Vocal armed forces supporters Queensryche were the victims of a bomb attack during a recent visit to war-torn Iraq – but frontman Geoff Tate insists making the trip was the least the band could do.

The prog metal outfit played a series of shows for military personnel. While in northern Iraq they were forced to take cover when a battle exploded around them, and although none of them were killed, they were left injured and shaken by the experience.

Tate tells BraveWords.com: “We got bombed. We had to spend a lot of hours in bunkers there, waiting for the insurgents to get under control. We all lived through it although we got injured – that was a scary situation.

“A mortar landed about a hundred yards from where I was standing – the ground just shook. It was amazingly powerful and scared the hell out of me. I’d just been standing there watching the sun come up, eating a little container of yoghurt and boom – the bomb goes off.

“It was pretty darn intense. We were there for two weeks in Kuwait and Iraq, flying around with the military to all these different bases. Playing shows to the troops is really a wonderful experience.

“They show you everything they do. You get to do things like blow stuff up with C4 explosives and shoot down helicopters – pretty macho stuff.

“It was the first time we’d ever been to the Middle East. It was interesting seeing how people live and their philosophy on things. You can’t imagine what it’s like in a war zone. You see pictures on the news – that’s one thing, but it’s a whole different thing to be there.

“It’s a very dusty place. I had to walk around with a bandana soaked in water around my face to keep my voice from going.”

Despite the violent attack Tate is glad Queensryche made the trip: “It’s the least an entertainer can do. Every soldier we met said the same thing: ‘Our life is like Groundhog Day – it’s the same as the last day.’ The only break they have in the monotony is when they have entertainment come in, and it doesn’t happen all the time.”

But the singer admits he didn’t tell his family about the bombing at first. He explains: “I didn’t set until after I got back. I didn’t want to worry them. Actually, besides that particular instance I think we were incredibly safe.”

And Tate would be happy to repeat the journey: “I’d definitely go back. In fact, we’re planning on going to Afghanistan as soon as it cools down a little bit.”

Queensryche released concept album American Soldier in 2009, which aimed to tell the story of life during war from the troops’ point of view without becoming overtly political. The theme was inspired by conversations with Tate’s father, who was a soldier, and subsequent interviews with servicemen from around the world. The band are marking the 20th anniversary of Empire, their first release to achieve mainstream success, and are working on a new album due for release next year.

The future of prog metal giants Queensryche is in doubt after the band announced plans to tour and record with Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre in Geoff Tate’s place.

Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren have teamed up with La Torre to form Rising West. They’ll play tracks from the first five Queensryche albums and aim to start work on their own record in the coming weeks.

Tate, meanwhile, is concentrating on his solo career.

Speculation has increased recently that the band were experiencing internal tensions, with unconfirmed reports of arguments, secret meetings and outbursts of violence. Tate surprised fans by telling them: “You suck!” at the Rocklahoma festival last weekend.

A band spokesman tells Classic Rock: “The fact of the matter is that Geoff Tate is concentrating on his acoustic solo performances this summer, while the other members of the band have formed Rising West. Everyone wants to stay busy, try new things and do what they do best: rock in front of the masses. Queensryche are slated to perform select dates throughout the year.”

Asked about his take on the situation, La Torre tells BraveWords: “I don’t know the dynamics within the band.”

He adds: “We’re going to be covering the first EP all the way up to Empire with a high energy show for the fans. No one else has performed these songs with the the band so it’s a huge honour for me. Geoff Tate is doing his solo stuff and that’s great. Everyone has to branch out.

“Geoff Tate is one of the best and created a style of singing. A lot of guys can sing the notes but it’s about the tone, the texture. I will deliver to the best of my ability.”

Rising West make their debut appearances on June 8 and 9 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle. La Torre, who says there are no plans to retire Crimson Glory, has released a recording of his rendition of Queenrsyche classic Queen of the Ryche.

Let's face it-Queensryche have become a cruel joke to the fans for years and Tate has apparently been the one steering them down the toilet. The last album bombed just like most of the recent ones and the inclusion of Hip-Hop elements and Pop was the final straw it seems. Tate has a massive ego and has insulted the fans before, but telling them "they suck" last week was probably not wise.
Time to fold the tent guys.

Well, this is confusing. I saw that they were opening for the Scorpions for some dates this summer. Not sure what that's gonna look like.

May have been adjusted since then, though, with all this going on.

Jason

He's been a douche for a while now. I suspect that's a good part of the reason DeGarmo left twice.

He certainly was acting bizarre at Rocklahoma.

Reports bordering on crazy at this point.

Metal Talk and Metal Sludge recently reported on unsubstantiated rumors that Tate assaulted guitarist Michael Wilton and pulled a knife on drummer Scott Rockenfield at an April 14 gig in Brazil. The incident allegedly took place after Tate overheard his bandmates discussing plans to oust him from the group.

http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/bla ... mID=174729

Probably just a bunch of nonsense garbage but to have reports like this floating around is just insane.

The entire Queensryche thing is just sad because when they were at their peak no other band in the genre could touch them. Not only were they putting out album after album of absolute top-notch quality, but they were the best rock/metal live act I have ever seen...and by a wide margin. I probably saw them on 6 different occasions during the Mindcrime/Empire/Promised Land touring cycle and the sound was spot-on every time. Tate was/is just an incredible singer, I just don't have the words to describe his voice, ability and stage presence during this timeframe. DeGarmo and Wilton, perfection every time. The entire band was just insanely good.

Unfortunately they are a band that I just don't have any time for these days. After a few disappointing releases I had finally given up on them, then was suckered into the abomination known as Mindcrime II after reading some positive reviews (still have no clue as to what anybody heard in that debacle). After that I was right back off, maybe someday will pick up the recent Chaos album but it would only be to round out the collection...would have zero expectations going in. Now that I think of it, I never bothered with that American Soldier album either.

I'd welcome seeing the rest of the band split from Tate. I remember reading back in the late 80's that Tate said he wasn't really into metal, that he was much more into acts like the Thompson Twins. I have nothing against the man and more power to him and whatever his musical preferences are, but listening to Queensryche these days and it seems like there is a pop element and a metal element and in this band's case the two have not been able to mix (not at all saying that the two styles cannot be successfully mixed..they actually did it on Empire but haven't been able to do it since). I don't know anything at all about Parker Lundgren, so the following statement is not any commentary about him, but if the trio of Wilton/Jackson/Rockenfield were to split with Tate and reunite with DeGarmo it would be an event that I would be real excited about. While Wilton has written some real quality material in Queensryche's past, his song-writing well seems to have dried up a little bit over the last few years and I think the band would need another songwriter like DeGarmo to really make it top-notch.

One little story with a bit of irony attached. Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was working in a record shop. Queensryche did an in-store appearance. After the band was done with the signings, the doors were locked for about 20 minutes to put the shop back in order and allow the band to browse around and pick up a few CDs. DeGarmo was going through CDs and a buddy of mine was standing next to him chatting. My buddy pulled out a copy of Crimson Glory's Transcendence CD and asked DeGarmo if he had ever heard their stuff, as they were playing a similar type of progressive metal. DeGarmo stated he hadn't, and asked Tate (who was in the next aisle directly across from DeGarmo) if he had heard this band and that they played a similar type of music. Tate just rolled his eyes and gave a "whatever/who cares" type of response. It's pretty strange that 20+ years later that the rest of the band could bail on Tate and play with a singer that is currently working with Crimson Glory (although not the same singer, the singer that performed on Transcendence passed away a couple years ago).

Queensryche‘s publicist has issued a statement in the wake of wild (and unconfirmed) reports stating that singer Geoff Tate physically attacked and threatened two of his bandmates during a recent soundcheck, allegedly even brandishing a knife at one point.

Metal Talk quotes Brazilian website Collector’s Room in recounting that Tate overheard his bandmates plotting to fire him prior to an April 14 show in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to the (again, unverified) report, Tate “pushed (guitarist) Michael Wilton violently and he fell to the floor, then he went towards (drummer) Scott Rockenfield and pointed a knife at him, threatening him.” According to the account, security personnel separated the musicians, and after much debate they went on to perform as scheduled that night.

This report, coupled with the news that the other four current members of Queensryche will be touring without Tate as part of a new band entitled Rising West, has fueled speculation that a band break-up is imminent. Tate will embarking on a solo acoustic tour at around the same time. But as publicist Jeff Albright tells Billboard, the group are simply pursuing different creative projects for a while:
“

There’s really no ‘situation’ other than the fact that Geoff Tate is concentrating on his acoustic solo performances this summer while the other members of the band have formed a new outfit called Rising West with Todd La Torre of Crimson Glory. Everyone wants to stay busy, try new things and do what they do best . . . and, of course, that’s rock in front of the masses. Queensryche are slated to perform select dates throughout the year.”

The members of Queensryche certainly looked like they wanted to be somewhere else during the performance in Oklahoma last weekend. But they still put on a good show. Tate was acting like a loony during that show. jeez.

I used to keep up with the Queensryche newsgroup back when I still cared. This was back around the time of HITNF or so. There were a lot of folks there from the Fan Club and even the guy that used to put out the Screaming In Digital webzine. There was a lot of drama with the Fan Club when Tate got remarried and then put his new wife in charge of it. From what I remember, that was about the time they started charging for pretty much everything. They ran that club as a money-making venture, not something for the fans to keep up with the band.

I pretty much lost all interest and respect when I heard Tate give an interview where he basically admitted he didn't really like the band's music, didn't really have anything artistic to say with the band and was really only in it for the money. There's also plenty of other interviews with other band members where they said all communication within the band was through lawyers.

The side projects (Spys For Darwin, Slave To The System, Rockenfield/Speer), aside from Tate's solo stuff, have all been a lot more interesting than Queensryche for at least a decade. O:MII only had one good song (The Hands) as far as I was concerned - and that one ripped off the melody from the original O:M.

Sigh... even as a longtime fan, it's hard to argue against much of what has been said in this thread.

Just watched the Rocklahoma stuff, at least the part the rain didn't wipe out. What a weird dynamic between the band - actually, there was none. Tate could have been a hologram - there was no interaction between him and the band. None. He didn't look at anyone and no one looked at him. Really bizarre. And at the end of "Eyes Of A Stranger", the last song, the guys in the band waved and thanked the audience - and Tate was long gone. He was offstage probably close to two minutes before the song ended.

And the way he sang the beginning of "Silent Lucidity" was really bad. Very affected voice. After that, he sounded great on the song, as he did on all the older stuff. The newer stuff made me glad I didn't buy those albums (although I do like American Soldier) - really bad stuff. Tate's doing some goofy makeup thing with his eyes, and combined with the shaved head, it really magnifies some of his facial expressions and makes him look a bit off-kilter.

When they came offstage, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton were interviewed by Eddie Trunk. Trunk asked them how it felt onstage, and for just a second, Rockenfield gives him a look that says, 'Are you seirous?' Kind of subtle, but definitely there.

Alan

Is it any wonder DeGarmo decided being a pilot was a better option than being a rockstar?

Some guys do both.





"Scream for me business class!"

Alan

Yeah, bit Bruce seems to still be having fun. I doubt being in Queensryche is still fun.

Steve Morse almost quit too.

And really, the Morse-era Queensrÿche is definitely the band's peak period...

Steve Morse was in Queensryche?

When did this happen?

"It's a joke, son, you're supposed to laugh."

That's what I get for not being clear!

So, to clarify, Steve Morse was going to quit music to be a pilot. I can't remember whether it was the Kansas gig or Deep Purple that changed his mind.

Neither. It was the poor quality of the pilot groupies.

Alan

A guy I used to work with is now singing in one of Michael Wilton's side projects. Don't know the name.