Queensryche, Armored Saint, Midnight Eternal

Friday December 9th I traveled roughly a hundred miles south to the city of Chicago to see Queensryche, with support coming from Armored Saint and the up and coming symphonic metallers from New York, Midnight Eternal. Midnight Eternal played through songs from their self titled debut disc. Seven songs in total, starting with the song that has the band's namesake. A speedy yet melodic song, that is a solid opener, and introduces the an unknown audience to what they have to offer right off the bat. Raine Hilal's voice sounds just like it does on their debut, a voice you will either love or you just won't. I personally do like her voice a lot, and she has great stage presence. She danced around the stage, engaged the crowd, and was perfectly on pitch. Richard Fischer's guitar playing was flashy, technical and melodic. He ripped through some great solos throughout the whole set. A performance that caught the eyes of many in the crowd, who had no idea who the band was. Their first single Signs Of Fire, received a little ovation from the crowd, thinking some of the people in the crowd besides myself and those with me at the show, had heard this song before. A great performance of that song was followed by the blistering Shadows Falls, a song that incorporates death metal vocals from bassist Greg Manning and blastbeats from Dan Prestup. Most of the crowd seemed into the band by this point, with people still coming into the venue. The rest of the set was filled more melodic symphonic metal, and closer When Love And Faith Collide was the song that introduced me to the band on Youtube. A band I cant wait to see again!

John Bush and company in Armored Saint came all guns blazing with last years Win Hands Down followed by classics like March Of The Saint and their Mad House closing the show. Other highlights were Control Issues, In An Instant, and Reign Of Fire. Bush sounded like the John Bush you know, Joey Vera played bass like a monster, and band founders and brothers brothers Gonzo(drums) and Phil(guitarist) Sandoval, with guitarist Jeff Duncan all excuted their notes perfectly as expected. With a band like this over thirty years old, it is refreshing to hear them play and sound so well.

I have reviewed another Queensryche show before on this site, which was set in a outdoor venue. Something about standing only a few inches away from the stage in a smaller venue, makes things even better for me. Condition Human's Guardian opened things up, with the music video playing behind them on dual screens. The classic song from the seminal album, Operation: Mindcrime followed. I have said many times that Todd La Torre, is not a Geoff Tate clone, and I will always believe that. Two albums now, he is the voice of Queensryche present and future, and those who can't live with that fact, definitely need to move on. Empire's Best I Can was the first of four(Silent Lucidity, Empire, Jet City Woman)from the many platinum Empire album. A few surprises were thrown in, like the much under appreciated Promised Land disc, the song Damaged(which I feel is one of the best songs on that disc). Older Classics like The Killing Words, The Mission, and my favorite, Queen Of The Reich were placed throughout the set. Take Hold Of the Flame finished the main set, and classics Screaming In Digital and Eyes of a Stranger closed the two song encore. I could say how perfect every member of the band played, but that would not only be the truth, but exactly the same as my last review. When it comes to Queensryche live, I don't expect or ever see anything less than that since this reborn Queensryche self titled Century Media release.

Three great bands, three great sets, a perfect night on a bitter and cold night in the Windy City.
You can listen to my review with guitarists Michael Wilton of Queensryche, HERE. I apologize for the ringtone in the background that appears a few times during the review.