Live | Geoff Tate [& Sons Of Sounds] – Poppodium Boerderij – Zoetermeer [NL]

1 September 2024

The Voice of Queensrÿche, Mr. Geoff Tate, is traveling through Europe, UK and Ireland during the upcoming months, under the banner `The Big Rock Show Tour 2024’. Since Geoff Tate is frequently touring in Europe, since several years and played at Poppodium Boerderij more than once, we all know what that means: A setlist that features high class Queensrÿche songs. And of course, we can’t get enough of it!

THE APPETIZER: SONS OF SOUNDS

To get the evening going, German trio Sons Of Sounds serve a portion of heavy rock with a slight progressive metal approach. 

Well, these three brothers may have released seven albums already, but what we hear and see tonight in forty minutes, makes little impression. The spark simply doesn’t fly here in Poppodium Boerderij, despite the great effort of lead vocalist/bassist Roman Beselt to get the audience to sing-along. With a headliner like Geoff Tate, the bar is set high for the audience and Sons Of Sounds has to make do with a polite applause.

THE MAIN COURSE: GEOFF TATE

During this Sunday evening, Geoff Tate and his sparkly young and experienced band honors the Queensrÿche legacy with delicacy and joy. Songs we grew up with in our teens and sang along nonstop. Anthems and classics that by now are also embraced by a new generation of music lovers.

After the changeover Geoff Tate, guitar tandem Dario Parente and Amuary Altmayer, bassist Jimmy Wynen and drummer Robert Baker, don’t waste any time and kick off full force with ,,Empire’’, the title track of Queensrÿche’s fourth and most commercially successful, triple platinum rewarded album. From the first step on stage, Tate constantly seeks a connection with the audience. His performance therefore feels very personal and sincere.

It must also be a great feeling for the sympathetic singer to be able to blindly count on his enthusiastic and energetic band members, who do whatever it takes to revive the heyday of Queensrÿche with great respect. The recognizable guitar licks and twin solos are fired at us with great passion, while Geoff Tate takes on the challenge of hitting the high notes as of old and he certainly succeeds.

CONFIDENCE AND PRIDE

Geoff Tate is 65 years old and he let us know he hardly can believe it himself. It is fantastic to see he ages gracefully and he proves during this 90-minute show absolutely not ready for retirement any time soon. I don’t know if the fact that he is part of Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia very successful rock opera caravan caused some extra magic, but Tate sounds vocally strong and the veteran shows a lot of confidence during the high notes as well.

Not only does he impress vocally, Geoff Tate also is a very entertaining front man. His theatrical movements enrich his vocal performance and his short anecdotes and storytelling in between the songs are amusing. In short: Geoff Tate is a true performer who knows how to keep the audience captivated.

GEOFF TATE SETLIST

The setlist is a big trip down memory lane, a time capsule of songs that have stand the test of time and will be in our memories forever: ,,Operation: Mindcrime’’, ,,Breaking The Silence’’, ,,I Don’t Believe In Love’’, ,,I Am I’’, ,,Jet City Woman’’ and ,,Another Rainy Night (Without You)’’.  And how about ,,NM156’’, ,,Screaming In Digital’’ and ,,Walk In The Shadows’’. What a feast! And let’s not forget that Geoff Tate is a skilled saxophone player, as we all can hear in ,,The Thin Line’’. 

,,Desert Dance’’ is surprising at the beginning of the setlist. A track from the 8^th album `Tribe’ [2003], co-written with original guitarist Chris DeGarmo, who already left the band years earlier. And without a doubt it is the mega hit ,,Silent Lucidity’’ that enchants the entire audience at the end of the first part of the set list.

And yes, I rather hear a traditional drumkit for sure instead of an electronic version, also to me it felt that the backing vocals were a bit too low in the mix. But it doesn’t take away the fact these musicians work together as a real team, seize their moments and Geoff provides these guys their spotlight with pride.

THE ENCORE

But the frontman has saved three aces as an encore. For starters there is a majestic heavier version of Pink Floyd’s ,, Welcome To The Machine’’, in which both guitarists get a platform to show their solo skills.

Needless to say that we are eager to go far away back in time with ,,Take Hold Of The Flame’’ and ,,Queen Of The Reich’’. Now that the singer is fully warmed up, he delivers these classics with an extra punch, leaving the audience no other choice than to express great gratitude, a loud applause and full respect. Geoff Tate and his band take a deep bow as the conclusion of a simply great show.

All photos by Dirk van den Heuvel of DCH-Photography