Review by Andrew Bansal, photos & video by Carsten Steinhausen
March 27th 2015, House Of Blues, Anaheim CA: Even whilst they remain busy working on the next studio album, metal greats Queensrÿche recently embarked on a short run of US West Coast dates, and visited the House Of Blues Anaheim in Downtown Disney along with openers Leatherwolf and Gabbie Rae, for an excellently attended gig last Friday March 27 2015. Making the seemingly long walk from the parking lot to the venue through ‘the happiest place on earth’ is in fact a highly stressful ordeal for us metal-minded misfits, but this memorable Queensrÿche performance not only made us feel quite at home but put any and every doubt about the validity, quality and relevance of this band to rest forever.
Doors opened at 8, the venue filled up rapidly, and at 9 o’ clock, 16-year old performer Gabbie Rae took the stage with her band in front of a packed House Of Blues. She proceeded onto play a 30-minute set comprising almost entirely of covers, except for one original tune to end it. The choices of covers were extremely generic but the songs were well-performed, and Gabbie Rae brought forth an appreciable voice to go with great stage presence. The original tune was not bad either, and overall, she and her band proved to be a worthy opening act for the much older bands to follow, as attendees fueled up on the tall cans and enjoyed hearing songs they were already very familiar with.
More Gabbie Rae photos:
Shortly after, it was the turn of Huntington Beach CA cult heavy metal heroes Leatherwolf to take the stage with their ‘triple axe attack’ and play for a visibly and audibly excited hometown audience, as several Leatherwolf t-shirts were seen in the crowd. Having started in 1981 but not very active in recent years, Leatherwolf are known to have pioneered the three-guitar setup in heavy metal. Still comprising two original members Michael Olivieri (guitar, vocals) and Dean Roberts (drums), this was a rare concert appearance for the band and they made the most of it.
Leatherwolf’s music and live show is certainly focussed on the three-pronged guitar melody a lot more than it is on the band members’ on-stage energy, and the only stage move they can be associated with is the three guitarists taking center stage for the harmonized solos. But that’s what makes Leatherwolf interesting in their own unique manner, and their performance did full justice to their material. Michael Olivieri’s vocal delivery is still strong, and all four of his band mates are on top of their craft as well. A very melody-driven but enjoyable set from Leatherwolf.
More Leatherwolf photos:
At 10:50, Queensrÿche hit the stage all guns blazing and with a clear sense of purpose, wasting no time whatsoever in getting the old-school fans on their side as they opened up with ‘Nightrider’ and carried the inital portion of the set forward with great impetus through tunes such as ‘Breaking The Silence’, ‘Walk In The Shadows’ and ‘Warning’. From the first high-pitched scream to open ‘Nightrider’ right until the very last moment of the set, singer Todd La Torre was hitting all the right notes with jaw-dropping precision which at times felt surreal. His sheer talent and class is evident in the manner in which he has not only moulded himself into a role performed for so long by another man but has portrayed it far, far better than his predecessor in every aspect. And unlike most other frontmen, he does not waste time cracking unfunny jokes, and knows exactly when to point the microphone to the crowd.
Thanks to the competence of their singer, the four instrumentalists in Queensrÿche were able to play all the songs in the correct tuning and speed. Their excellence at performing these songs was never in doubt, and they kept up to their reputation once again as they delivered the goods and seemed to be loving every moment of their time on stage. Besides holding the low end, Eddie Jackson played a crucial role with his backing vocals, the old guard of Michael Wilton on guitar and Scott Rockenfield on drums sounded as solid as ever, and guitarist Parker Lundgren, now a member of this band for almost six years, showed that he belongs and is more than worthy of dispelling the ‘new guy’ tag.
“I Don’t Believe In Love”, arguably the best song in the band’s discography, was aptly the highlight of the set but there was in fact no such thing as a non-highlight as one classic followed another, and even the one selection from the 2013 self-titled release blended in seamlessly as an ideal follow-up to ‘Silent Lucidity’. Both the ending portion and the encore were as good as anyone could have imagined. Older folks in the audience admitted that this Queensrÿche performance was even better than what some of them witnessed in 1982, which speaks volumes for the fact that this band has truly come full-circle, playing with the youthful exhuberance of their early years. Overall, the show absolutely floored the audience. This was pure metal, and no earplugs were needed.
In recent years, the most popular question surrounding anything to do with Queensrÿche has been, “Which Queensrÿche?” The answer is in front of everyone. There is only one band that justifiably represents the name Queensrÿche. It comprises Todd La Torre, Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren, and it does all things Queensrÿche better than they’ve ever been done before.
More Queensrÿche photos:
Set List:
01. Nightrider
02. Breaking The Silence
03. Walk In The Shadows
04. The Whisper
05. En Force
06. Warning
07. Silent Lucidity
08. X2
09. Where Dreams Go To Die
10. Guitar Solo
11. The Needle Lies
12. NM 156
13. The Lady Wore Black
14. I Don’t Believe In Love
15. My Empty Room
16. Eyes Of A Stranger
17. Empire
Encore:
18. Queen Of The Reich
19. Jet City Woman
20. Take Hold Of The Flame
Check out HD video of Queensrÿche performing ‘Take Hold Of The Flame’ at this show: