Well, it’s not every day that a band gets to support Seattle’s legendary Metal sensations – QUEENSRYCHE.
We were fortunate enough to do that and more…

It was only 18 years ago the Metal world was introduced to Operation Mindcrime, an album that launched RYCHE’S career, and certainly an album that revolutionised Power Metal, by standing out ahead of its time, inspiring a generation of metal.

From legendary anthems like Revolution Calling, Suite Sister Mary to Eyes of a Stranger – its echoes can be heard within the Prog-Power Metal world today.

Their journey begun in the underground scene in the early 80’s, where they quickly impressed with their first demo which included QUEEN OF THE REICH.
The demo quickly circulated, becoming popular amongst magazines such as the famous Kerrang – earning the band the review that sparked the interest of the Metal fans, as well as EMI records.
Following the awareness of their existence, they released the QUEEN OF THE REICH (EP) – setting the foundation for themselves in the Metal world, Queensryche were taking hold of the flame, and now were here to stay.
Their signing to EMI in that same year of 1983 launched the band, placing them on the road to success, officially releasing the QUEEN OF THE REICH (EP).

As the years went by, the success continued with releasing THE WARNING / RAGE FOR ORDER the conceptual and critically acclaimed OPERATION MINDCRIME to EMPIRE, which brought RYCHE to the height of the their commercial popularity – peaking to no 7# in the U.S and selling more than its predecessors put together.

They certainly are a band which inspired my generation; it was unheard of for a metal fan not to own a Queensryche album.
So you could imagine when we heard that Queensryche were coming to town, we pretty much jumped right onto the opportunity to apply for the support act slot, amongst all of Australia’s other Metal bands.
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we were not prepared to let it go…………… and so the waiting begun!

I guess we never knew what to expect, so many bands going for the support slot was a long shot for anybody, no matter how good and how confidant you are.
But it was the faith in ourselves that got us over the line… and maybe a bit of luck.
And after all the waiting (3 weeks 3 days 7hrs) – we got the call on a cold June afternoon and were told that we had scored our 1st major support for Queensryche, WOW! – I must admit, we could not sleep for days, I mean we always wanted our 1st support to be for a big band, but supporting RYCHE was f*#king amazing – which brings me to the days of the show, now it gets very interesting!

5:00pm
Arrive at the rear of the palace complex car park - we confirm that Queensryche are doing their sound check inside the venue.
We are greeted by the voices of Geoff Tate and Pamela Moore, belting out Suite Sister Mary in that authentic Ryche fashion of soaring vocal melodies which echoed through the Palace Complex as they did many years ago on our minds.

This day was already above all expectations, and it was real……..

6:00pm
The rear stage doors are open, Wilton and Rockenfield come out 1st and are followed by Tate , Moore and the rest – waving a quick hello as they are escorted out of the Palace into the chauffeur driven vans to make their way back to the hotel before they come back to open the Australian Operation Mindcrime tour.

As they leave we are escorted into the complex and begin loading in our equipment.

7:00pm
Line checks commence, and we are given the opportunity to sound check The Age of Aquarius in its entirety – bonus, but by about this stage, our nerves and excitement collide with each other, letting us know that Crimsonfire’s moment draws near.

Oh yeah – we are also told that there are 2000 Ryche fanatics waiting at the front door……………..thanks for that mate!

8:30pm
The front doors open and the crowd which was building for the last 3 to 4 hrs begin to flood in and quickly fill the venue.
The energy that I sensed whilst walking through the crowd was phenomenal, and just being a part of it was special on its own – let alone playing for them.
I knew this night was going to be one of those nights that I, Anthony, Dianne, Paul and Dom will never forget it; we were all ready to go and quickly made our way back stage.

8:55pm
Ok guys………you’re on in 5mins.

9:00pm
Intro to the Age of Aquarius begins, and I am in a complete trance until the opening verse, as the crowd make us welcome.

Being all from Melbourne, this was our crowd supporting us and we wanted to give them our best – and that’s what we did.
Song after song the response was huge, the Melbourne crowd were going f*#king crazy and it was at this point, our confidence was over our heads – what a buzz!

To see the excitement in the crowd’s eyes and to see them singing to our lyrics was awesome, the memory of that will never be forgotten – this is what its all about, and what we have dreamed of………

As the night rolled on, Sydney metallers LORD also rocked the stage and delivered a great performance, which leaves the moment we were all waiting for – QUEENSRYCHE.

It was sometime after 11pm and the crowd began to cheer as the lights go down, we are embraced by the guitar melodies of Revolution Calling- and quickly await those famous words-“for a price I’d do about anything”.

It was night filled with Mindcrime 1 & 2 anthems and other hits, including charismatic performances by Geoff and Pamela, turning a concert into a theatrical Metal musical, delivering an excellent performance, by capturing a visual interpretation of the Mindcrime concept, captivating the audience, and leaving us all mesmerized.
The night seemed that it couldn’t get any better than that, but I was wrong.

Soon after Queensryche got off stage and the show came to a conclusion, the five of us were all escorted to the upstairs bar, where beyond our wildest dreams would have never expected to find the boys from Queensryche accompanied by Pamela Moore greeting a handful of fans and signing autographs – we were like kids in a candy store.
Making our way to the bar, we encounter the presence of Michael Wilton and Eddie Jackson (Paul almost has a heart attack at this point – being a fanatic Ryche fan) and manages to have a conversation and welcomes them to our country.
After meeting the gentle spoken Wilton/Jackson, accompanied by the humour of Scott Rockenfield, not to mention the chirpy Mike Stone, it was time for me to meet the man himself Geoff Tate.

Geoff is one of those unique singers that has inspired myself and many other singers to pursue musical careers, his voice captures different emotions and sets a scene with each word and melody, its one of those things that doesn’t come so often, and that’s exactly what I told him word for word.
The guy was such a true gentlemen, what you saw is what you got….

Overall, the above is an experience of a lifetime; we believed in ourselves and believed we had a strong chance to get the gig, and we did.
To any band out there that’s existing or starting out – nothing is impossible, where ever you are, and where ever you’re going to – keep pursing your dream……………………

Louie.