Tour Date Archive

The Mob Live Shows (1981-1982)

The Mob wasn't a signed band, and didn't gig regularly, playing just a handful of shows prior to becoming Queensryche. The Mob didn't have a singer, so the shows they did were with Geoff (then Jeff) Tate, when he was up for doing a gig with the group. The three dates below are the known shows The Mob played, courtesy of Brett Miller.

A typical set from The Mob looked like this (from Sept. 26, 1981):

The EP Tour (1983)

Queensryche's tour for the EP was a brief one, with six weeks of dates in the U.S. and Canada, supporting Zebra, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister and Dio. Queensryche did do a couple of headline dates in that span, however. Queensryche's first two shows were on June 29, 1983 at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Ore.; and June 30, 1983; at Seattle's Paramount Theater. The actual touring began in September 1983.

As a support act, Queensryche's set ran approximately 45-60 minutes and contained the songs from the EP, plus early demo versions of other tunes the band was writing for what would become The Warning. The song "Waiting for the Kill" was performed on this tour, but was never formally recorded for an album. The solo in the song was lifted, however, and was placed into a new track ("NM 156"), on The Warning.

A typical set on the EP Tour looked like this:

The Warning Tour (1984-1985)

The Warning tour marked the first performances outside the U.S. and Canada for Queensryche. The band started in Japan and covered both Europe and the U.S. before coming home. Queensryche opened for Kiss, Dio and Iron Maiden at various point over the course of 10 months.

With just The Warning and EP under their belts, Queensryche obviously drew heavily from both releases on the tour. In a bold move, Queensryche recorded its second live date on the tour for a live home video -- Live in Tokyo. The band played two consecutive nights in the city as headliners.

The first headline shows had "NM 156" being performed as the lead-off song (although the song was not included on Live in Tokyo, which took various songs from the Aug. 5, 1984 gig and put them in a different order), likely because the band was under the impression that it would be the lead track from The Warning. But when they found out EMI Records had switched "Warning" to the lead spot in the album's track order, Queensryche went to "Nightrider" to start most opening and headline shows in late 1984. "NM 156" returned as the lead cut in headline gigs in spring 1985.

The Warning tour also featured a guitar solo spot showcasing Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton. Of note were Queensryche's headline shows in July 1985, where they twice performed an early version of "Neue Regel," which would appear on the band's next record -- Rage for Order -- in 1986. The length of Queensryche's opening set varied depending on which band they were supporting. It ranged from 40-55 minutes. The longer support sets usually included "Child of Fire" and/or "NM 156."

Here are examples of the opening and headlining sets on this tour:

The Rage for Order Tour (1986-1987)

Queensryche's touring on the Rage for Order record cycle consisted primarily of opening for other bands. Queensryche had stints supporting Bon Jovi, AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne, generally playing 30-45 minute sets. Queensryche's staging was fairly simple, given their status as openers. The exception, however, was Scott Rockenfield's "tubular" drum set, which featured what looked like high-tech metal tubes going around his kit.

In addition, since Rage for Order featured a heavy dose of keyboards, Randy Gane, Tate's old bandmate in Myth, was also a guest on the tour, playing keyboards off-stage for the band. Tate also played a small bit of rhythm guitar on the Rage tour to beef up the sound during instrumental sections, likely due to Gane handling all the keyboard parts, and Tate having nothing to do on-stage.

Queensryche's support and headline sets featured five-to-six songs from Rage for Order and a smattering of songs from the EP and The Warning. The band also debuted a medley of "The Lady Wore Black," "Nightrider" and "Blinded" that they played at headline gigs in Feb. 1987.

Here are examples of the opening and headlining sets on this tour:

The Operation: Mindcrime Tour (1988-1989)

Queensryche began its tour in support of Operation: Mindcrime opening for Def Leppard on the tail end of its tour for Hysteria and later, Metallica on the "Damaged Justice" world tour. By late April 1989, however, Queensryche was firmly established as a legitimate headlining act, thanks to the airplay of "Eyes of a Stranger" and "I Don't Believe in Love" on MTV.

As one would expect, the setlist drew heavily from Operation: Mindcrime, peppered with "Queen of the Reich" as the opening cut, and "Take Hold of the Flame" mixed into the set. "Walk in the Shadows" was also rotated in once in awhile. Queensryche made a concerted effort as an opener to represent as much of Operation: Mindcrime as possible, likely because they wanted fans to understand it was a concept album.

While Queensryche held its own on both support legs, they didn't really mesh with Def Leppard's poppier brand of hard rock. And then when Queensryche jumped on the Metallica tour, they weren't quite heavy enough for Metallica's thrash audience. Queensryche generally won fans over with its own aggressive set, but Metallica's loyal fans made them work for it. Metallica was given the nickname of "Alcoholica," but they weren't the only band on the bill at the time. Apparently the thrash titans annoited Queensryche as "Krellryche" during this period, allegedly due to the band's fondness for cocaine (although that has never been verified by Queensryche).

When Queensryche played headline shows (briefly in Nov. 1988, New Year's Eve 1988 in Seattle, North Carolina dates in Feb. 1989, and then their own month-long European, Japan and U.S. west coast tour in Spring 1989), the band played all of Operation: Mindcrime except for "Suite Sister Mary" and the segues "Waiting for 22" and "My Empty Room." In the early headline shows, "Queen of the Reich" was the lead track, but during the actual headline tour, "NM 156" became the opener and "Queen of the Reich" was in the encore. To vary things up in Japan, the band swapped in "Prophecy" and "Surgical Strike," particularly since they played multiple nights in Tokyo.

Here are examples of the opening and headlining sets on this tour:

The Building Empires Tour (1990-1992)

With approximately 190 shows and promotional appearances across 18 months, the Building Empires tour was the longest-running album support run in Queensryche's history. Empire was the band's commercial and touring peak, with Queensryche reaching arena status in areas across the United States. It also marked the first time that the band would perform Operation: Mindcrime in its entirety, sandwiched between cuts from Empire and the back catalog. The show would typically last from 120-140 minutes each night.

During this timeframe, a Queensryche concert wasn't just a gig -- it was a full-on multimedia spectacle. The band had dual video screens and animations running behind them to accompany songs, an elaborate stage that included various ramps (including a basketball hoop Tate would take a shot on during "Best I Can"), and at times, guest appearances from Pamela Moore, aka "Suite Sister Mary."

For headline appearances, Queensryche took out Lynch Mob, Warrior Soul and Suicidal Tendencies at different points in time. Queensryche also appeared at various European festivals doing an abbreviated set. The tour formally ended in Jan. 1992, but the band played a number of award shows and other events following it. Of note is Queensryche's MTV Unplugged appearance on April 27, 1992, and a final festival show at the Rock the Environment benefit on June 6, 1992, in George, Wash., to close out support of Empire.

A number of shows on the tour were professionally recorded, including the May 10-12, 1991, shows in Wisconsin. Those recordings were later used for the Operation: LIVEcrime release. Other recordings served as footage for the Building Empires home video album, and others for the 20th Anniversary box set of Empire that was released in 2010.

Queensryche's setlist was very static during this period, with only minor changes, depending on the leg they were on. Songs performed periodically that differ from the example below, included "Hand on Heart" (first month of the tour at various gigs), "The Lady Wore Black" (made sporadic appearances as an additional encore), "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" (became a setlist staple in Oct. 1991 for the remainder of the tour), "Della Brown," "Last Time in Paris," and "Anybody Listening?"

The only significant deviations from the main set was the MTV Unplugged performance and the Rock the Environment gig. At the former, Queensryche did acoustic renditions of "I Will Remember" and "The Killing Words." The band also did acoustic covers of "Scarborough Fair" by Simon and Garfunkel and "Rockin' in the Free World," by Neil Young. During the Rock the Environment show, Queensryche dusted off "No Sanctuary," played "The Killing Words" again, and then participated in a jam session with Alice in Chains and Heart that included covers of "Revolution" by The Beatles and "Gimme Shelter" from the Rolling Stones.

The only song from Empire not performed live by the band on the Building Empires tour was "One and Only." Coincidentally, the original lineup of Queensryche never played it live. It was only performed in soundcheck during the band's first few shows in October/November 1990, according to Michael Wilton.

A typical setlist on this tour looked like this:

Resistance
Walk In The Shadows
Best I Can
Empire
The Thin Line
Jet City Woman
Roads To Madness
I Remember Now
Anarchy-X
Revolution Calling
Operation: Mindcrime
Speak
Spreading the Disease
The Mission
Suite Sister Mary
The Needle Lies
Electric Requiem
Breaking the Silence
I Don't Believe in Love
Waiting for 22
My Empty Room
Eyes of a Stranger
Take Hold Of The Flame
Silent Lucidity

The Road to the Promised Land Tour (1994-1995)

Support of Promised Land consisted of late 1994 promotional performances in Europe, followed by proper headline tours of Japan, Europe and the U.S. in 1995. The setlists for the headline tours stayed fairly static, particularly in the U.S. The stage show expanded the dramatics in the Building Empires tour and featured a bar scene for the song "Promised Land," where fans got to sit at the bar on stage as Queensryche performed the song, and crew doubling as stage actors during "Out of Mind" and "I Am I."

Queensryche played Promised Land in its entirety, but not in order. They combined new songs with hits from Empire and Operation: Mindcrime, along with a medley of "NM 156" and "Screaming in Digital" from The Warning and Rage for Order, respectively. The medley featured the opening half of each tune. The band closed with an encore of "Take Hold of the Flame" and a special live version of "Someone Else?" that had the arrangement from the album piano version of the song, but with subdued additional electric guitar, bass and percussion sprinkled in. Other highlights in the set included the performance of the b-side "Real World," (which was released in 1993 on the Last Time in Paris movie soundtrack) and a shortened version of "Neue Regel."

A typical setlist on this tour looked like this:

9:28 A.M.
I Am I
Damaged
Bridge
Screaming In Digital/NM 156 (medley)
My Global Mind
Neue Regel (abridged -- song ends right before guitar solo)
I Remember Now
Anarchy -X
Revolution Calling
Operation: Mindcrime
Spreading The Disease
The Mission
I Don't Believe In Love
Waiting For 22
My Empty Room
Real World
Eyes Of A Stranger
Empire
Jet City Woman
Promised Land
Dis-con-nected
Lady Jane
Out Of Mind
One More Time
Silent Lucidity
Take Hold Of The Flame
Someone Else?

Video Download: Queensryche does an interview and performs on MTV Europe Most Wanted on March 9, 1995. Songs included a commercial break bumper cover version of the Rolling Stones' "Waiting on a Friend," along with full performances of "Bridge" and "Jet City Woman."

The Hear in the Now FronTOUR (1997)

While Tate was recovering from his illness, the band played an abbreviated set, dropping "Get a Life," "Hit the Black," "Breaking the Silence," "I Don't Believe in Love" and "Take Hold of the Flame," subbing in "Della Brown." They also played "Walk in the Shadows" toward the end of the tour in August, and performed "The Killing Words" on July 29 in Buffalo, N.Y.

A typical setlist on this tour looked like this:

The Voice Inside
Get A Life
Empire
Jet City Woman
You
Spreading The Disease
The Mission
I Am I
Damaged
Reach
Bridge
Another Rainy Night (Without You)
Take Hold Of The Flame
The Lady Wore Black
Silent Lucidity
Hit The Black
I Remember Now
Anarchy -X
Revolution Calling
Breaking The Silence
I Don't Believe In Love
Eyes Of A Stranger
Sign Of The Times
Some People Fly