Concert -- Queensrÿche

Queensrÿche
April 24, 1991
Freeman Coliseum
Opening act: Suicidal Tendencies

In this earlier post, I described the show where Queensrÿche opened up for Metallica (the second time I had seen them as an opening act), and I said this of the set:

Geoff Tate and crew put on a great opening set, and the only disappointment I felt with this concert was the fact that they didn't have a stage of their own that they could have set up with their own lights and effects. And I thought it was a mild tragedy that Operation: Mindcrime couldn't be performed in its entirety, from beginning to end, as it should have been.

And then, Queensrÿche finally got to headline. And they did things their way. And I was there for all the fun!

This tour followed the release of the band's Empire album, which is a very good metal offering itself. The first half of Queensrÿche's set consisted of most of the songs off of Empire mixed in with a liberal sampling of their earlier works. There was a very good light show, and if they had finished the concert with just this portion, then it would have been a great show already.

But then, after a long set of kickin' songs, all of the lights went out, and the audience heard the opening track of Operation: Mindcrime.

Perhaps you need another shot.

Sweet dreams, you bastard!

And we all knew that Geoff Tate and crew were making up for their last tour! The crowd roared when we realized that the band was going to play the Mindcrime album from beginning to end with one of the best multimedia light shows at the time.

And they did! From beginning to end.

And it looked something like this:

And this:

And this:

And it was quite probably the best metal concert I have seen. Hands down.

I wish you could have been there.



Oh, and Suicidal Tendencies rocked, too!