Concerts: Geoff Tate Announces "Queenryche Staring Geoff Tate - The Farewell Tour&quo
More than thirty years after setting forth on the musical journey that would become known as Queensrÿche, singer Geoff Tate -- one of rock's quintessential front men and the lead vocalist heard on all Queensrÿche hits -- will be performing his farewell tour as Queensrÿche beginning in late July.
The announcement of the tour, "Queensrÿche Starring Geoff Tate - The Farewell Tour," comes hot on the heels of the recent amicable settlement with his former bandmates Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson and Scott Rockenfield, who will be continuing with the band name.
With Geoff at the helm of Queensrÿche, the band experienced incredible success, garnering four Grammy nominations, performing in 46 different countries and selling over 20 million albums worldwide.
"One thing that's really important for fans to know is that this never went to court," comments Geoff Tate, who will be continuing as "Geoff Tate: The Voice Of Queensrÿche" once the summer farewell tour is complete.
As part of the agreement between the original members, Geoff will have the exclusive right to perform the concept albums Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II as unique performances.
For the past several months, Geoff and his version of Queensrÿche (comprised of bassist Rudy Sarzo, guitarist Robert Sarzo, guitarist Kelly Gray, drummer Simon Wright and keyboardist Randy Gane) have been performing the fan favorite on their 25th-Anniversary Mindcrime Tour (with special guest Sass Jordan as "Sister Mary") in front of sold-out audiences everywhere.
"It's sort of similar to the Pink Floyd situation where Roger Waters retained The Wall," comments Geoff. "Mindcrime was my thing and my story, so it's only appropriate that I keep that... The others will be touring as Queensrÿche and I'll be continuing on as me."
The popularity of the theatrical back-to-back presentation of the Operation: Mindcrime saga (I and II) was exemplified when the performance was captured for the 2007 double DVD/CD set, Mindcrime At The Moore, that hit #1 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart and eventually reached gold status.
For the forthcoming tour, Geoff's version of Queensrÿche will be performing all the hits along with some rarities to celebrate the music he's enjoyed making over the past thirty years.
Although the name will change, the lineup of stellar musicians performing with Geoff after this "farewell" tour is expected to remain the same.
Tickets are on sale now (at least for most shows)
"Queensrÿche Starring Geoff Tate - The Farewell Tour" dates:
July 30 - Hermosa Beach, CA - Saint Rocke
July 31 - San Juan Capistrano, CA - The Coach House
Aug. 01 - El Cajon, CA - Sycuan Casino
Aug. 02 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
Aug. 03 - Agoura, CA - The Canyon Club
Aug. 07 - Fresno, CA - Strummer's
Aug. 08 - Vacaville, CA - Theatre Deville
Aug. 09 - Morgan Hill, CA - Downtown Amphitheater
Aug. 12 - Nashville, TN - Music Marathon Works
Aug. 13 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
Aug. 14 - Charlotte, NC - The Chop Shop
Aug. 15 - Wilmington, NC - Ziggy’s By The Sea
Aug. 16 - Winston-Salem, NC - Ziggy’s
Aug. 17 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage
Aug. 19 - Dallas, TX - Trees
Aug. 20 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theatre
Aug. 22 - Tucson, AX - Rialto Theatre
Aug. 23 - Scottsdale, AZ - Talking Stick Resort
Aug. 24 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
Aug. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
Aug. 28 - Wichita, KS - The Cotillion
Aug. 30 - Bolingbrook, IL - Tailgaters
Further on the settlement: According to the agreement, Jackson, Rockenfield and Wilton along with recent Queensrÿche members, Todd La Torre and Parker Lundgren, will now be the sole entity recording and touring as Queensrÿche, performing selections from their entire musical catalog that spans over 30 years of material. Original Queensrÿche lead singer Geoff Tate will continue to record, perform and pursue a variety of other creative endeavors and, as part of the agreement, will have the exclusive rights to perform Operation: Mindcrime I and II in their entirety as a unique performance.
The Queensrÿche corporate assets will be evenly divided among Wilton, Jackson, Rockenfield and Tate.
Speaking to Billboard.com's Christa Titus, Tate said about the settlement: "I'm very happy that it's over and done and we can all move on with our lives.
"We've been trying to work something out for months and months and months, and it's like any kind of lawsuit, it's just slow going. But finally I think the realization that going to court over the whole thing was going to be a huge nightmare and huge financial mess for everybody that [we] really started to look at it more seriously and realistically."
Asked what he is going to be doing musically going forward, Tate said: "I can't really give any details now. I'll be announcing some information over the summer what my future plans are going to be. Right now I'm concentrating a show I've got in rehearsals for now in Seattle. I've got five shows doing my Rock In Vaudeville show and when that's done, the last of the Queensrÿche dates."
He added: "I think just, I'm ready to move on and do something different. And this is a great launching point to do that from, and I'm really looking forward to it."
[Source: Blabbermouth.net]
