Words and Pictures: Adrian Hextall (C) MindHex Media
“Queen of the Reich”, “Nightrider”, “Blinded”, and “The Lady Wore Black”. Four songs that, for me, started the journey of the band I have come to love as much as family. Released in 1984, it’s fitting that this current tour from Queensrÿche sees the band playing both the band’s debut EP featuring the aforementioned songs and their debut album “The Warning”.
As a studio affair, I always thought “The Warning” needed a little more ‘oomph’, a heavier sound than that finally committed to tape but it was enough to keep the crowds and the labels interested and of course, what would follow, the holy triumvirate of “Rage For Order”, “Operation Mindcrime” and “Empire”. We can’t complain really can we?
40 years on though, the album that ultimately gave birth to three prize winning children needs reappraisal and if there’s one thing that an album benefits from, it’s the live experience where all the ‘oomph’ necessary can be added to give us the playback of the album that we always knew was in there.
First up though, some epic British metal, old school style, courtesy of Night Demon.
Night Demon
But wait.. what’s this. For a band playing unashamedly NWoBHM style music, it would appear that Night Demon hail from the States. Formed in Ventura, California, the power trio have been around since the early 2010s and see themselves as spearheading the resurgence of traditional, old-school heavy metal. I for one am not going to complain about this as their music really does tick all of the boxes that remind us what made metal great in the early 1980s and more importantly, with the headliners focusing mostly on their material from 1984 what better way to kick-start the evening?
With a backdrop that showed a demon, a naked woman and a ram, the imagery fit the name and the genre perfectly and, like all old-school metal bands, where the vocals can be heard instead of being simply grunted or roared by the lead singer, Night Demon won over a lot of people in the room. The trio (Jarvis Leatherby – lead vocals, bass, Armand John Anthony – guitars, backing vocals and Brian Wilson – drums) made the most of the stage space afforded to them with Wilson’s drum kit sitting in front of a covered double bass driven set that would be used by Casey Grillo later on. Leatherby and Anthony had free reign of the front of the stage though and the pair swapped sides, played off each other and made the crowd feel as much a part of the show as they were.
The highlight came at the end of the set when a cloaked devil / demon came on stage complete with glowing eyes and a large black chalice in its hand. The song, “The Chalice” had the crowd singing along to:
“Drink from the chalice, The unholy grail, Drink from the chalice, I’ll give you everlasting life“
If that’s what’s on offer… where do I sign?
Queensrÿche
And so to MY band. The one whose “Operation Mindcrime” album holds the coveted position of “Best album ever” as far as I’m concerned. Yes it’s an opinion but it’s my opinion and look, it’s my review as well. Queensrÿche have seemingly perfected the art of creating music that doesn’t age. Listening to their classic albums of the 80s and early 90s, any of them could be released now and find a place in someone’s music collection or Spotify playlist. That debut EP which sounds as hard and powerful as it did in 1984 also sounds glorious live.
With Casey Grillo’s drum kit on full display, he led the band into the opening song, “Queen of the Reich”. With Michael Wilton and Eddie Jackson the remaining members who were there when the EP was first released, alongside Guitarist Mike Stone who has quite some pedigree with the band as he continues his second stint with them and front man Todd La Torre who has been with the band over a decade now, Queensrÿche seem focused and stable.
That stable approach shines through in their performances. The band were and are a tight a unit as they can possibly be. Each of the tracks from the EP flowed from the stage with passion, almost clinical precision and an energy and depth that continues to extend the life of the band’s back catalogue. Looking round the crowd it was good to see the number of smiles from those (like myself) that have followed the band from the early days. It was also heartwarming to see the number of hands raised when Todd asked the crowd how many people were seeing the band for the first time. Easily a third or more of the crowd raised their hands. That a four decades old band can draw such a large number of new faces at their show, especially when this tour is a celebration of the band’s roots is encouraging to say the least.
The show was set out in three sections. As the EP finished, the lights dimmed and the band departed before returning and commencing the run through of all tracks from “The Warning”. Highlights included the epic “NM156” and a beautiful rendition of “Take Hold of the Flame” which Todd absolutely nailed vocally and then some! The win though was hearing the album in full with some of these songs have not been played live in 40 years. With an appetite for revisiting back catalogue moments, it’s great to see bands doing this and it it does result in a new fanbase being created then long may this new tradition continue.
They closed with a trio of songs, one taken from each of the three albums that followed “The Warning”. “A Walk in the Shadows” triggers a singalong as did a rousing playback of “Empire” before the band closed with my favourite song from my all-time favourite album, “Eyes of A Stranger”. There was no way I was going home with anything other than a massive smile on my face.
What an excellent night.
Queensrÿche EP:
Queen of the Reich
Nightrider
Blinded
The Lady Wore Black
The Warning:
Warning
En Force
Deliverance
No Sanctuary
NM 156
Take Hold of the Flame
Before the Storm
Child of Fire
Roads to Madness
Encore:
Walk in the Shadows
Empire
Eyes of a Stranger
Queensrÿche are:
Michael Wilton, lead guitar
Eddie Jackson , bass, backing vocals
Mike Stone , rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Todd La Torre , lead vocals
Casey Grillo , drums
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