I have seen Queensryche with all the original members many, many years ago back in Seattle. I have also seen Queensrcyhe without Geoff Tate, this was my first time seeing him solo. We almost went to see Queensryche the week before, but the show sold out before I could get tickets. That was actually when I decided to go see Geoff Tate. He was playing at the Gothic in Denver. This was only my 2nd time seeing a show there. I don’t know how many people it holds but it’s a small venue and very intimate.
The day of the show, we headed up early like usual. Unfortunately, there was more traffic than usual so by the time we got there, there was already a line of people waiting. I think there was maybe 10 people there but only 1 person had the fast pass like us. So when they broke us up into 2 lines we were 2nd in line for a moment. That was until they let all the ADA people in the front of the line. I think there were maybe 8 of them so we were pretty close to where we started. As we were waiting in line, we also ran into a couple of people we met at a few other recent shows. It was cool hanging out with them and exchanging concert stories,. When we went in, they end up getting seats where as we went straight for the rail. We managed to still get a good spot on the rail.
We stood there for maybe 45 minutes before the first band came on which is pretty normal. The first band was Fire and Water. I had never heard of them before they hit the stage, Geoff Tate came out and introduced them. He said he had handpicked them for his tour and encouraged everyone really give them a listen. They were a 3 person Irish band. The singer was married to the sax player and the guitarist was his cousin. They didn’t have a drummer, but the guitarist used his guitar as a drum for their songs along with playing it normal. Their music wasn’t bad, and they were entertaining. Not sure I would ever go just to see them, but they were good as an opening act.
There was only the 1 opening act, so after they played shortly after Geoff Tate hit the stage. He came out singing Empire and the crowd was feeling it. Everyone seemed to be really into the music and enjoying themselves. The crowd was into it, but no one was moshing or pushing. In fact, we had a lot of space around us all night. I don’t think a single person pushed into us and people for the most part were pretty good about letting us out and back to our spots anytime we needed to use the restroom or grab a drink. It was a cool crowd. Geoff and his band were great. Though it was his solo tour with his new band, they played all Queensryche music, hit after hit. He was engaging with the crowd and so was the band. At one point the guitarist handed me his pick he was using to play with and at the end of the show handed me part of the setlist. It was 2 pages and he ripped it into 2 pieces and gave me one and the other half to someone else. Geoff himself sounded great. Even though its been a very long time since I have seen him, he still had a great voice and stage presence. I would love it if one day they all did a reunion tour which I highly doubt they will ever do. Either way was glad we went, Jess and I both had a good time.
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