Silent for many years since going on an apparent hiatus 2017, Scott Rockenfeld says he is still a member of Queensryche and the fans “have not been given the facts, by any means.” Scott hasn’t recorded or performed with the band for four years at this point and did not appear on the 2019 album The Verdict (Century Media Records). Drums on the album were performed by vocalist Todd La Torre and live drumming has been provided by Casey Grillo. Rockenfeld promised more details soon.
The Annual Metal Hall of Fame Gala – “the most important night in metal” – can now be seen exclusively on Amazon Prime Television. The program features an overview with features of the 2020 Metal Hall of Fame including inductions, tributes, and all-star jams. Watch heavy metal legends Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Geoff Tate, Don Dokken, Chris Poland, Stephen Pearcy, Graham Bonnet, Metal Church, legendary music promoter Jack Orbin and Prong as they are inducted into the Hall and amazing performances including Chris Poland, Riot Act (featuring members of Riot), and an epic jam featuring Steve Vai, Geoff Tate, Joe Satriani, Bjorn Englen, Chris Poland, and Pat Gesualdo. Modern Drummer magazine also joined forces with the Metal Hall of Fame to present the only official tribute to late Rush drummer Neil Peart, who had passed away just a week before the event.Continue reading
Last night in Anaheim during NAMM, The Metal Hall of Fame (formerly the Hall of Heavy Metal), an all-star band of metal legends covered metal classic ‘Paranoid’ Black Sabbath. The band was comprised of Geoff Tate (formerly of Queensrÿche), Joe Satriani (Chickenfoot), Steve Vai, Chris Poland (formerly of Megadeth), Bjorn Englen (Dio Disciples) and Pat Gesualdo last night’s (Wednesday, January 15). Watch fan-filmed footage below! Metal Hall Of Fame event at the Marriott Delta Garden Grove in Anaheim, California. Watch fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.Continue reading
Big news! The Hall of Heavy Metal History a.k.a. The Metal Hall of Fame has announced that the 2020 Annual Metal Hall of Fame Celebrity Charity Gala will be filmed live and will air on Amazon Prime. Hard rock and heavy metal fans in attendance will be featured in the filming, which will take place on January 15 at the Marriott Delta Garden Grove in Anaheim, CA. The world premiere of the film will air in early 2020, reaching more than 100 million subscribers. Metal Hall of Fame President/CEO Pat Gesualdo says, “Having the World Premier for the 2020 Metal Hall of Fame Gala on Amazon Prime is a great honor. We are excited to share the most important night in metal with music fans everywhere, and to let so many people take part in our charity event.” 2020 Metal Hall of Fame inductees include Steve Vai, Geoff Tate (Queensryche), Don Dokken (Dokken), Stephen Pearcy (Ratt), Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz), Joe Satriani, legendary metal promoter Stone City Attractions, Metal Church, Prong, and former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland. Continue reading
In life there are distinctive sounds that most humans recognize, birds chirping, the sound of rain and Geoff Tate’s signature vibrato rich vocals. Tate is gifting the music world with his phenomenal vocal prowess in the form of Sweet Oblivion’s new album, along with uber talented Italian musicians Simone Mularoni on Guitar and Bass, Emanuele Casali on Keyboards and Paolo Caridi on Drums. The album is deliciously reminiscent of Tate’s early indelible work with Queensryche enhanced by the unique song writing abilities of Mularoni.
Long-running Heavy Metal legends Queensrÿche recently released their excellent new album The Verdict on Century Media Records. We caught up with founding member Michael “Whip” Wilton at their sold-out show at Irving Plaza in New York City and talked about the new album, the loyalty of their fans, working with Chris “Zeuss” Harris, the bands’ approach to music videos, their tour plans for the rest of 2019, some key upcoming milestone album anniversaries in their career, and much more. Interview by Keefy and videography by Omar Cordy of OJC Photography.Continue reading
Many believed the end was nigh for Washington act Queensrÿche when the legendary Power/Prog Metallers fired their iconic vocalist Geoff Tate back in 2012. However, more than happy to prove those people wrong, the recruitment of former Crimson Glory vocalist Todd La Torre has seen the band release some of their strongest material for quite some time.Continue reading
The bombastic operatic Metal of Avantasia continues apace with their eighth album Moonglow (Nuclear Blast), and just in case you were in any doubt it opens with a nigh on ten minute slice of pomp that would not sound out of place on Meatloaf’s Bat Out Of Hell 2 (MCA/Virgin). The conceptual nature and fantastical sound of previous album Ghostlights is expanded upon here, helped by the ample time Tobias Sammet was given when making it.Continue reading
ShipRocked is one of the great music cruise experience around, and the 2019 lineup ha just been announced. Jam-packed with talent, the lineup features Papa Roach, Bullet For My Valentine, I Prevail, Nothing More, Suicidal Tendencies, Sevendust, comedian Brian Posehn and more. Celebrating 10 Years and expanded to five days total, ShipRocked 2019 sets sail January 26-31, 2019 onboard Carnival Valor departing from Galveston, Texas, with stops in Cozumel and The Yucatan in Mexico. Staterooms for ShipRocked 2019 are sold out, but a wait list is available at the links below.Continue reading
Operation: Mindcrime, in support of their début album took to the legendary venue of The Chance to showcase material from The Key (Frontiers Records) album and as well as Queensryche classics in 90 minute set full of musicianship. With openers Mike Campesa, Christian Gisondi and Parallel Universe the crowd was well primed for a night of stories through songs.
Opening with a string of ‘Rchye songs starting with ‘Neue Regal’ and ‘Screaming in Digital’, the show was one big sing-a-long. Along for the ride again with Geoff Tate are drummer Simon Wright, the masterful time-keeper who just handled everything with such ease. Keyboardist wizard Randy Gane and guitar maestro Kelly Gray (who looks more like a frontiersman sheriff nowadays) bring their A game and some solid harmonies. New to the fold is second guitarist Scott Moughton and bassist Tim Fernley who both fit in smoothly with the bunch. They gel so well you forget they’re the rookies of the group.
Keeping the crowd guessing, the band went into an acoustic set of ‘Jet City Woman’, ‘Take Hold of the Flame’, ‘Silent Lucidity’ and ‘The Weight of the World’. After another story intro from Geoff, they preformed a slew of songs from The Key. From opener ‘Burn’ and ‘Re-Inventing the Future’ you get a glimpse at what this band has in store for this first act of a massively planned trilogy. With saxophone in hand they went into ‘The Fall’ which is one of my favorite songs off the album. Ending the night with ‘Breaking the Silence’ and ‘Empire’, everyone in attendance seemed well satisfied with the song choices of the evening.
From opener to headliner, this was a great night for progressive music fans. The year’s early, but this is easily one of my favorite shows of 2016. Operation: Mindcrime is a must see live act.
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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY OMAR CORDY
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