On Sunday night my buddy Q and I went to the Queensryche concert out at the River Cree Casino out at Enoch, which is just on the outskirts of Edmonton. The show was originally booked for the Venue which is at the casino as well, but was moved because of issues with the big tent that they held the shows at. So it was moved to the Marriot Ballroom there, which was basically just a banquet room.
I was hesitant about going to this show as Queensryche has had all kinds of issues within the band, with there now being two versions of the band, which seems to happen a lot with the old 80's metal bands these days. But my buddy picked up a ticket for me, so off to the show it was.
This version of Queensryche was without original lead singer Geoff Tate. The rest of the band was made up of, original members Scott Rockenfeld on drums, Eddie Jackson on bass and Michael Wilton on guitar, so three out of five wasn't bad. Rounding out the band was Parker Lundgren on guitar and Todd La Torre on vocals. This was my third time seeing Queensryche in concert and first time since 1991.
When we got to the venue I was surprised to see the room the show was being held at, as like I say it was just a banquet room, and there was next to no one there, maybe 150 people. It's a good thing this show wasn't held in the big tent as the place would have been empty. My first thought after getting there was that this show is going to be a joke.
Here is what the venue looked like.
Much to my surprise this show was actually quite good. I have to admit though that it took me a few songs before I really got in to it. I'm usually not a fan of new lead singers for a band that I liked back in the day (I'm looking at you Great White, LA Guns, Doors, Skid Row etc.) but after a while you couldn't help but be impressed with the job Todd La Torre did, not only did he do Geoff Tate proud (though I am sure Geoff isn't impressed) he is probably stronger on vocals then Geoff is these days. Todd is one hell of a lead vocalist. The new guitar player in the band Parker Lundgren who has been in the band since 2009 was impressive as well. And then the rest of the band who are all original members were great too. The sound in this banquet room was surprisingly good as well.
Queensryche played for about an hour and a half covering songs from their debut EP right up to their newest stuff. The only song that I didn't much care for, one in which was there biggest hit "Silent Lucidity", that was my cue to step out for a smoke. I wasn't the only one that felt this way as there were a few of us outside at this time, and it wasn't just smokes being smoked if you know what I mean.
The band opened with the song Nightrider from their debut EP from 1983, and even playing two other songs Lady Wore Black and Queen Of The Reich from that same EP, which was super cool, another couple older one they did was Warning and closing out the night with Take Hold Of The Flame. Some other great older songs done were Walk In The Shadows and The Whisper back to back from what I think is a very under rated album Rage For Order. The setlist was made up of mostly older material which was fine by me as they also did a few from my favorite Queensryche album Operation:Mindcrime, the songs being Speak, The Needle Lies and Eyes Of A Stranger. It seemed those songs from Operation got the biggest response from the small but appreciative audience. All and all for a show that I wasn't expecting much was much better then I was anticipating. Great show, and good times!!!
A big thank you to my buddy Q for grabbing tickets and getting me to and from the show. Thanks!!!
Setlist for June 7th at River Cree in Enoch,Alberta.
Nightrider
Speak
Walk in the Shadows
The Whisper
En Force
Warning
Silent Lucidity
X2
Where Dreams Go to Die
The Needle Lies
NM 156
The Lady Wore Black
My Empty Room
Eyes of a Stranger
Empire
Encore:
Queen of the Reich
Jet City Woman
Take Hold of the Flame
Queensryche live at the River Cree Casino.
T-shirt front.
T-shirt back.
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