WAIT WHAT IS GOING ON WITH QUEENSRYCHE?
Brb barfing into a potted palm
It’s been ages since Queensryche fans could show their faces in public. Shit has been so uncomfortably weird for so long — and not Tool-video weird (i.e. cool) or Dave Mustaine-interview uncomfortable (fun). Just gross and ugly. Let’s see, in recent years there were cabaret-style tours that featured busty lady dancers yet vibed powerful gayness. And the compositionally sturdy but aesthetically nauseous Dedicated To Chaos album, all old-man dancey and lulzy modern. Oh, and the drafting of singer Geoff Tate’s son-in-law for second guitar duties. Welcome to Yuck City.
But that creepy shit was nothing! Recently Queensryche has exploded through to a whole new gross, lumpy, hateful weirdness. Didn’t think that was possible? Check it out:
- December 23 Singer/wine baron Geoff Tate announces a string of solo acoustic dates for January and February. Support on all dates come from his vest and gay biker moustache.
- December 31 Tate appears at American Idol finalist James Durbin’s wedding reception for a duet performance of “Take Hold Of The Flame,” which I guess means that Tate will play in any vicinity of a deli tray.
- March 1 Tate begins work on his second solo album. Wait second solo album? Oh that’s right, his solo debut came in 2004 and was a blend of “modern-rock, electronica, and even a bit of acoustic styling and world music.”
- March 15 Tate schedules midwest solo shows for May, retires gay biker moustache?
- May 13 Reports surface that before an April 14 Queensryche show in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Tate espied bandmates “plotting his removal”; this lead to a violent confrontation witnessed by local crew in which Tate was restrained by security after accosting guitarist Michael Wilton and brandishing a knife at drummer Scott Rockenfield. We can assume it was a wee knife for spreading cheese on crackers.
- May 28 A disgruntled Tate informs a sparse Rocklahoma festival crowd that they “suck.” This echoes Tate’s vibe at Queensryche’s flat, contract-mandated performance at M3 fest on May 12. What a schmoozer.
- May 29 The four non-Tate members of Queensryche announce the formation of a Queensryche cover band fronted by Todd La Torre of Crimson Glory. Hory mory.
- May 30 A Queensryche spokesperson says all is well, and members are simply in usual pursuit of “rock[ing] in front of the masses.” A half-dozen summer dates remain on Queensryche.com.
What does the future hold for Queensryche? Will it be surreal and barfy, or workmanlike and contemptuous? Can you believe that Queensryche has split into two competing camps à la L.A. Guns, each less enjoyable than limping, wheezing Queensryche itself? Will there be reprisals from the Rockenfield camp for that knife bullshit? Does that header photo have you lunging for a wastepaper basket to vomit into?
-ADF
