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When a band like Queensryche take to the stage with all the trimmings to perform their Operation Mindcrime masterpiece in it's entirety, you kind of know what to expect. You know the show is going to be big, and if you've seen the Mindcrime at the Moore DVD, you even know mostly how the show is going to look.
What isn't apparent until the opening notes resonate around the auditorium is how it feels to be in the audience as the band launch into the first half of the show, the feeling of being swept along, carried forth on a wave of adulation and a unique soundscape of politically inspired music. That's the first thing that happens. After that it's all plain sailing for Geoff Tate and co on the stage.
Tate may not be the vocalist he was when Operation Mindcrime was first released, but what he may have lost in vocal presence is a minor infraction, and more than made up by the quality of the production that he has built the performance around.
He owns the stage, but what is even more evcident is that the band are perfectly comfortable in their roles within the overall performance. Pamela Moore is divine in her performance, and the chemistry on stage between her and Tate spills everywhere like whispy tendrils of passion. Mindcrime live just wouldn't have seemed right without her.
For those that were there, they paid witness to an event that might not be seen in the UK again. There's no guarantee that this set will ever be played again. and for those that missed out... well... what can you say to them really?
