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The 'Ryche rises again
As the venerable rock band climbs toward their third decade in the music business, Queensryche’s latest tour shows they’re still great live performers
The Advocate
While the bulk of ’80s rock and metal bands have long since “hung it up,” there remain a handful of groups that continue to pour their souls into the music they make, and do so with integrity. One of the better bands from that time period (and in my opinion, ever), Queensryche, keeps a strong and loyal following, the likes of which is hard to come across these days. In an era of “flash in the pan” bands that spark up and burn out faster than most would care to admit, the ’Ryche has always impressed me with material that is thoughtful and original.
Their newest release, “American Soldier,” which takes a look at war from the soldier’s perspective, maintains its thoughtful approach, while the sound continues to be interesting. When I first heard they were going on tour, one thing stood out to me: extended “suites” that they would be performing from their 1986 release “Rage For Order” and their 1990 release “Empire.” The opportunity to see material from my two favorite ’Ryche albums was the defining point in swiftly getting tickets for the tour, though I hadn’t even listened to more than the single from “American Soldier.”
Having seen them once in 2005 with Judas Priest, I walked into the Roseland Theater Saturday expecting some phenomenal musicianship, and they didn’t disappoint. I figured they would sandwich the new material between the “Rage” and “Empire” suites, which they did, and though “American Soldier” isn’t bad, it was certainly the low point in the concert.
The “Rage” suite was incredible live. It would have been hard for them to go wrong picking songs from such a surreal, weird album that no doubt is one of the most underrated rock albums ever created. Like most bands, their albums became more straight-forward and realistic as time went on, but their early material has a distinctive Pink Floyd-like feel and consistency in that it is almost impossible to comprehend or really enjoy unless you truly know and immerse yourself in what the band felt during the creative process. “I Dream in Infrared” was performed live for the first time on this tour, and singer Geoff Tate’s vocals were as clear,
precise and rangy as they’ve ever been.
“Empire” was a little disappointing, mostly because I think “Another Rainy Night” and “Della Brown” should have been played instead of “One and Only” and “Hand on Heart,” and could have been sensational live. The title track wasn’t played as part of the suite, but instead as a part of the encore, which also featured a longtime fan-favorite in “Take Hold of the Flame.” Unfortunately, they chose not to play “Eyes of a Stranger” to finish the concert, which was another disappointing moment because of how powerful and emotional the song is and could have been as a finisher.
When all was said and done, the continuity of the band is stronger than ever (four of the original members are still in the group), with the exception of one guitar slot that they can’t seem to permanently fill since the departure of key songwriter Chris DeGarmo in the late ’90s.
“It’s a lot of fun to go back and re-learn this old material,” said Tate between songs. “We get a chance to take another look back at what our thought processes were back then. (“One and Only”) we haven’t actually played since 1990. For some of the
others, it’s nice to just have them back on the setlist.”
I’m still waiting for a tour consisting purely of material from their first five albums. Although it’s unlikely they would ever tour on such a premise as long as they’re writing new material, if any band does, it would be Queensryche. Rest assured, I’ll be one of the first to have a ticket if such a spectacular pageant is ever put on display.