Geoff Tate at the Arcada Theatre (9/28/2023)

Prior to this past Thursday, the last time I saw Geoff Tate was back in early December, 2022. Hot off the heels of two nights of W.A.S.P. (and the type of partying that goes along with two nights of W.A.S.P.), I’ll admit I was rather burnt out going into his then brand new Big Rock Show Hits Tour. Having toured Operation: Mindcrime for the better part of a decade and spending 2021 performing Rage for Order and Empire, the classic Queensrÿche singer was determined to thrill fans with a new show that covered all bases of his storied career. Needless to say, I was impressed.

I was even more impressed this second time around, as Tate returned to the Arcada on another leg of his BRSH Tour, this time with a revamped setlist! Before I talk about the musical part of the evening, I must commend Tate for this feat. In an age where so many veteran acts have grown comfortable playing the same dozen songs every night, Tate and his band keeps things fresh, interesting, and unpredictable. True to the tour’s title, all of the hits were played. In the same breath, so were deep cuts off later Queensrÿche albums like Tribe (1997) and, yes, even Dedicated to Chaos (2011). While neither of these albums are my favorites of the Queensrÿche canon, I appreciate Tate’s disregard for playing it safe and doing it his way.

It was roughly 8:30 when Tate and his band took the stage, opening up the 2 hour extravaganza with a crushingly heavy version of the 1990 megahit, “Empire”. Decked out in stylish attire that rivaled only Graham Bonnet, Tate swaggered around the Arcada stage with an undeniable cool and a voice that has defied the passage of time. In fact, I’d argue his vocals now are the strongest they’ve been in quite some time, but more on that later. The front half of the set was filled with “modern” Queensrÿche fare. Both “Sacred Ground” and “The Right Side of My Mind” off Q2K (1999) were played, as was “Desert Dance” off the aforementioned Tribe and “I Am I” off one of my personal favorite albums, Promised Land (1994). With next year marking 30 years of that masterpiece of an album, perhaps an anniversary tour lies on the horizon? A man can dream!

After jokingly asking “How many old fuckers” there were in the audience (According to Tate, 64 and up constitutes an “old fucker”), he proceeded to introduce a third guitarist to the stage to perform a selection of cuts off Queensrÿche’s magnum opus, Operation: Mindcrime (1988). As the band blazed through “Operation: Mindcrime”, “Breaking the Silence”, and “I Don’t Believe in Love”, I was reminded again just how much this album means to me and so many others in the metal community. Few albums before it touches its brilliance, and nothing does after. From this point of the show forward, it was a murderers row of hits. The sci-fi prog metal pomp of Rage for Order? Here’s “Screaming in Digital” and “Walk in the Shadows”. The arena friendly hooks of Empire? “Jet City Woman” and “Another Lonely Night (Without You)” coming up.

As one classic followed the other, the mystified audience found themselves face to face with the crown jewel of the evening: An encore consisting of a lengthy cover of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine”, and the one-two US steel punch of “Take Hold of the Flame” and “Queen of the Reich”. It’s hard to believe that before becoming the multi-platinum princes of prog metal, Queensrÿche were warriors of the underground, wielding their blood-drenched swords towards any mortal who crossed their paths. Tate channeled this primal energy into every last scream of “Queen of the Reich”, as if he was daring the NWOTHM crop. With ears ringing and face melted, I walked out of Tate’s latest musical excursion as delighted as a headbanger could be. The Big Rock Show Hits Tour HITS harder than you’d think! Don’t take our word for it. See for yourself when Tate rolls through your town and “take hold”!

Setlist

• “Empire”
• “Desert Dance”
• “I Am I”
• “Sacred Ground”
• “The Thin Line”
• “One Foot in Hell”
• “The Right Side of My Mind”
• “Operation: Mindcrime”
• “Breaking the Silence”
• “I Don’t Believe in Love”
• “Wot We Do”
• “NM 156”
• “Screaming in Digital”
• “Walk in the Shadows”
• “Another Rainy Night (Without You)”
• “Jet City Woman”
• “Silent Lucidity”

Encore

• “Welcome to the Machine” (Pink Floyd cover)
• “Take Hold of the Flame”
• “Queen of the Reich”