The last few times I saw Geoff Tate, he was performing full album anniversary tours, so it was nice to get back to a killer mix of the best songs as well as a few that were lesser known to the masses.
Geoff Tate
The Fairfield Theater Company, Connecticut – 12 September 2023
Words and Photography: Jody Wilk
Even though the venue had seats on the floor area tonight, everyone was standing for the entire 20-song set of melodic screams and rocking Heavy Metal hits. Geoff Tate, formerly of Queensrÿche, still has one of the best voices in rock at a time when many singers from ’80s Metal bands are getting ripped apart on social media.
They started the set, to everyone’s delight, with Empire, from the album of the same name and one of my personal favourites. Tonight, Geoff’s band consisted of Jack Ross on bass, Dario Parente and James Brown on guitar, Bruno Sa on keyboards and Danny Laverde on drums.
These well-seasoned musicians did a fantastic job backing Geoff throughout the night. Geoff also invited a third guitarist, Amaury Altmayer from France, to help on the leads for a good portion of the set. “Let’s everyone say, Bon Soir, Amaury.” The crowd gave him a warm welcome.
Geoff then asked him what his favourite song was to play. Amaury replied, Operation Mindcrime. The fans began pumping their fists in the air along with the band as the song began.
Besides playing all the most popular hits, they added Desert Dance, One Foot In Hell, The Right Side Of My Mind, and Wot We Do into the set. The latter, Geoff dedicated to all the “freaks” in the audience. He touched on songs from the albums Rage For Order, Empire and Operation: Mindcrime.
They ended the regular set with Silent Lucidity, to everyone’s delight. With the crowd cheering wildly, Tate and the band came back out for a three-song encore, beginning with a cover of Pink Floyd’s Welcome To The Machine. It was such a fantastic rendition of a classic song.
Next up was Take Hold Of The Flame. The crowd, as always, fist pumps and sings along to the lyrics ‘Take Hold!’. And, last but not least, they took it all the way back to the beginning with Queen Of The Ryche.
Geoff’s searing vocal abilities were put to the test at the beginning of the song, and he passed with flying colours!
If you want to hear all the Queensrÿche hits performed by Geoff Tate, his Big Rock Show Hits Tour is a must-see on this fall’s concert regimen.
