The last time that Geoff Tate had been to Greece, we had enjoyed a nice gig by him and his band. This time he came under the banner of “The Big Rock Show”, which made me wonder if he would play covers of classic rock songs. I was wrong, since that’s how he had named his show of Queensrÿche’s best songs and fan favorites. Nevertheless, Geoff Tate would sing in our city and no rock/metal enthusiast could miss this great occasion.
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
photos by Iro Kalligeri (@irokalligeriphotography)
The opening act of the concert was the Greek guitarist Irene Ketikidi and the Greek singer Jon Voyager. To be precise, Ketikidi would play her show and at certain points she would be joined by Voyager. Without any delay, the Greek guitarist entered the stage with her band and began performing her instrumental, guitar-oriented songs. Although I hadn’t heard her stuff before, I liked very much her compositions, where Ketikidi showcased all her guitar skills and enchanted the audience, even those who aren’t fans of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai! Ketikidi was amazing and welcomed us to her six-string realm, where we all felt comfortable – and so proud that a Greek girl is such a guitar hero! Jon Voyager was also really good in his performance, singing with passion and energy, giving Ketikidi the chance to adapt her style successfully to the funkier style of Voyager. Voyager has a distinct and beautiful timbre, a powerful voice, and the two protagonists were applauded by the audience.
The time had passed, yet it wasn’t the turn of Geoff Tate. Sons of Sounds eventually came on stage. I had read that the three members of the band are all brothers and that they play a kind of progressive metal, so I was curious to see them playing live. Well, what I saw didn’t satisfy me that much. You see, they were very cheerful and in a good mood, they had much passion and explosiveness, their sound was loud, but … I didn’t like their songs! From what I saw and heard their stuff is mediocre and their main song ideas not interesting. Apart from that, their music confused me as they played in a storming, in-your-face heavy metal style with some progressive elements and the final musical outcome was a bit contradictory. Of course, I have to listen to their albums more carefully, but my first impression isn’t positive! Despite that, Sons of Sounds managed to heat us up. We were now ready for Geoff Tate …
… who took center stage and spread hysteria to the people, who had almost packed Gagarin 205! The celebrated American singer and his young band took their position in front of us and started their phenomenal recital! From the first notes and vocal lines you could understand that Mr. Tate was in a perfect condition. Cheery enough and with a big smile on his face, he sang AMAZINGLY and shocked us with his high notes. He sang everything like in the studio albums, he was unstoppable and better than any other time we had heard him! The set was all based on Queensrÿche songs, plus a wonderful cover of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine”. As you can understand, it was a celebration for all of us the Queensrÿche fans that night! Geoff Tate’s tour de force was monumental, a music miracle only for our eyes and ears! Every moment was magical, every note was emotional and evocative, every song was a reason for us to sing along, to scream, to head bang. A party for the progressive metal listeners, this was really a BIG ROCK SHOW, with many top moments like “Empire”, “The Thin Line” (we always enjoy Mr. Tate’s saxophone!), “I Don’t Believe In Love”, “Screaming in Digital” and “Silent Lucidity” (with two members of Sons of Sounds playing the violin!)! The night was concluded with a dream encore – “Take Hold of the Flame” and “Queen of the Reich” drove us crazy, and the curtain fell gloriously and emphatically for Geoff Tate and his band!
To sum up, we had a fantastic time with Irene Ketikidi and Jon Voyager, Sons of Sounds and Geoff Tate. I felt that everyone was mesmerized by Tate’s victorious performance! We left Gagarin 205 so happy, with Queensrÿche’s tunes in our heads and I think Geoff Tate hit a peak!
