A couple of weeks ago on Feb 22nd, Progressive Rock Gods Queensryche rocked a sold out crowd at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip and Audio Frequency was there to document the night.  Below is our latest writer "Patrick Hasson's" account of the event.

Queensryche...aaah, Queensryche. Thinking man's metal. The antithesis of glam. One of the best things to rear its head out of those beautiful 80's. And now, here they were, twenty years after creating one of the greatest albums of all-time (yes, ALLTIME), Operation: Mindcrime, they were playing at the House of Blues in Hollywood and I was along for the ride.  I have to admit, I was a little weary about seeing a band like Queensryche at the comfy confines of the HOB. An old warehouse down in the Garment District seemed much more fitting given their Conspiracy Rock roots, but I was willing to give it a shot.

We filed in to the Rock-n-Roll couch and soon found out that there was a contest...two members of the crowd would each be singing a Queensryche song and the winner would get to perform with the band later in the eve. The first fellow rocked out the "Neon Knights" cover and was the clear winner; the second gent crucified "Synchronicity II" to the crowd's displeasure and that was that. Don Dokken (sans the band) then came up on stage, armed with an acoustic guitar and another long haired fellow, and rocked mellow to some of his more commercial hits as "Dream Warriors," "In My Dreams," and "Breaking the Chains." Overall, Don didn?t sound too bad (he actually sounded pretty good), and served as a tasty little hors d?oeuvre to the mighty main course.

Now, mind you, the last time I had witnessed Queensryche live was about 15 years back, so I really didn't know what to expect. Would it be a monstrous letdown, or would those thoughtful boys from Seattle still know how to put on a show? The lights dimmed, sending the geriatric crowd of aged metalists into a frenzy. The thundering beats of Scott Rockenfield rolled through the house. The stringed assault of Michael Wilton and Eddie Jackson then enveloped us....into that Queensryche cloak of darkness, and it felt so very, very good. And then it came...that incredible SOUND...a melodic frequency arising from an other-worldly being....the Sonic Alchemist of all things Metal...Geoff Tate. My inner-metal was relieved. It sounded like we were in for quite an evening.

And quite an evening it was. Frontman Geoff Tate hadn't lost a beat, reaching back into the archives and scorching our eardrums with technological nightmares of "N M 156," a stalker's delusions in "Gonna Get Close to You," and the epic conspiracies of "Eyes of a Stranger." After all this time, the Prog-Metal kings were still reigning supreme, the band firing on all cylinders even with the loss of long-time, axe-smith, Chris DeGarmo. The Ryche then took it down a notch, winding into a rendition of Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" as I found myself noticing the eerie facial resemblance between Geoff Tate and Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. The band continued on, rocking out some of its more contemporary hits such as "Jet City Woman," "Best I Can," "Bridge," and "Last Time in Paris" in pure Queensryche fashion.

Personally, I could have done with a lot more Operation: Mindcrime, Rage For Order, The Warning, and pre-Empire material, but this wasn't that tour, so I had to enjoy what was rocked to me. The band put on a fantastic show and I learned a lot about its eccentric frontman, including the fact that Mr. Tate suffers from OCD (which he say helps his songwriting but drives his better-half insane), that he likes to introduce songs with bizarre circles of logic that don't really seem to go anywhere (but are quite enjoyable), and that he and his fantastic smile could easily land him a gig as a Game Show Host for any of the major networks. For an encore, Queensryche brought out an old friend from Seattle, legendary Alice In Chains axeman Jerry Cantrell (fuckin-A!!). Mr. Cantrell and the Ryche then proceeded to tear up The Doors classic "Roadhouse Blues" and the crowd went ballistic. They ended the show with a second encore, raging through the epic rise-and-fall tale of "Empire" and nearly rocking the sweltering House of Blues off its mountainside foundation. Quite simply...the Queen of the Ryche was alive and well, and I was damn glad I could rage for order on this rainy February eve.

- Patrick Hasson

 

---