It’s a brisk April day in good old Montreal. A year ago for the Enslaved show, we were hit by a vicious ice storm that paralyzed a number of parts of the province and it pretty awful. I guess I don’t need to criticize the weather all that much when I compare both years.

Queensryche is back in town with Armored Saint. This is a rare instance of only two bands for a show and it makes it more memorable and both bands have the time for a longer setlist for the old and new fans alike. As for old fans, there were a bunch of old fans in the crowd, the average age of the fan was in their fifties that’s for sure and I felt like one of the youngest people in the audience by far and I am only 42 years old!

The show started 5 minutes before 20h with Armored Saint storming the stage to an energetic but not that loud of a crowd. I was expecting something more of the fans tonight because Armored Saint has been such an influence on a generation of bands, a band that’s been doing there on and off for pretty much 40 years. A whole lot of bands and members of other bands have stated that they wanted to emulate what they were doing and hell, John Bush was even recruited to be the lead singer of Metallica back in the day. He has one of the best voices in the history of Heavy Metal, he is a top 5 vocalist for sure in my book. Their mix of old school Metal and Thrash elements redefined the genre after the Big 4’s impact on the world. They were important, to me were extremely important to shape the genre when you wanted to do something else than Thrash Metal.

John Bush stated during and interlude between songs that they still remember their first show here in Montreal in 1984 with WASP and Metallica and they have fond memories of the Belle Province and their loud and passionate fans. I think that struck a chord in many of the people present at the Beanfield Theatre. This is a venue much more appropriate for the band because last time they played was just a few days before the pandemic at the Petit Campus, a venue that can have maybe 200 people max and that’s such disrespect for a legendary band like them.

Behold the immense talent of John Bush whose voice has never failed him in 40 years and still reaches the same notes as back in 1984, he has such unbridled passion in his voice and as much as I love his stuff with Anthrax (Sound of White Noise is still one of the Top 2 favorite Heavy Metal albums ever), he is with his second family in Armored Saint, the self-declared Band of Brothers. Other than Dave Pritchard, this is mostly the original band members and that’s a rare case to see nowadays.

This is my first time seeing the band, finally crossing another band from my bucket list and I sure hope they come back. I know they do not do many tours at all, most of these guys are family men and have other priorities in life so I had to go to the sold-out show.

I have to say, it’s been 21 years since I have seen bassist Joey Vera in action and he is still one of the most animated and intense players I have ever seen live. I saw him with the much underappreciated Fates Warning (ironically with Queensryche) and he still has that spark in him and still to this day one of my favorite bassists in all the music world. The Sandoval brothers are very animated as well and very vocal but I was laser-focused on Joey Vera and John Bush for most of the show.

They played a little bit of everything for the old fan and the newer fans of the phenomenal 2020 album ‘’Punching the Sky’’. They are changing the setlists here and there on this tour and I was expecting ‘’Left Hook from Right Field’’ but we got a classic instead in ‘’Can U Deliver’’. I have no complaint and I really should just watch the show and not check the setlists beforehand, it can be a spoiler-inducing experience and ruins the moment come to think of it.

The crowd got more and more into it with the classics because they didn’t seem to know much about the last opus (they played ‘’End of the Attention Span’’ to begin the show) but when it comes to ‘’March of the Saint’’, ‘’The Pillar’’, ‘’Raising Fear’’, ‘’Tribal Dance’’, the fans got really invested thankfully. I felt bad for the band at the beginning but they caught the fans attention and never let go. Props to the band to go in their back of tricks and deliver a masterful performance of ‘’Aftermath’’, not the most known song from their catalog. It’s one of the longer songs and could have fit the early albums from Queensryche, it has  Prog Metal feel about it and I discovered this song tonight like many fans out there.

They finished with the classic ‘’Reign of Fire’’ with crowd participation that sang most of the chorus with spunk and passion, it was a sight to see. A great performance but a legendary band that hasn’t lost a step in 4 decades of action.

Setlist:

1. End of the Attention Span
2. Raising Fear
3. Tribal Dance
4. The Pillar
5. March of the Saint
6. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
7. Aftermath
8. Win Hands Down
9. Can U Deliver
10. Reign of Fire

We are treated to ‘’Walk’’ by Pantera to introduce the almighty Queensryche. The crowd sang in troves and with all their passion and they were quite ready. One thing I can assure you, a lot of fans at the Beanfield Theatre thought it was a greatest hits tour and not the Origins tour (playing their first EP and their first album from start to finish). Some fans seemed disappointed but I think in the end, they felt satisfied by the choice of the band.

I saw Queensryche with Geoff Tate back in 2003 at the Verdun Auditorium in sweltering heart and this is the first time I have ever heard Todd La Torre. I have been aware of his immense talent and read about him countless times but have yet to hear him. I prided myself on not listening to anything before the show and just really getting a grasp on what he brings to the table as a replacement for the legendary Geoff Tate.

I have been listening to the early material because it had some time for me. I am used to listening to their 2000 Greatest Hits Collection and mostly ‘’Rage for Order’’ and ‘’Operation Mindcrime’’. Boy was I surprised by Todd La Torre, just close your eyes and I double-dog dare you to not think it’s Geoff Tate. He is almost identical to Tate and every which way but loose. He has a range which is beyond difficult for any singer but he passes the test with flying colors. I could have been not watching the stage and thought it was their original singer, it was mindboggling. No wasted movements though, not much talking to the crowd other than before ‘’Take Hold of the Flame’’ so I guess they were just focused on the task at hand. Between both bands, there was not much talking to us and it did feel a bit disappointing to be perfectly honest.

Todd La Torre instantly got the crowd hooked wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey for the three first songs so I guess you are pulling at my heartstrings as a die-hard Habs fan for decades. He has a whole lot of charisma and such stage presence, he makes a lot of frontmen nowadays weak!! He doesn’t lose a beat and reaches the really high notes for the legendary albums of the band and it feels effortless. Much respect to him, for bringing the band to another light. Most of the tour had an encore with ‘’Prophecy’’ (initially written for ‘’Rage for Order’’ but added to the remastered edition of the first EP) with ‘’Eyes of a Stranger’’ but we got ‘’Screaming in Digital’’ instead, it felt like a big letdown personally but the crowd seemed to appreciate it though.

Setlist:

Queensrÿche EP

1. Queen of the Reich

2. Nightrider

3. Blinded

4. The Lady Wore Black

The Warning

1. Warning

2. En Force

3. Deliverance

4. No Sanctuary

5. NM 156

6. Take Hold of the Flame

7. Before the Storm

8. Child of Fire

9. Roads to Madness

Encore:

1. Prophecy

2. Screaming in Digital

An impressive performance by two of the unsung heroes of 80’s Metal in a nostalgia-tinged show. It felt like a full circle for the crowd and I enjoyed it quite a lot finally a metal show with no violence and no moshpits. It felt so damn good to feel at ease and not stressed during a show and it made the experience even better.