Geoff Tate - Roseville, CA
Pictures and Words: Jim Brown
Music Fan Magazine had the chance to attend the Geoff Tate concert in Roseville, Ca., last night and can say without question...there is no difference between 1987 and now when listening to Geoff Tate belt out songs from the Queensryche collection. Further, there is no scientific way to explain how Geoff’s vocal range remains the same some 35 years later. Its clear, Geoff is starting every day with the same passion for his craft and the music he helped create as the front man for one of the leading rock bands of the 80s and 90s.
Geoff and his band Queensryche earned high praise from industry critics when they released “Operation Mindcrime” in 1987. The concept album gave them wide recognition for songs like “Eyes of a Stranger.” Geoff and his band continued with a follow up album entitled “Empire,” landing Geoff front and center when he and Queensryche were nominated for Grammys and earned the coveted Viewer's Choice award in 1991 for their song “Silent Lucidity.” Geoff’s voice ran like wildfire through the car stereos of the 90s. When I hear anything from the Empire album, I am immediately taken back to some great times hanging with like-minded friends and legendary keggers with Queensryche as the backing soundtrack.
Through the 80s and 90s, Geoff consistently delivered unmatched performances as the lead man for the band he helped create and raised the bar for all others to meet, being compared to iconic legends like Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford and Bruce Dickenson. Not bad company to be in.
While Queensryche benefitted from the godlike vocal work Geoff was putting down, it's just one part of the entire Geoff Tate talent package. Looking deeper under the hood you can’t ignore the songwriting and arrangements he and Queensryche were able to put together more than three decades ago. He was part of a group writing and composing before their time in a genre that critics often described as “thinking man’s metal.”
Back then, metal head friends of mine would play Geoff’s work with sincere admiration and appreciation for the deep story in each of the songs packaged on any of the first three albums, the guitar work and of course, the face-melting octaves Geoff was able to punctuate throughout each song, especially on “I Dream In Infrared” and “The Killing Words.” Sure, we listened to everything back then and even tolerated Aerosmith’s collab with Run-D.M.C., but Geoff and Queensryche held a special place in the car cassette rotation and was always played at full volume, or at least as loud as our budget car stereo systems would allow.
On this evening in Roseville, Geoff Tate delivered the same hair-raising, blood pumping rock excellence I had hoped was still within him. He and the band did not disappoint. In fact, the only difference between what I saw and heard last night and what I experienced 35 years ago is a little less hair on the metal (we are all older now and some parts of the machine just don’t have the endurance to go the distance). But Geoff’s voice is untouched by time.
I’m sure he would be able to identify details in his ability to hit notes, maybe he has a different opinion of his range than the audience does. But look up Ken Tamplin Vocal Acadamy on YouTube. He has some interesting thoughts and confirms Geoff is a technical genius at the mic. From our perspective he sounds perfect and proved it again with a nonstop, 90-minute hammer fest full of vocal explosions, power and raw emotion.
Geoff has been working relentlessly, having been involved in 19 albums over the last 30 years. That's basically a new project every year and a half...that is not easy to do, nor is touring endlessly. Geoff said he only spent 20 days at his home last year. This man works hard and was grateful to have the opportunity to perform on this night, telling everyone in attendance that it could not have happened without the crowd and devoted followers of the sound he helped create so long ago.
Geoff is technically brilliant, and his talent hasn’t eroded since that first album, “The Warning,” in 1984. That’s 40 years of developing, curating and presenting a craft in his responsibility as a front man, endurance many other bands have failed to achieve. After seeing the show, I’d walk uphill both ways in a blizzard with no shoes on, over broken glass, to see Geoff Tate perform again, but I wouldn’t cross the street to see other bands of the same era who have “let it all go.”
On this night Geoff Tate gave us all that long lost feeling of being young and angry at whomever was doing us wrong, while also hoping we could do something about it. Laying into “Jet City Woman,” a song written about missing home and his wife, I wanted the sound tech to turn up the volume and blow the roof off the Goldfield’s venue (but then we all have to worry about our hearing these days so probably not a good idea). Still, the goose bumps set in quickly on “Silent Lucidity” and “Walk In The Shadows.” This was just good stuff that threw me back to long summer nights in my ‘87 Camaro, driving around burning fuel listening to Geoff Tate’s work on those early albums.
I’m sure others felt the same. The venue only held 650-700 people and it felt like there were 800 in there. Not an empty space to stand in the place -- just as it should be. It had to feel good for Geoff and his band as he handed over the singing duties to the audience several times, who didn't miss a beat and lifted Geoff and his band at the same time. We know this because our camera caught him smiling ear to ear several times.
Overall, the Geoff Tate show was incredibly satisfying and fulfilled every expectation I had. It’s shows like this that remind us that the music we grew up on is as good now as it ever was, even better because it requires talent like Geoff to deliver it correctly -- no computer enhancements, no garage band crap -- this is real music put down by real people, even if I consider Geoff’s work elevated above the common man. (I mean really, how in the holy hell can he sing like that?) That is the genesis of Queensryche after all, avoiding absorption into the computer shrine as the five freedom fighters fight on (a reference to Queensryche’s early days).
Want to feel great music and experience the phenomenon that is Geoff Tate? You should. He is a rare metal. See him now before he decides to spend more time at home, or worse yet...the Queen of the Ryche comes calling.
Thank you, Geoff Tate...and good luck on your continued excellence!
Music Fan Meters:
Smoke Meter – None really. Then again, it was a school night and some of us had to report to the office in the morning (35 years ago this would have been a keg tap and a long, long evening).
Fight Meter – Internally...lots of conflict. His performance gave rise to goose bumps and hair on its end...but no fists. That’s not the Queensryche audience anyway, unless you tell them “I don’t get the lyrics”...then you better find an exit!
Sing Along Meter – C'mon...who kept their mouth shut when he played Jet City Woman or Silent Lucidity? Nobody! The audience participated at the exact right level and it was perfect!