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Appropriately, Geoff Tate’s solo touring band featured all of
the musicians from his new Sanctuary release. C. Fox, Scott Moughton, Evan
Schiller, Howard Chilcott, and Jeff Carrell to be exact. Everyone but the Cello
player, Tate jokes.
Prior to the start of the
tour Tate told TPRS.com that he was "very anxious to go on tour this summer, and
really looking forward to it.”
He explained, ”We’ve got an
incredible set. We’ve been rehearsing and we’re playing all the new record and
then we’re doing a whole bunch of Queensryche songs that are real obscure things
that Queensryche never plays or will never play. And then we’ve taken them
all and twisted them and changed them around and made them our own. And
it’s really a different kind of situation.”
Whereas Queensryche tends to
perform the same songs over and again to keep a sort of continuity that’s very
important to the band, in his show they’ve changed everything.
During the Pittsburgh
performance, those changes included longer sessions, repeat choruses, real
modern rhythm sections, fusions of genres, and several surprises, but according
to Tate, things will change quite a bit from show to show, because of the nature
of the players he’s playing with.
“I find that very
interesting and challenging,” says Tate.
A last minute venue change from M (formerly Metropol) to its
sister showcase club Rosebud was welcomed by fans, since it offered a better
atmosphere, a better view, and a larger stage. Yet, there still was little
room for the six-piece band to move around.
Tate explained that the
theme to the evening revolved around taking risks, and concentrated on
material that supported the concept. As promised, his solo performance
covered the tracks from his new album as well as several rare and often
unheard Queensryche songs like a revamped version of the “Dirty Little
Secrets” b-side; “Gonna Get Close to You,” from Rage for Order; "Some People
Fly" from Here and the Now Frontier; and "Lady Jane," from Promised land; as
well as others.
Interestingly, Tate included unexpected selections from the band’s biggest
commercial success, namely “Della Brown” and “The Thin Line,” along with the
expected “Silent Lucidity,” but disappointingly neglected to include any fan
favorites from the revolutionary Operation: Mindcrime.
While the body of his solo material is a great listen on its own, it seemed
to be brought to life in the live arrangements on this tour. Most notably,
tracks like “On the TV,” “This Movement,” and “Grain of Faith,” left
everyone in the audience captivated even if it was their first exposure to
the material.
And despite the great length of Tate's set as they moved through more than
twenty tracks of mostly new material, the audience anxiously awaited the
next as they applauded song after song, and even chanted for an encore.
Tate says that in addition
to his work with Queensryche this year he hopes to continue on with his solo
work and get a jump start on the next album by laying down some tracks for a few
songs that he has had on hold.
In the future, he says he
would love to work with many great talents on upcoming solo projects. They
include Sheryl Crow, David Silvian, the members of Massive Attack, The Chemical
Brothers, and some of the techno DJs that are surfacing from a somewhat
underground level.
“That’s the beauty of music
isn’t it, it’s so wide open what you can do with it and so inspirational,” says
Tate .
For more information
about Geoff Tate and his first solo release check out our pre-tour
interview and visit
www.geofftate.com.
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