Queensrӱche / Archer Nation / Methodica - Corporation, Sheffield (UK) - 27 August 2016

It had been many moons since l last saw Queensrӱche live, that was during the Geoff Tate times. In fact, it was during the Chris De Garmo days which was, I believe, pre 1997... good Lord.

I always liked Tate's voice singing Queensrӱche songs, and as you probably already know, I am always of the opinion that when an original member of a band leaves, it is no longer really that band, especially when it's the vocalist. I also hadn't heard anything from them for some time, so I was quite eager, but also a little unsure, to hear what Todd La Torre sounded like in Tate's shoes.

Before Queensrӱche arrived though, there were two support bands, the first of which was called Methodica who were surprisingly good for an opening band. The following, named Archer Nation, wasn't to my taste at all, being mainly all on one level and too loud (now there's something that a few years ago I would never have thought I would see myself writing).

So, on to the main men and I have to say right from the outset and opening number 'Guardian' – a song from latest album 'Condition Human' – I knew my concerns were unfounded. The whole show was excellent and although the Corporation isn't the biggest of venues, the fact that it was packed and everybody was up for it gave it a great atmosphere. To cut a long review short, what we got was basically a "best of" set, which everybody was delighted with. Old favourites such as 'Operation: Mindcrime', 'Best I Can', 'Damaged', 'Silent Lucidity' (which the crowd effectively took control of), 'Empire', 'Queen Of The Reich' and 'Jet City Woman' were all in the mix of what I would describe as a Queensrӱche classic orgy. We did get one other new song, 'Eye 9', which came across very well live and conspicuous by their absence was material from 'Hear In The Now Frontier', 'Q2K' and anything from the ten year period between 2003 and 2013, which was probably a good decision. We had two encore songs, 'Screaming In Digital' and 'Eyes Of A Stranger', which once again had everybody singing along.

In short, we all had an excellent night and anybody who thought about going, but didn't because they felt they wouldn't enjoy it without Tate, well, you missed something here. In fact, at one point in the evening, La Torre held the mic out to the audience while he kept singing, and we could still hear him clearly. Definitely check them out next time they tour.

Andy Brailsford