No need for a DeLorean, all that was needed to
go back in time was a ticket to the sold-out Queensryche show
down at the Théâtre Beanfield this past Saturday night. Once inside the historic old building, you
are instantly transported to the early days of entertainment in Montreal, as
some of the murals that date back to the 1920s still decorate the walls. A quick adjustment of the time circuits had
us speeding through time at 88mph, or 142km/h Canadian, to 1984. A time when the North American heavy metal scene
was beginning to explode, denim and leather were the fashion de jour and it was also the year that two Queensryche released their debut album, The
Warning. An album that is still heralded to this day as one of the most important to be released so early in the genres history. During this tour, headlined by
Queensryche,
they celebrate that moment in time as they play that entire album in full, as
well as their self-titled EP which was released the year before. Their set opened with the four songs from the
Queensryche EP before the air raid sirens began to wail and we were off to the
races. Queensryche already has a long standing relationship with the city. It was here that former singer Geoff Tate came up with the idea behind what is possibly one of the greatest concept albums of all time, Operation: Mindrime, and the band was not about to let down a sold out room full of their fans. They were spot on from the moment that singer Todd LaTorre hit the stage adorned
in his Montreal Canadiens jersey.
LaTorre’s vocals are very true to the original versions and 
with original
guitarist Michael Wilton and Eddie Jackson on bass, there was never any doubt
that the music would be spot on. Which
it was. Queensryche’s most recent album
was 2022’s Digital Noise Alliance, though you won’t be hearing any of those
songs on this tour. The joints may be a
little more sore and the hair might be a little more grey, if any remains at
all. But, for a few hours, it was 1984
all over again, and nobody would have minded if the Flux Capacitor had broken
and left us there for the rest of time.
The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/3200sec, ISO 2000 at 24mm, the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 2000 at 24mm and the third photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 800 at 70mm. Here are several more photographs that I took while Queensryche were on stage.
