Queensryche at the Nokia

I've had the pleasure of seeing Queensryche four times, but somehow it took me until this past Friday night to realize that when it comes to their performances, these guys take things more seriously than a black metal musician on his farm in rural Norway.  It explains so much, really: Geoff Tate's style of presentation, which always seemed a little goofy and off putting to me, now seems like showmanship, attracting the audience's attention by projecting an image of the things - polished with professionalism, to be sure - he wants them to see, rather than baring his soul as many rock stars do, and managing to do it (perhaps by the overtly political focus of his music) without appearing phony.  To the prying eyes of the Internet generation, always searching for more to fight the jadedness they feel, it doesn't always work - for example: Tate made several song introductions so long they'd make a hardcore band blush and everyone there knew he was rambling - but it's a noble (and more importantly, unique) attempt to make a show seem like a show.  Watch this clip of "Empire" someone took during the show: when Tate talks during the bridge about the money wasted on the war on drugs, the performance and the point become one and the same.

The rest of the band follows suit, although it might be Parker Lundgren who demonstrates it best: what I first took for awkwardness (or something worse) seems to be a really serious commitment to rocking out while looking serious.  It's a bit comical because he looks so young, but it's clear he belongs because it looks like he belongs.  Turns out he can play pretty well, too.

Finally, even though American Soldier was either as mediocre, off putting, or downright awkward (off putting is having a really big dude in combat fatigues come out to the rap core lyrics of the album's first track; really off putting and somewhat creepy is having a pre-teen girl, who must have been Tate's daughter, come out to do a duet with him that no one could hear because she was too nervous to project) as I remember, the band sounded much, much better than I expected.  Tate's voice hasn't been this strong in years, the musicianship was tight, and choosing to bring a guy along to do backup vocals instead of relying on the crowd for help was an excellent choice.  The Rage for Order and Empire suites were both really strong and even though Queensryche seems to be in a bit of a rut when it comes to writing new music, they've still got the passion to make their shows a good time.