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After touring extensively in 2011 with his band, Queensryche, lead singer Geoff Tate has announced that he will be doing a handful of acoustic solo dates billed as \u201cGeoff Tate and Friends\u201d beginning on Friday, January 27 at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California.<\/p>\n
What can fans expect on the brief run of dates?<\/p>\n
According to Tate, he\u2019ll be \u201cplaying acoustic renditions of songs from my solo album as well as some of my favorite Queensryche songs.\u201d And that certainly gives him a lot to choose from\u2026<\/p>\n
Not one to remain idle, Tate is anxious to hit the road again next year despite an incredibly busy 2011 that found the band performing over 75 dates along their 30th Anniversary tour primarily in support of their 12th studio album, Dedicated to Chaos (Roadrunner Records\/Loud & Proud), that was released in the summer.<\/p>\n
Towards the end of the tour, Geoff and the band pulled out \u201call the stops\u201d by performing Rage for Order in its entirety for the first time ever (New York City on Halloween) and Operation: Mindcrime from beginning to end on this year\u2019s ShipRocked Cruise (with In This Moment\u2019s Maria Brink handling vocal chores as \u201cSister Mary\u201d) for the first time in three years. Both shows were a pure treat for fans!<\/p>\n
\u201cMindcrime\u201d (1988) is universally respected as a classic concept release about rock, revenge and redemption and, ultimately, regarded as one of the most important and essential hard rock records in the genre\u2019s expansive canon. 1990\u2032s follow-up, Empire, yielded a number one single, the Grammy-nominated ballad \u201cSilent Lucidity,\u201d which Queensryche performed at the 1992 Grammy Awards accompanied by a supporting orchestra.<\/p>\n
In 2006, the band released Operation: Mindcrime II, a scorching sequel to their original. The band then hit the road performing both albums Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II back-to-back in their entirety in an incredible theatrical presentation throughout the year. The final performance was recorded at The Moore Theatre in Seattle that October and the Mindcrime at the Moore double CD\/DVD release debuted at #1 on Billboard\u2019s Top Music DVD Chart and eventually reached gold status.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to believe it\u2019s been 30 years and more than 20 million albums sold worldwide later\u2026<\/p>\n
For 2012, Queensryche has plenty up its sleeve\u2026<\/p>\n
Geoff\u2019s acoustic performances are just the beginning of what promises to be another exciting year.<\/p>\n