I attended the Pain in the Grass music festival at the White River Amphitheater outside Seattle this past Saturday and got the chance to hear some great music. Because I work the graveyard shift I purposely missed the first three bands (so I could get some sleep), but got there in time to take in Sevendust, Shinedown, Seether and Queensryche. Very quickly, Sevendust was great, Shinedown was somewhat disappointing, and Seether (one of my personal favorites-see my avatar) was fantastic, but even they paled in comparison to Queensryche. I've been a fan of thiers since the Operation Mindcrime album in the late 80's, but never had the opportunity to see them until now. They were playing with a 12 piece string orchestra aptly called the Empire Orchestra which I actually couldn't hear for the most part (kind of like when Kansas plays with an orchestra). They opened the concert with the drum driven "Anarchy X" and were accompanied by the Seattle Seahawks 20 piece "Blue Thunder" drum corp. That was pretty damn cool to see and hear. They went on to play about an hour and a half set comprised of songs mostly from the Operation Mindcrime and Empire albums with a few other rare gems that would have worked well with the orchestra (if you could hear them). The highlights for me were getting to hear Jet City Woman, Silent Lucidity and my personal favorite, Is There Anybody Listening. Geoff Tate's voice was beyond phenominal. He is as comfortable on stage as Robby was. You don't often see that from people when they don't have an instrument to hide behind. I did have the pleasure of seeing Tate sing Silent Lucidity with the Transiberian Orchestra about two years ago when they played at Key Arena. Overall it was a pretty nice day to get out and listen to music and forget about life for a while. Have a great day!

I've only had the pleasure of seeing Queensryche once... in Portland back in 2004. By a fluke, I was given an exchange for my terrible seat and was put in the front row! :D There I was, surrounded by a dozen "tribeswomen"... LOL! I was embarrassed because I did not know the words to all the songs when all these other fans did, but I sang along to the ones I knew, and of course, seeing the original Operation Mindcrime was unbelievable!

I almost got to see them a couple times since then, but there was always a last minute financial blunder that kept me from buying a ticket. Hopefully, I'll get to see them again someday.

It is my most honest opinion that Geoff Tate has the BEST voice in rock-n-roll in these modern times! His vocal range is incredible and just about pitch perfect. I think the only person who comes close to Tate's range is James LaBrie, but I still think Tate far outshines him. Just my opinion. :D

Thanks for the review, Guy! Glad you had a good time seeing some of your faves! Say hello to the rest of the clan for me and hope our paths cross again soon! :)

And thanks, Hunni, for your thoughts on Geoff Tate. Not my cup of tea but his vocal abilities cannot be denied! :wink:

Peace,
Alex