective of whatever song was being played, and an actor was the "other," character, whoever that was at the time to compensate. During Mindcrime II he pretty much just played Nicky though. Pamela Moore (I think that's her name) was a great addition, and sounded awesome in the role of Mary.
The centerpiece of the night, for my money, was Suite Sister Mary, but then that is pretty much the best song on Mindcrime. The crowd loved it, but then Queensryche has pretty diehard fans, methinks. Unlike the show Poundingmetal saw in Canada, the audience was, at the very least, almost as responsive to Mindcrime II as they were to the first half of the show. Again I say, an underrated album. It works very well as a "third act." No Dio last night, so that song was handled kind of strangely, in that Tate wasn't even on stage and a video was played with the two more or less duking it out and singing back and forth. The band played with a vocal track.
Overall it was just plain excellent, though the crowd could have been larger. I guess they are paying the price for wandering so far from their roots - not an altogether bad thing that - play what you wanna play - but I should have thought it would have been sold out...and it most definately was not.
Encore consisted of Walk in the Shadows and Take Hold of the Flame - both excellent.
Bitchin' show, glad I went.
Oh, and a last aside, the metal crowd sure is aging. Lots of gray hair and pot bellies there. haha. Oh well. Also, I walked out behind a guy in a ProgPower 2006 shirt - wasn't one of you was it?
