Mindcrime at the Moore
March 28, 2018 2:59 PM   Subscribe

In October 2006, progressive heavy metal band Queensrÿche appeared for a three night stint at The Moore Theatre in their hometown of Seattle. Each night, they played their bestselling album Operation Mindcrime and its new sequel, Operation Mindcrime II in their entirety, as one extended rock opera. Mindcrime at the Moore, Part 1 / Part 2. Includes explicit, nsfw lyrics.

Bonus
* The Chase, a live performance from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, featuring the late Ronnie James Dio's only public appearance as Dr. X.

Background
Mindcrime and Mindcrime II were narrative concept albums: their songs created a rock opera narrative and told a story. The first, Mindcrime I "revolved around a junkie named Nikki, who is brainwashed into performing assassinations for an underground movement. Nikki is torn over his misplaced loyalty to the cause and his love for Mary, a reformed hooker-turned-nun (vocals by Pamela Moore)." The sequel resumed Nikki's story 18 years later, as he began to plot his revenge against Dr. X, the manipulative villain of the first album.
posted by zarq (15 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm really, really glad I saw Queensrÿche when Chris DeGarmo was still in the band. I was never a big fan of The Warning or Rage For Order, no matter how many times my brother played them. Operation: Mindcrime, though really was something special. I saw them on the Empire tour, and the centerpiece of the set was the entirety of Mindcrime, with the animations, and Sister Mary, and the whole thing. It was incredible.

I watched a chunk of the first video, and while Michael Wilton did his best to step into Chris' role, he was never (to my mind) able to really fill his shoes. There were, later, multiple independent Queensrÿches, and it makes me think that Chris really got out while the getting was good.
posted by curiousgene at 3:23 PM on March 28, 2018


I too saw the Empire tour, although I was a fan going back to the EP. The current version of Queensryche with Todd La Torre singing is damn good, although I think they still miss DeGarmo's song writing. I've seen them 4 or 5 times in the last 4 or 5 years and it's been a great concert every time.
posted by COD at 3:54 PM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


"Last week Ross Perot spoke to a half-empty Paramount theater about his presidential campaign. The Paramount would have been completely empty, but Queensrÿche was the opening band."
-- John Keister, Almost Live

That being said, I'm glad Queensrÿche and The Moore are still around.
posted by lkc at 4:46 PM on March 28, 2018


16 years old me is losing his shit over this, but 40 year old me can't give one. I mean, no Chris, no Geoff?

Looking into the story of Mindcrime 2, it just doesn't have the same draw. I'm not interested in an afterlife love story.

Mindcrime was a product of it's time.
posted by jonnay at 5:17 PM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


I relate to jonnay.. It always catches me when I hear a Queensryche song on the radio even now.
posted by k5.user at 6:03 PM on March 28, 2018


I mean, no Chris, no Geoff?

No Chris. Yes Geoff.

That's his vocal throughout.
posted by zarq at 6:13 PM on March 28, 2018


Geoff is no longer a member of Queensryche (though he was at the time of this recording). He's currently doing a solo tour of Mindcrime.
posted by KingEdRa at 6:36 PM on March 28, 2018


OMG I got the Operation: Livecrime VHS and CD as a teenager, and listened the hell out of it. It is an absolutely excellent live album, and I know it far better than the original material.

That purchase was a guilt mechanism effect I had for missing the Empire tour when it came to my home town, which I missed out due to a family trip. Then when they played the next night two towns down the road, a girl I worked with won free tickets, rang me up, and I said no because it'd be too late on a school night. Talk about regret! She was a nice girl! I think her name was Sandra, or Sandy, and was a freshman in college while I was just a high school senior, and she's asking me out on a date, and I couldn't be bothered..

Well, instead of trying to repress that regret and self shame for what was essentially typical laziness in a high schooler, I forced myself to face it, by listening to Operation: Livecrime. Over and over.

I still ask, "is there anybody out there in Madison, Wisconsin, who believes in love?"
posted by Metro Gnome at 6:55 PM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]


I saw this same tour, probably a night right before or after the Moore dates, in Spokane, WA. probably 60% of the crowd left after Mindcrime was over and maybe another 30% left during Mindcrime II, and we stuck it out to the bitter end, but mostly I didn't care.

the Mindcrime portion was good, I am not sure it was as good as the original Mindcrime tour performances, but maybe they were the same and expectations have been raised since then. I have no idea.

Anyway, I never wear the t-shirt i bought.
posted by hippybear at 9:23 PM on March 28, 2018


Interesting, I always assumed, based on the name and the heavy metal, that this was a fascist sympathizing band. But I guess they were just clueless white dudes.
posted by rikschell at 4:47 AM on March 29, 2018


Oh man my mom LOVED Queensrÿche.
posted by annathea at 6:12 AM on March 29, 2018


I once went on a date with a woman who claimed she had done vocals in the all-female glam metal band Vixen. I can't find her name in the Wikipedia entry for Vixen, but I can testify that, on our first and only date, she displayed an in-depth knowledge of the plot line of Operation Mindcrime (Part I and Part II) that was a little too intense for me.
posted by jonp72 at 9:03 AM on March 29, 2018


I missed out on every opportunity to see Queensrÿche play live during the Mindcrime/Empire days; I would have loved to have seen this.

Just reading the words, "Operation:Mindcrime" still gives me the same chills as when I first heard them when I was 16. Almost 30 years later, the album still gets regular rotation for me, and still floors me every time I listen.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 9:38 AM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Also, I should add, Mindcrime II, to me, is but a pale imitation of the original. I'm listening to the original right now, though, and it remains depressingly relevant today. It also (and this is where a lot of rock and metal albums from the 80s fall down) still sounds good.

Their name always was a bit cringeworthy.
posted by curiousgene at 10:01 AM on March 29, 2018


In 1988 I went to my first metal concert, a double bill of Queensrÿche and Metallica. Through the awesomeness of the internet I can now look up and reminisce over the two setlists of that memorable evening: Operation:Mindcrime tour | Damaged Justice tour.
It was excellent and I vividly remember lots of stuff blowing up. I never got into Mindcrime II (and Metallica never made another decent album either, but that's a derail).
posted by fregoli at 10:12 AM on March 29, 2018


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