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A long time ago, 41 years ago to be precise, a band from Seattle changed the face of music with their first EP. Queensrÿche thought it would be a good idea to go back to that era and play the EP as well as their first album (The Warning) on a tour that was adequately called The Origins tour. For the occasion, they added Armored Saint as their opening act. 

I had circled this date on my calendar for a while, and this Saturday could not come fast enough. I was not alone thinking about this concert for a while because the Théâtre Beanfield was sold out and a long line of fans were anxiously waiting for the doors to open.

The evening started with Armored Saint, and the fans immediately pumped their first to the rhythm of the song “End Of The Attention Span”. As usual, Joey Vera is extremely dynamic on stage and that can also be said for Jeff Duncan and Phil Sandoval on guitars. They switch places on countless occasions and interact with the crowd non-stop. John Bush is on fire and his vocals are spot on and very powerful. The fans accompanied John on vocals during ‘Raising Fear’ and “Tribal Dance”. The crunching riff of “The Pillar” kept the crowd going and it was great to hear this oldie making its way back in the set list after all these years. 

You could see that drummer Gonzo Sandoval was very happy with what he was seeing but it was during “March Of The Saint” that the crowd simply blew the roof of the venue when singing the chorus. John is always a pleasure to watch as he is always on the move and always interacting with fans. “Aftermath” displayed a more technical side of the band and you could see that they were firing on all cylinders. The hour-long ended set with a bang as fans displayed their appreciation for “Win Hands Down”, “Can U Deliver” and “Reign Of Fire”. This was an awesome show even if many fans would have taken a few more songs.

Now that the crowd was all warmed up, it was time for Queensrÿche to hit the stage with their Origins set. There are no surprises here, the band plays the EP followed by The Warning albums in the same running order as on the records. The crowd instantly went ballistic when Todd La Torre came on stage during the opening scream of ‘Queen Of The Reich’ wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey and I immediately felt goosebumps. His powerful and precise vocals brought everyone back to 1983. Todd does not only sing the original high-pitched vocals like they were recorded, but he also moves on stage and constantly interacts with the audience. When it was the time for ‘Nightrider’ and ‘Blinded’, the same chills took over my body, I had never heard these songs in concert and the band had not played then in God knows how many years. Yet, Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson and Mike Stone made it look so easy, you would think that those songs were part of their regular repertoire. 

I must say that watching Todd perform is captivating, maybe hypnotizing, you can easily focus on him and forget about every other band member. He is that good of a performer and his voice is simply out of this world. Mike Stone has now been back in the band for a few years and you can see that he developed a great chemistry with original guitarist Michael Wilton. Both of them frequently traded guitar solos and met at the front of the stage for the dual solos that is the band’s trademark.

The EP came and went like a flash and it was now time for “Warning”, again the crowd went wild and you could see the tremendous talent of Casey Grillo on the drums during this song. You could also so that he changed the heads of his kick drums to reflect the cover of this album. That was a nice subtle touch that was fitting for this unique tour. ‘Deliverance’ is another song that you rarely hear and it was so powerful that the crowd started singing with Todd once again. Fans also sang the first verse of “Take Hold Of The Flame” and that really took Todd by surprise, so he let the crowd sing until the first scream. It was now time for another oldie that had not made the setlist in forty years and I have to say that the band played all the intricacies of “Before The Storm” flawlessly. As expected, their set ended on a high note when they played the excellent “Roads To Madness”.

The band came back for the encore with the songs “Prophecy” and “Screaming In Digital” and you could feel the fans wanting more. But we all knew that this awesome night had to end sometime. 

If anyone had doubts about the greatness of Queensrÿche, those doubts vanished after only a few songs. I can already say that this concert will be in my top concerts of the years as I never felt so many goosebumps during one show. I can only hope that the band will realize how this tour was satisfying for the fans and that they play Rage For Order and Promised Land in their entirety in their near future.