By Andrew Catania
Fresh off the Monsters of Rock Cruise, Queensryche rolled into Orlando last night and delivered a high powered performance on the opening night of the first leg of The Verdict Tour. Todd LaTorre was in usual top shape from the opener “Blood of the Levant” from their new album The Verdict. The band sounded great and on point during their unusually short hour and fifteen minute set. Normally, headliners would play at least 90 minutes. It could be because of the late start at 9:00 and they didn’t take the stage until 10:15.
Queensryche mixed up the playlist and added more songs from the LaTorre era albums due to increased fan requests. They did play the classics such as “Queen of the Reich”, “Silent Lucidity”, “Empire“, and “Jet City Woman.”
New drummer Casey Grillo (Kamelot) fit in perfectly with the band. It is still unknown if longtime drummer Scott Rockenfield will return to the band. Michael Wilton, Parker Lundgren and Eddie Jackson rocked with the band.
Opening act Fates Warning came out strong covering there vast catalog of music. Ray Alder and company haven’t lost their step in their long-storied career.
This was a great show from opening to close. Todd LaTorre brings back the classic Ryche sound that the storied first few albums that Geoff Tate ruled the genre during that time. Unfortunately, Tate wants to play with violins and cellos in his Broadway type shows these days.
My only two complaints about this show are a longer set and they should be playing much larger venues. Unfortunately, in this US people don’t support or embrace metal like they do in other countries like Europe where Queensryche will play festivals of 80K fans. Definitely check this tour out!
