Condition HmanTour 2016

Archer Nation
Methodica
The Corporation, Sheffield - Saturday 27th August 2016
Due to the early start I only caught the last ten minutes of Progressive
Progressive Metal band
Methodica who had a great sound and certainly worth checking out in the future. The sound
was cranked up to near intolerable levels for American three-piece
piece Archer Nation who were
all about power and aggression and bass player David De Silva (obviously taking a break
bre
from his football duties at Man. City) would have had a nodding approval from the late, great
Lemmy, his bass turned up to almost unbearable levels.
Long before Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the plethora of other bands from Seattle came
Queensrche, who, on their arrival back in 1984,
1984 changed the Heavy Metal landscape
forever. The current line-up
up still boasts three original members: guitarist Michael Wilton and
rhythm section Scott Rockenfield (drums) and Eddie Jackson (bass). As the key principle
songwriters
ters vocalist Geoff Tate and guitarist Chris Degarmo are no longer in the band it
would be reasonable to expect this just to be a mere tribute band just rehashing the old
classics. Not so. Firstly,
irstly, Degarmo has not been in Queensrche
Queensr che for over eighteen years
year and
Tate lost the plot and his voice a few years back before finally being fired from the band and
replaced by ex-Crimson
Crimson Glory vocalist Todd La Tore in 2012; the line-up
up is completed by
guitarist Parker Lungren.
Queensrche
che hit the stage to a heros reception
reception and opened with Guardian from their
latest album, 2015s Condition Hman,
Hman a song that is pure classic Rche.
R
The already
vociferous noise levels from the crowd increased further with Operation: Mindcrime
Mindcrime
followed by Best I Can from the bands most successful and commercial period.
I was pleased at the inclusion of Damaged from the highly underrated Promised
Promise
Land and Killing Words showcased the symbiotic relationship between band and fans.
Queensrche were tighter than a camels arse
arse in a sandstorm but the star of the show
had to be La Tore whose vocals that were simply exceptional. The latter were highlighted
throughout the set but none more so than on The Mission which La Tore pulled off with

Review by Mark Donnelly (August 2016) Page 1

consummate ease. Unsurprisingly, the pace was reduced soon after with the international
smash hit Silent Lucidity when the hairs on my arm physically stood on their ends.

The hits kept on coming with Empire, Jet City Woman and the pure straight ahead
Metal of Queen of the Reich where the crowd almost went into meltdown. Even the new
track Eye9 received a brilliant reception. The main set came to a conclusion with a
phenomenal rendition of Take Hold of the Flame.
The band briefly left the stage before returning for a well deserved two-song encore
starting with Screaming in Digital from Rage for Order, an album released in 1986, well
ahead of its time.

Review by Mark Donnelly (August 2016) Page 2

Dr. David, telephone please. Dr. David, Dr. Blair, Dr. Blair, Dr. J. Hamilton, Dr. J
Hamilton, was the cue for the last song of the evening and my all-time favourite
Queensrche song Eyes of a Stranger. Simply sensational and I dont think I was alone in
that opinion judging by the crowd response as the band left the stage for the final time.
The only disappointment of a faultless performance was that the set was only seventyfive minutes in length. In defence of the latter, the shortness of the performance was probably
designed to protect La Tores vocal chords. Here is a band on top form that are still producing
great music that fits seamlessly with their classics.Revolution!

Review by Mark Donnelly (August 2016) Page 3