Journal Pavilion, Albuquerque, USA - 28 juni, 2005 Went to the 'Ryche/Priest show out here in good ole Nuevo Mexico, the wild, wild, west on June 28th. Yes we are part of the United States. You know what they say, New Mexico: like regular Mexico but cleaner. Anyways, I'm a pretty hard guy to please and overall this show was a 3 out of 5. The sound on both bands was fantastic. Crisp clear and loud! Queensryche sounded great. They have certainly mellowed over the years. The last time I saw them was when they opened for Metallica on the "And Justice for all tour". There was alot more on stage action from them back then. I was disappointed that the standard Rockenfeld chain frame drum set was missing. Maybe Rockenfeld is no longer in the band, I don't know. I couldn't recognize the drummer and he was never introduced like the rest of the band. Very disappointing to me was that the 'Ryche played very little of their most noteable and important material, which is of course off of Operation Mindcrime. Matter of fact the only song from that album played was "The needle lies or "Never trust the needle" whatever it is. As we all probably know by now, the Queens are planning on releasing their lastest album, Operation Mindcrime part II, in January. They played one song from the upcoming album and if it's any indication of the rest of the album this will be one to miss. I find it blasphemous to try to recreate this classic when they just simply don't have the juice for it. The best song of the night was the closer "Take hold of the flame." Tate had a little trouble hitting some of the notes, but what the hell, how long has it been since that song came out? They did the song justice though, very good. Lastly, Geoff Tate seems much more gay than Rob Halford. Finally, it was time for the Priest. I've got to be honest with you all here. This was more of a nostalgia show for me. I never saw the Priest before and just wanted to see the all original members at least once, since they are a metal classic. Judas Priest has put out some of the most memorable and influencial metal around but I was never really a fan. I liked a few songs, but as far as the "New wave of British heavy metal" goes, I always felt that Judas Priest was a poor mans version of Iron Maiden. Having said that I was very impressed with the show. It is amazing to me that guys in their fifties can belt it out the same way they did 30 years ago. Halfords voice was strong as hell. This was no surprise really as I've seen him with Fight within the last few years but still, the guy has still got it. I felt they did a real good job of representing 30 years of music catalog in about 2 hours of time. Old stand bys like "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law", had a nastier, heavier, and consequently "current" sound while still maintaining the integrity and vibe of the original versions. "Sad Wings of Destiny" was brilliant. A true Judas Priest fan would definately be happy about this set list and performance. It's kinda funny but I was hoping they would play the cover that they did of "Go Johnny Go" for some movie back in the late eighties, early ninties but it wasn't gonna happen. Very good show, very good night for a show. Had a great time. If you're a Priest fan you don't want to miss this one. Betyg: 
Drew Olmsted
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