Queensrÿche at Nokia Theatre, Times Square, New York Concert Review

Geoff Tate: Natural Showman

Production: Bringing the Story to Life

Having finally captured his nemesis, Geoff Tate (as Nikki) wrestles with his conscience about whether or not killing Dr. X makes him a murderer or the spirit of vengeance.

(c)Eric B. Hanson, Licensed to About.com

Showmanship is all well and good, but it goes nowhere without a good production to back it up. Not a problem for this show: what the audience saw on Friday night was as much a theatrical performance as it was a rock show, with actors, backdrops, video footage and lights working together to tell the story of Nikki’s rise and fall. The band paid such attention to detail while creating this performance that I learned things about the Mindcrime story I was not able to pull from the lyrics sheet and to be honest, the live show is now required viewing to fully understand what’s going on in the albums. I hope that Queensrÿche will eventually favor us with a DVD release of one of the concerts so we can go back and pull out even more details.

The level of production did have one problem, however: the scale was something far beyond what the Nokia Theatre, with its large flat pit and lack of tiered seating, was ever intended to do. To really get the full effect of what we were seeing and to make it easier for everyone to see the action at the lower levels of the stage, holding the concert in a hall with stadium seating and a big stage might have been a better choice. Still, for what we got, I’m not going to complain much.

The Fans: Making Up for Any Deficiencies

The final reason why this show worked? The fans made it work, because showmanship aside, there’s an interesting dichotomy going on with this tour. As I mentioned before, Tate doesn’t have the same range he had when he was younger, which puts him at a distinct disadvantage when trying to sing, oh, say anything Queensrÿche put out more than 10 years ago. However, practically everyone in attendance knew every single word of Operation: Mindcrime and was more than happy to sing along – and loud enough that the audience carried Tate through the first act. Then, for the lesser-known Mindcrime II, written down into Tate’s current range, the singer returned the favor, carrying the audience through the second half of the story.

Guitarists Michael Wilton and Mike Stone take a twin-attack duet guitar break.

(c)Eric B. Hanson, Licensed to About.com

The level of audience participation was something beyond what I’ve ever seen at a concert and really hit its climax in the encore, when 2,100 people belted out "Take Hold of the Flame" and "Jet City Woman" at full volume and moved the concert from something with performers and an audience to something like a sing-along at an enormous karaoke bar, with a surprised Geoff Tate as the leader. This show was certainly the best I’ve ever seen from Queensrÿche; if they can put the momentum from this tour into a new album, they have a chance of putting their career as a relevant metal band back on track.