Couple of weeks until this festival, and I haven't really seen any commentary anywhere about it. It's not a big thing (capacity is 2,000), and Fifth Angel (who is more of a cult metal band) is headlining, so i don't expect a lot of fanfare.
That said, I would have expected the allure of "songs til Mindcrime" (again, not sure if that means EP-Rage or EP THROUGH Mindcrime) would at least have people raise an eyebrow. I mean, it could be awesome, or it could be a colossal train wreck. If I was a betting man, I'd say closer to that train wreck, because there is no way on God's green Earth those early songs can be pulled off well vocally unless Geoff has fully dedicated himself to vocal training. Even if they are all dropped (which I think should be expected), that shit is difficult.
The 2005 summer tour Queensryche did with Judas Priest featured a similar set, with mostly EP-Rage stuff, with Empire and a couple of Tribe songs thrown in. That sounded great, and most of it was dropped a half-step, and Tate modified stuff (such as unfortunately singing a lower harmony line instead of the higher lead vocal in The Whisper) to make it work. But it worked.
But now, 14 years later, firing all that up again? After years of not really singing that stuff? I mean, Tate has surprised me before, but uh...that's a tall ask, I think. I am hoping he pulls it off, but I dunno.
Be interesting to see what kind of set he does. Personally, I'd really like to see some stuff neither he or QR have done in a really long time.
Here's a few I'm hoping are in the set:
No Sanctuary - I was at the last, or one of the last two performances of this song by Queensryche - June 2001 in Seattle. Fan Club show. It was pretty cool to hear.
Deliverance - Last played in 1987 (seriously). Not even the current band has done it. Not sure why, other than the vocals ARE difficult. But I mean, I really did expect them to do it, and they haven't.
Scarborough Fair - The last time any version of this was played by QR was in 1992 at the unplugged session. it would be killer if it made its way, plugged-in, to the set. Not holding my breath, but would be cool.
London - QR tried this a couple of times, and frankly, its rough. There's something about the timing and the vocals in that song that just never quite sounds right. But still would be cool if they tried it. It may end up being cringe-worthy, but the whole set could be cringe-worthy, so why the hell not?
I Will Remember - Tate's done this, at least acoustically in the past. Would be nice to see a full band version again.
>>>>Again, if I'm wagering, I'm saying this is going to be really tough to pull off. BUT, Tate IS going to be touring with Avantasia, and will have to up his game a bit to handle that load, range-wise. So I imagine he's been working at things. So he could surprise us.
But man, seriously, EP through Rage? That's a friggin huge ask. The one thing is he's opening for Fifth Angel, so he's got 75 minutes. That Priest tour back in 2005 -- QR got an hour, and while Tate sounded fine at the beginning and the end, now, 14 years later, he's got 15 more minutes of the same more difficult material? Man.
We'll see. February 16 is creeping closer. If I was there, I'd go, because for me, Fifth Angel and Tate are a draw. Fifth Angel should be interesting too. Their situation is always so fluid. And I'll leave it at that.
Topic: Geoff Tate's "Operation: Mindcrime" (not Queensryche) (Read 148719 times)
