Queensryche - Anaheim House Of Blues Anaheim CA 9/11
Words and photos by Jeffrey Easton
30 years, that’s a long time for a rock band to be together, much less still putting out relevant records and actively touring for a dedicated fan base. Hundreds of shows, countless set lists and here we are on the 30th Anniversary Tour, 2011. Has it been that long since “Queensryche” came out on 206 Records? In a flash the 30 years have gone by and here they are, on stage at the Anaheim HOB and still a vibrant band having just released the excellent Dedicated To Chaos and they are about to unleash all of that history on a packed crowd. They open, appropriately, with the new track Get Started which to me is a tome to the rest of their career as they have plenty more to give to their fans. The place goes nuts and there is more to come. The idea of the tour is to pull material from all of the records to give an overview of their evolution and what they picked to me goes overboard with how talented of writers they are. Damaged, the startling track from Promised Land segued well one of my favorite tracks I Don’t Believe In Love, one of the standouts from Mindcrime that lovingly still sits with me to this day. That songs speaks volumes in more ways than one. The second Mindcrime was not as successful as the first but it spawned the classic track I’m American, as strong as anything they were releasing at the time. More modern Queensryche revolved around this part of the set with Hit the Black, Desert Dance, At 30,000 Feet (which came from the seriously personal American Soldier) and The Right Side Of My Mind. The deep past became the focus again with Ryche blowing into Real World which was a complete surprise to me that they played it plus the dark NM 156, Screaming In Digital, The Lady Wore Black and Walk In The Shadows. The former here shows their eclectic approach to heavy in the early 80s that was different from the other bands that were releasing records back then; they sure weren’t RATT, that’s for sure. 1990 hit hard for Queensryche and my favorite record, Empire, was the reason. To me that was the hardest hitting statement for metal that could be made that year and the logic behind the title track is the reason. That record was dark, moody and it was thickly produced which gave it the sound that I needed from that band and of course it was well represented here by Empire, Jet City Woman and the haunting Silent Lucidity. I am a music critic and I have heard several thousand metal and hard rock records but not much can come close to the power of Empire. The show came to a close with the sinister Eyes Of A Stranger as the band segued into Anarchy-X. The band brought down the house, bottom line.
Official Queensryche Site
BUY Dedicated To Chaos!
