By EmoRoadTrip
“I remember now. I remember how it started. I can’t remember yesterday. I just remember doing…what they told me.”
So begins the 1988 concept album “Operation: Mindcrime” by Queensryche and what a concept it was/is: a maniacal revolutionary named Dr. X recruits a disillusioned man named Nikki living in a dystopian society plagued by corruption, poverty, drug addiction, and political hypocrisy. Ah, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
After splitting with Queensryche in 2012, singer/lyricist Geoff Tate struck out on his own with a series of solo records and tours. True confession: I am an old school, die hard Queensryche fan but after all the drama with the band (which I won’t get into here), I hadn’t seen either version of the band in a very long time, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when Geoff Tate announced that this tour he would be performing Operation: Mindcrime for the last time on this tour.
Geoff and his new band jumped right into the album in its’ entirety, opening with “I Remember Now/Anarchy X”, and started the show off with a bang. That voice….that legendary voice was still there with all the presence and swagger that I remembered.
For the most part, Tate’s current band was very good (including three top notch guitarists) and the show benefited enormously from the addition of Clódagh McCarthy, who handled the Sister Mary parts. McCarthy was fantastic, bringing both power and theatricality to the role. She and her husband, Tomas, had also performed as one of the opening acts, making her appearance later in the show an especially nice connection between the opening and the main performance.
Geoff Tate was completely in character as Nikki throughout the performance, and that became particularly effective during “Suite Sister Mary.” The chemistry between Tate and McCarthy was excellent. Their interaction gave the song a dramatic tension that made it feel like more than two singers simply sharing the stage. McCarthy fully inhabited Sister Mary, while Tate brought Nikki’s darker, increasingly desperate character to life.
“Suite Sister Mary” was one of the evening’s most dramatic moments, and the theatrical nature of the song came through particularly well live. It felt like a scene from the story unfolding onstage rather than simply another song in the set.
Another highlight was “My Empty Room.” I honestly wasn’t sure Tate would still be able to hit some of those notes, but he absolutely nailed them. His vocals were raw and emotional, and it gave this writer chills. It was one of those moments where the emotion in the performance came through as strongly as the words themselves.
After the Mindcrime portion of the set was complete, Tate and band returned with some older favorites, such as “Empire”, “Jet City Woman”, and one of this writers’ favorites, “Take Hold of the Flame”, as well as a few songs from his new “Operation: Mindcrime III”, “The Answer”, bringing back Sister Mary/Clodagh McCarthy for a beautiful duet.
The crowd was very enthusiastic so there was no way they were going to let him leave without more, and he rounded out the set with “Queen of the Ryche” (and nailed that opening scream effortlessly) and closed with Queensryche’s signature song, “Silent Lucidity”.
Geoff Tate’s tour continues into November; tour dates at http://www.geofftate.com
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