According to a posting made on Billboard Magazine online Rock band Queensryche is continuing forward without vocalist Geoff Tate, who will be replaced by Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre, who will at the same time continue fronting his original band, during the downtime from his Queensryche duties.
Earlier this year, while Queensryche were on tour an unconfirmed posting on MetalSludge.tv stated that Tate allegedly became violent toward other band mates prior to an April show in Brazil after allegedly overhearing that he was going to be fired. The show went on, out of professional courtesy as certain members of the band, appeared unwilling to perform, initially. Then, weeks later, during the Rocklahoma fest, that was held during Memorial Day weekend, Tate insulted the crowd by proclaiming “you guys suck” in a rather spontaneous, but not too well thought out, attempt to make them respond more enthusiastically to the band’s performance that mainly, up to that point consisted of latter day material, that had left the crowd unmotivated.
LaTorre, originally joined “Rising West” a Queensryche offshoot, that performed a couple of sold out dates, earlier this month, at Seattle's Hard Rock Cafe, to an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response, that consisted of Queensryche songs, culled from the band’s first 5 “metal” albums with the addition of an Iron Maiden cover.
There were definite signs of increasing turmoil within the bands faction and issues that had begun to manifest prior to that point, turned into events that led to an eventual situation that quickly spiraled out of control, when Rising West posted on June the 5th, on its Facebook page that it’s band members were “being denied access to our own Facebook page and website (meaning Queensryche)”, which promoted other side projects, such as Tate’s wine business and Rockenfield’s recording endeavors. In response, Tate’s step-daughter, Miranda, posted on June the 7th, through her Facebook page that “it’s about time to get some truth on the table” and denied that other members couldn’t access the site, among other alleged problems.
Both sides maintained that they would continue to work on future projects, avoiding giving direct answers, something that led to speculations that there were legal proceedings going on. Then the failure of all the other “musicians” other than Tate, to turn up at a scheduled, Queensryche date, in West Valley City, Utah, due to personal reasons and the fact that Tate had his backing band, at hand, and offered to substitute the performance with one of his solo band, probably was perceived as being the writing on the wall, that something was very wrong and that something would have to give, in regards to the situation. Whether the rest of the scheduled “Queensryche” dates will be either canceled or honored, by the new band's line up, is unclear at the present moment, but there should be news on the matter, shortly.
Drummer Scott Rockenfield issued a statement with regards to the current events in the Queensryche camp that reads thus: “Over the past few months, there have been growing creative differences within Queensryche. We want our fans to know that we hoped to find a common resolution, but in the end parting ways with Geoff was the best way for everyone to move forward in a positive direction. We wish him the best of luck with all of his future endeavors. We can’t wait to bring Queensryche to our fans with Todd behind the microphone”.
The statement also mentions: “scheduled Queensryche performances are on hold at the present time and revised routing is being worked on. Fans can check the band’s website for all of the latest tour information as it becomes available”.
When a quote was requested from the management company representing Tate, there wasn’t a timely response and nor has there been one in the aftermath of these announcements, since they were made.
This latest reincarnation of the group other than the newly instated Todd La Torre, behind the mic, includes guitarists Michael Wilton and Parker Lundgren and bassist Eddie Jackson. Rockenfield, Wilton and Jackson are among the group’s original members. Tate originally joined the band after it formed in 1981. Guitarist and founding member Chris DeGarmo left Queensryche in 1997 and briefly rejoined in 2003 for Queensryche’s “Tribe” album. Kelly Gray originally filled DeGarmo’s slot, followed by Mike Stone, until Lundgren joined in 2009.
Queensryche is a Grammy Award-nominated band that broke into the mainstream with the 1988 concept album “Operation: Mindcrime”. The group has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, according to the statement. It’s biggest U.S. radio hit was 1991’s “Silent Lucidity”, which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Stay tuned for more announcements and more news soon!