Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Lucky Man
Venue: Marquee Theater
Date: Tuesday January 28th, 2020
Tour: The Verdict Tour
Tonight’s show was a great night of metal music. It consisted of a mixture of progressive metal and straight up heavy metal bands. There is a fine line between progressive metal and heavy metal with bands at times crossing over between the two styles. Progressive metal consists of complex rhythms with frequent meter changes and is a fusion of heavy metal and progressive rock from the 70s. Heavy metal is just straight up rock & roll with attitude. Currently 2 of the biggest progressive metal bands (IMO) are Dream Theater and Queensrÿche.
Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche has been around since the early 80s. Few bands have created a really successful concept album. The Who created Tommy in the late 60s and Quadrophenia in the early 70s. The next great concept album (IMO) was Queensrÿche’s Operation Mindcrime in 1988. Following that great album, they produced Empire which was another amazing album. But then it seemed that the band started to slip. Finally, by 2012 the lead singer and the band made a very public breakup. After a court battle, the rest of the band members got to keep the band’s name and got a new lead singer.
Since reforming with Todd La Torre as Queensrÿche’s lead singer, they have produced 3 amazing albums. Queensrÿche is currently made up of founding members Michael Wilton on guitar and Eddie Jackson on bass. They are joined lead singer Todd La Torre, Parker Lundgren as the guitarist and Casey Grillo on drums. Founding drummer, Scott Rockenfield is currently taking a break from the band to spend time with his family.
It was a breath of fresh air when Todd joined the group because it seemed that the band got its groove back and started writing some really great music. It also seemed that the entire band was finally back writing material and it showed in the live performances. Michael and Parker seemed to be having fun on stage and play off each other and pounding out the power riffs that are so recognizable. Eddie provided the bassline that added the real power to each song. I really miss Scott on drums, but Casey did a great job. And what can you say about Todd. He had some really huge shoes to fill and he has exceeded all expectations. He commands the stage as he belts out each of the songs. His harmonizing voice blends well with the band and the audience really likes his performance.
Tonight’s show consisted of a mixture of original classic songs with new songs from their latest album, The Verdict. Queensrÿche is smart enough to realize that a lot of their fans still love some of the older material and therefore they play it to please their local fans. For tonights’s show they only concentrated on older material from their first 5 albums, Queensrÿche EP, The Warning, Rage for Order, Operation:Mindcrime and Empire. Of course they played their major hits, “Jet City Woman”, “Empire”, “Operation:Mindcrime” and “Silent Lucidity”. The finally song of the night was their classic, “Eyes of a Stranger”.
I have seen Queensrÿche a number of times and with this new lineup, I am enjoying them even more. I hope they keep producing outstanding albums like the last three, Queensrÿche (2013), Human Condition and The Verdict. I wish they would have mixed more of their newer material into the show.
To learn more about Queensrÿche, their upcoming shows or albums you can check them out at their website: http://www.queensrycheofficial.com/ or Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/QueensrycheOfficial/ or Twitter: https://twitter.com/queensryche .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman, 2020, All Rights Reserved
Queensrÿche Setlist: (Album)
Intro
Prophecy (Queensrÿche EP)
Operation: Mindcrime (Operation: Mindcrime)
Walk in the Shadows (Rage for Order)
Resistance (Empire)
Take Hold of the Flame (The Warning)
No Sanctuary (The Warning)
Man the Machine (The Verdict)
Bent (The Verdict)
I Don’t Believe in Love (Operation: Mindcrime)
Dark Reverie (The Verdict)
Silent Lucidity (Empire)
Jet City Woman (Empire)
Screaming in Digital (Rage for Order)
Queen of the Reich (Queensrÿche EP)
Encore:
Light-years (The Verdict)
Empire (Empire)
Eyes of a Stranger (Operation: Mindcrime)
John 5 and The Creatures
I first saw John 5 when he was the lead guitarist for Rob Zombie. The next time I saw him he was playing lead guitar for Marilyn Manson. I really liked him when he played with both of those bands and at times, I felt he stole the limelight with his fabulous guitar work. Well he has decided to branch out on his own and has created John 5 and The Creatures. The band currently consists of John 5 on guitar with bassist Ian Ross and drummer Logan Miles Nix.
They played an instrumental set (i.e., no vocals). Also, the stage was setup like a carnival with different blowup creatures and building in the background. Then to top it off, John 5 came out in full white face makeup. Also, during the set, a couple of creatures wandered on stage to interact with John 5 and the audience.
A lot of people just look at the strange stage, John 5’s strange outfit and write off the band. But that is a real mistake because they are tremendous. John 5 is one of the premier heavy metal guitarists touring today. I would love seeing him perform with wither G3 (joe Satriani) or Generation Axe (Steve Vai). If you want to see a truly talented guitarist laydown the power cords and driving riffs, then John 5 is someone to see. Personally, I cannot wait to see him perform again.
Check out John 5’s website: https://john-5.com/main/ and his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/John5official/ . His is tour for the entire month of February and you can checkout his tour dates on his website.
Photos © Fred Kuhlman, 2020, All Rights Reserved
Eve To Adam
Eve to Adam (ETA) is a New York City heavy metal band that consisted of founding member and lead singer Taki Sassaris, guitarist Ronny Gutierrez, bass player Ilyn Nathanie and drummer Jeff Raines. They were probably the only true heavy metal band of the night. Their sound remined me a lot of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Since they were only the middle band of the night, they did not get a long set. I really like their sound and wished they could have performed longer. Maybe they will return to the valley and grace us with either a headlining show or at least co-headline a show. They are that good.
If you wish to help bands like Eve to Adam out, please purchase either their albums or tee-shorts at the concerts. This allows bands to continue to produce amazing music and tour so we can hear them live.
For more information, please visit their website: https://www.evetoadam.com/home.html or www.Facebook.com/evetoadam , www.Twitter.com/evetoadammusic , www.youtube.com/evetoadam .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman, 2020, All Rights Reserved
DemiAura
DemiAura is a local Cinematic progressive metal band from Phoenix, Arizona. The band consists of lead singer Chelsea Wrathchild, guitarist Bobby Chavez, keyboardist Jonathan Gabriel Jr and drummer Keith Heaney. This is the second time I saw DemiAura and they put on a great show. Chelsea has a nice voice and was extremely energetic but tonight’s show she seemed to have a little too much echo/reverb or venue echo. The rest of the band was tight and mixed well. Having seen DemiAura before I know that Chelsea voice is great and can provide the outstanding vocals that work well with the rest of the band.
I like DemiAura and I will go see them again. At the previous concert Chelsea was awesome and the band was tremendous, so I know they can provide a fantastic show. If you get the chance please check them out. They tour mainly in the southwest and perform at a number of venues in the greater Phoenix area. You can find out more information about DemiAura on their website: https://www.demiaura.com/ or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/demiaura/ .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman, 2020, All Rights Reserved
Circle of Terra
Circle of Terra is a Rock & Roll band that has members from Montana to California and Arizona. Their current lineup consists of lead singer and guitarist Kyle James Handley, lead guitarist Philip Earl Clark, bass player Kris Anderson and drummer Erik Hartzel. With a lot of lower bill bands on the ticket you are not always sure of how good they are. But I can honestly say that Circle Of Terra is a very fine Rock & Roll band and I enjoyed them a lot. Their sound was very tight and they mixed extremely well. The one thing I really enjoyed was they seemed to have their sound very well balanced with no one over powering the others. Both Kris and Erik provide a solid beat and bassline that was punctuated by outstanding riffs from Phillip. Kyle has a very strong voice that blended very well with the instruments. They were the first up for the night and they provided an awesome performance which energized the audience.
If you get a chance to see Circle of Terra, they are well worth it. They have issued their first CD (EP) called Lay Your Body Down. You can check it out on their website: https://circleofterraband.com/home . Please check the band out and their upcoming concert dates on their website or on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CircleofTerra/ .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman, 2020, All Rights Reserved
