A hot Bank Holiday weekend in England brought the return of Washington’s finest, Queensrÿche, and the atmosphere inside Bilston’s Robin, Sheffield’s Corporation and London’s O2 Academy was scorching as the three venues played host to a band still very much on top of their game and experiencing an extraordinary resurgence.
Here’s a band who have lost two core members yet have come back totally revitalised and rejuvenated and how many times have we been able to say that before?
The Rÿche have previously sold over 20 million albums worldwide and still have three original members, guitarist Michael Wilton, drummer Scott Rockenfield and bass player Eddie Jackson, but completing the line-up are second guitarist Parker Lundgren and Geoff Tate’s more than worthy replacement Todd La Torre.
Queensrÿche have previously commented that “the umlaut over the ‘y’ has haunted us for years” but any lingering ghosts have now been well and truly banished by a much more diverse set-list which includes classics from their early career which Tate never really tackled due to lack of range towards the end of his time with QR.