Sunday night concerts are always a great way to start the week. The entire show provides a shot in the arm of adrenalin and makes you grin from ear to ear until at least midweek. The Queensryche concert Sunday night at the Rialto Square Theater (102 N. Chicago Street) in Joliet was no exception. “Sunday night [fans] these are the diehards” said Geoff Tate. From the edited intro this group of fantastic musicians grabbed a hold of your attention and kept it throughout the entire evening.
“Walk in the Shadows” provided stuttering guitars by Parker Lundgren and Michael Wilton. The rock opera vocals have always been a part of this band and created within the lungs of Geoff Tate. The drums and the bass vibrated the walls and the antique chandeliers within the old theater. Surrounded by his drums, Scott Rockenfield provided the hard hits and solid feet to hold this band within the rock solid timing that has always been apart of Queensryche. Eddie Jackson, the other half of the progressive rock rhythm section, provided the bottom end for evening peddling the extra low notes out like thunder from his five strings. Producing the keyboard sounds and magic that was needed was Jason Ames. He was a master with his fingers and helped to complete this band of six well entertaining musicians.
Hot lights of red, blue, and gold blasted the stage with heat giving the band energy making them rise above the crowd in a mystical way. After the first couple of attention getters, Tate came forward and informed the crowd of the itinerary for the evening. He announced right away that they were going to be doing songs from the albums American Soldier, Empire, and Rage for Order. They did exactly what they said and it was a night to remember.
The air raid sirens started blaring with red lights for the beginning of the song “Silver.” Muscle bound AJ Frotto came out as a part of the show to sing as a duet dressed in full military gear. Frotto is an entertainer and a veteran who had come along with Queensryche to perform very powerful roaring vocals. His involvement within the show may have been short, but was not small when he was on stage. The overgrown monster took the reigns of lead singer and held them in his mighty grip next to Tate.
Geoff Tate took the time to educate the crowd on the new album, American Soldier. This is a masterpiece that was dedicated to the Armed Forces of America. All the people that fought for this country, the ones that lived and died with honor and how this album was started. It began with a single home interview with Tate’s father and branched out into more and more interviews. Over two years were dedicated to the interviews with veterans from World War II to the most current deployments in Iraq. The entire process created one of Queensryche’s finest collections of music so far.
The song “A Dead Man’s Words” was written around the United States Marine’s motto, “Until they are home, No Man Left Behind.” The melodic song starts out slowly and as the piece got more and more intense you could see the veins popping out of the head and neck of the Tate as he conveyed his message to the audience. The song’s story was told from the thoughts of a single soldier that was left behind in battle, thought to be dead, but wasn’t. The statements of not wanting to die in the desert painted a picture for the crowd of a true statement from a military soldier. Jackson stepped forward for some lead vocals as well during this song while Tate played some Middle-Eastern sounds on his sax.
“The Killer” was a song Tate had dedicated to his father who had fought in the Korean conflict and in Viet Nam. Just before he started the song he explained that when his dad returned from serving his country people had spit on him and called him a baby killer. The image lasted in your head as the song began. The guitar harmonies were exquisite to say the least. They just kept the audience going. Between Lundgren and Wilton the solos were well rehearsed and in perfect synchronization as they doubled the guitar riffs.
As the American Soldier segment of the show came to a close and the female rocker Lita Ford came out for a few songs with the band. She sang the song “Close My Eyes Forever” that she had done with Ozzy Osbourne in 1988. Lita had spent about two weeks on tour with Queensryche to promote her new album Wicked Wonderland. The band The Runaways was so long ago and her music has come so far that she hardly seems like the same person. She had paid her respects to the crowd and left the stage as fast as she came out. The true fans of metal got a nice treat to see the talented Lita Ford.
The band continued on performing some great songs deep into their catalog of songs. Long time fan Troy Henry spoke enthusiastically about the show, “My son really seemed to like ‘Empire,’ but for me ‘A Dream in Infra Red’ was the song I enjoyed the most.” They did play the song that received the most radio airplay “Silent Lucidity,” but to the true fans, the old stuff is what really hit them.
As the night progressed with the show, the fans that paid the price to see the show were not disappointed. Queensryche rocked Sunday night away with power leaving the fans screaming for more and more. Heads were banging, fists were waving, and the entire building was rumbling. It’s plain as black and white that Queensryche knows how to rock.
