Mindcrime II, Take II

-or-
Why the Venue Makes Everything Different

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Category: Music

It's been a while since I've written a blog, and it seems odd that what should inspire me to write now is something I wrote a blog about not 2 months ago. But... here we are.

September 22nd, I saw Queensrÿche perform Operation: Mindrime and Operation: Mindcrime II at the Nokia Theater in New York. I went with my friends, and brothers, Jim and Joe, and had an amazing time, which you can read about here. Not long after, and after posting the above mentioned blog, I learned that my friend Phil was regretting that he didn't make the show. So, knowing that there's only a limited amount of Queensrÿche left to see, and that I would love to see the show again, I invited Phil, and of course my girl Molly, and got tickets for the show at the Chevy (Oakdale) Theatre, in Wallingford.

So, about 6:30 we depart West Haven, having picked up Angie -- who had gotten tickets with other friends, and would later have her own separate story to tell of her night. Here's your Kudos, Angie! -- and Phil, and were en route. It's about 10 or 15 minutes to the Oakdale, so after a brief discussion of that fact that we shall not "be that guy" and play any Queensrÿche on the way to the show, and a couple of running Ren and Stimpy references, we found ourselves there.

So now we are there, and of the reason why this is indeed a separate blog, and my friend Clint can now attest, a venue can make or break a show. This is by no meas a tear at the Oakdale, it has it's up points and its down points, but it simply amazes me how different the experience was at a different venue.

We arrived, and after out quick walk over from Premier Parking, we found ourselves inside the theatre. The Oakdale has a large, if slightly crowded, lobby, ringed by concessions. The beer is only slightly overpriced, and true to it's theatre roots, also has the more typical concessions like popcorn, nachos, and coffee. I can't be certain, but I do believe the merch booth was even a bit cheaper than in New York, and I did find myself buying a t-shirt from the tour.

Our seats were excellent, aisle seats right near the front of our level, and with no seats in front of us as we were at the edge of the pie-wedge shaped section 207. The view was amazing, and in stark contrast to the New York show, where we did not have seats at all until the second act.

By the time Anarchy-X came up, and I could actually see the stage set and the incomparable Scott Rockenfield wailing away at that telltale drum lick, I realized the value of our seats. I was able now to see that the sets... and moreover some of the images on the projection behind the set... had been changed since the original Mindcrime production I had been lucky enough to see a couple years back. The band sounded awesome as always, and the house sound, although maybe a touch scaled down from the Nokia, was clean and clear.

But, when Geoff Tate stumble on stage to belt out the first notes of Revolution Calling, they all but weren't there. By midway through the song, they had his vocals up, and a couple songs in, they seemed to be EQ'd perfectly, but then, when Pamela Moore came on for Spreading the Disease, it was the same old thing all over again.

Pamela's vocals would unfortunately never be spot-on, and the issues the wireless headset mics seemed to be causing only came out more in contrast to the crystal clear canned vocals of The Chase, featuring Ronnie James Dio, in the second act. In fact, even the band's synch with the the other prerecorded orchestration and effects seemed just a hair off.

The inferiority of the vocals, though, was set off by the visual superiority of the show from my much better vantage point. Visually, the show was stunning, and this was the first time I got to see the performance in its entirety without impediment. Geoff's performance was brilliant, and he moved about the stage with an energy and showmanship rare in this day and age -- rarer still when not 5 hours earlier he appeared on WCCC sounding like he was in fact dying of his head cold.

Against my better judgment, I did not mug Angela for her backstage pass, nor did I have an opportunity to acquire any of the Queensrÿche money from I'm American, but I still had a phenomenal time.

Kudos to you, Queensrÿche!

Currently watching :
Queensryche - Operation Livecrime
Release date: 20 November, 2001