The last stop of Queensryche’s The Verdict tour was at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida on February 27, 2020. As is customary for most heavy rock concerts at The Plaza Live, this was a general admission show. The floor was about half full, but the balcony was sold-out, likely because of the more mature audience, as Queensryche has been around for 30 years. The tour supporting the band’s 15th album, “The Verdict” began two months earlier in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and covered the country with 28 shows in 15 states. Supporting Queensryche were Eve to Adam and John 5.
Eve to Adam, formed in 1997 in New York, opened the show promptly at 8:00 pm, spilling their energy into the crowd. They made it clear that they are a serious, high energy rock-n-roll band with their six song set, ending with the bands highest charting single, “Immortal”, which broke the top 15 on the Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart in 2014. This band just plain rocked out – a great opening band to wake up the crowd.
Band:
Taki Sassaris Lead Vocals
Jeff Raines- Drums
Ronny Gutierrez – Guitar
Ilyn Nathaniel – Bass
Setlist:
Next up was the outrageous performance of John 5. From the blown-up castle stage entrance to John 5’s stage makeup, the thing that was almost overlooked was he musical ability. John 5 is an amazing guitar player.
Having the theatrical genius of Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie on his resume, John 5’s performance was unforgettable. At times, there were actors in blowup suites on stage, colored balloons were released, and a cannon blasted a confetti cloud as John 5 stood on the barrier amidst the frenzied fans.
The set was entirely instrumental as John 5 played guitar, mandolin, and banjo. He even played his guitar with a cello bow. Every moment of the show was a Kodak moment and, as a reviewer, every time I thought I was done shooting, another event on stage had me raising the camera to my eye.
As a lover of great electric guitar playing, I was blown away by John 5’s performance and his ability. Looking back on what I witnessed, a smile still permeates my lips. “Wow!” is all I have to say.
Band:
John 5 – Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin
Ian Ross – Bass
Logan Nix – Drums
Setlist:
- Robot Invasion Warning
- Crank It – Living With Ghosts (John 5 and The Creatures cover)
- Six Hundred and Sixty Six Pickers in Hell, CA
- Zoinks! (John 5 and The Creatures cover)
- Hell Haw I.G.R. (John 5 and The Creatures cover)
- Howdy (John 5 and The Creatures cover)
- Season of the Witch (John 5 and The Creatures cover)
- First Victim
- The Black Grass Plague (John 5 and The Creatures cover)
- I Am John 5
- Cactus Flower
- Limelight / Fly by Night / Thunder Kiss ’65 / The Beautiful People / Spoonman / Dr. Feelgood / Unchained / I’m Broken / Walk
With 15 albums selling over 20 million copies combined, Queensryche is considered a heavy metal powerhouse. They took the stage amidst smoke cannons blasting, and exploded into “Operation: Mindcrime”, from the 1988 gold album of the same name.
In their 30 year history, the only remaining original members are Michael Wilton on guitar, and bass player Eddie Jackson. Todd LaTorre replaced lead singer Geoff Tate in 2012, and his tone and range kept the integrity of the band’s sound. Following a 14 song set that included the Grammy nominated hit “Silent Lucidity,” they came out and did a four song encore, ending the evening with “Eyes of a Stranger.”
It was a very polished show from a mature band with a great library of music, in an up-close-and-personal setting. Queensryche is going strong and will likely be around for another decade, as they are still putting out great music. You can catch Queensryche in Las Vegas for nine shows in July during “SCORPIONS ‘Sin City Nights’ Las Vegas Residency With QUEENSRŸCHE
Band:
Todd LaTorre – Lead Vocals
Michael Wilton – Guitar
Eddie Jackson – Bass
Casey Grillo – Drums
Parker Lundgren – Guitar
Setlist:
- Prophecy
- Operation: Mindcrime
- Walk in the Shadows
- Resistance
- Man the Machine
- Take Hold of the Flame
- Bent
- The Needle Lies
- Dark Reverie
- The Mission
- Silent Lucidity
- Jet City Woman
- Screaming in Digital
- Queen of the Reich
Encore:
Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.
