Thanks to their 1990 album Empire and its mega-hit single “Silent Lucidity,” Queensrÿche were an MTV powerhouse in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Turmoil hit late in the ’90s and continued through the next decade, with guitarist Chris DeGarmo, singer Geoff Tate, and drummer Scott Rockenfield all exiting the band.
Forging on, Queensrÿche have found their second wind, building on a legacy that has solidified them as one of the most important rock bands of the last half century.
You’ll have a chance to see just what we’re talking about when Queensrÿche brings the Digital Alliance Tour to The Clyde Theatre on Wednesday, March 29, with Marty Friedman and Trauma.
Continuing to evolve
In 2010, after a messy split with Tate, Queensrÿche employed the voice of former Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre. While Tate had once been the dominate voice in the band’s songwriting, pushing their sound in various directions over time, the remaining members chose to go back to their roots with La Torre and revive the classic, more progressive Queensrÿche sound.
The four albums since have shown an evolution and a strengthening in the partnership, even after Rockenfield left in 2017. This culminates in last year’s Digital Noise Alliance, also known as DNA, which is arguably one of the best albums of the band’s career, regardless of era.
Guitarist Michael Wilton recently told Whatzup that DNA was born out of the frustration of the pandemic and served as a “springboard to get all of the frustrations out.”
“This album was an album that was kind of written on the spot,” Wilton said. “It was all improvised from the ground up with guitar chords, bass lines, and vocal lines that we just jammed on, recorded, and archived. It was more of how we use to do it in the early ’80s when we would all be together in a room and play riffs for each other and go, ‘I like that,’ and ‘I’ve got something for that.’ ”
While some of Queensrÿche’s peers from the MTV era have chosen to continually tour and play the same songs that made them popular, Wilton and Co. continue to make new music.
The nostalgia circuit can be a lucrative one, but Wilton said there’s no chance his band will fall into that rut.
“For us, we’re continually writing new music and keeping the legacy going,” he said. “If you’re just going to be a nostalgia act and play old songs all the time, that’s not for us. We’re full on: lots of tours, lots of festivals, and lots of shows. We just keep it going and that way people see that you’re still a band to be reckoned with.”
Equal opportunity musical act
Another ingredient that has helped increase the longevity of Queensrÿche’s career is the fact that they appeal to a wide variety of rock enthusiasts. They can tour with any number of differently minded artists, giving them more opportunities to get exposed to new audiences. That uniqueness, Wilton said, is what sets them apart.
“We’re our own type of music,” he said. “We’ve played with Metallica, we’ve played with AC/DC, we’ve played with Dream Theater, and we’ve played with a lot of other types of bands. We have our own unique genre that kind of fits with everything.”
As proof, one needs only to look at the acts Queensrÿche are bringing with them to The Clyde.
Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman burst onto the scene alongside Jason Becker in the shredding duo Cacophony and released 13 solo albums. Thrash legends Trauma, who dropped one of 2022’s most unheralded gems in Awakening, and also just happen to be late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton’s first band, will open the show.
“There’s lot of choices,” Wilton said when asked about selecting opening acts.
He said they don’t always have the final say in who goes out on the road with them, but “we’re involved in picking five or six bands we like, then management and the booking agents work out the deal. It’s going to be a diverse night. We try to offer a variety and hope our fans dig what they’re doing. Hopefully the other bands can bring in some of their fans, too.”
Stay positive
As for Queensrÿche’s set, the band was fortunate enough to jump on two Judas Priest tours to begin the touring cycle for DNA and were able to work two of the new songs into those sets which were well-received, according to Wilton. But this tour will be the first time the band will have a chance to present the new album properly.
“There’ll be some old cuts that dig deep that even our hardcore fans haven’t heard in 20 or 30 years,” Wilton said. “But also plenty of the new material from the Todd La Torre era. It’s going to be great. It’s not just the hits. There’ll still be a few staples in the set list, but it’s going to be more about promoting the DNA tour.”
Of course, when a band has been around a while and has lost some of their original members, people will have an often negative opinion on the current lineup and sound. Social media lends itself to a lot of keyboard warriors. Wilton understands the passion, but is over it.
“It’s so old,” he said. “My gosh, if you don’t like us, fine, but give it a chance. Say something nice instead of cutting down bands to create a response.”
La Torre’s addition was a welcomed one and actually breathed new life into the band, in most fans’ opinions, both on record and in a live setting.
“You’ll see the energy on stage and the respect for the old songs, done correctly and in the right key,” Wilton said. “The showmanship, the musicianship, and everything is full-on now. We’ve been proving that on every show. People that kind of forgot about us during the 2000s are now hearing we are back. We’re getting so many great reviews and we’re just a solid band right now. Everybody works together incredibly and the response from the crowds has just blown us away.”
