Queensrÿche has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, including over 6 million albums in the United States. They are considered one of the leaders of the progressive metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and often referred to as one of the "Big Three" of the genre, along with Dream Theater and Fates Warning. The band received worldwide acclaim after the release of their 1988 album Operation: Mindcrime, which is often considered one of the greatest heavy metal concept albums of all time. Their follow-up release, Empire, released in 1990, was also very successful and included the hit single "Silent Lucidity". The band has received three Grammy Award nominations for songs from both albums. In 1998, drummer Rockenfield received an individual Grammy nomination.
scheduled about three to four shows a month across the US until October.
It's sort of a “greatest hits” collection of their songs with a storyline. The band considers the show a performance art piece. Tate says, “we took a lot of our music from a lot of
different records and we wrote a story. The music and lyrics tell a
story. So we have acting, dancing and different forms of cabaret–including
burlesque, ballet, aerial acts–interpreting the music.
You can celebrate Halloween in July. Audiences have been dressing up in outlandish costumes to watch the Queensryche cabaret. “It's
quite outrageous as a show,” Tate says. He adds, “it's a mix of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Moulin Rouge and New Orleans Mardi Gras.”
Often, Tate says, audiences join the band onstage. “They help propel the story,” he says. “It's a very fast-paced
show. It's probably the most enjoyable performance we've
ever come up with,” he says. It's a class act. Tate says only a few people can do cabaret performances. “It's very difficult to find qualified
people who aren't employed by Cirque de Soleil.” Anyone can burlesque dance to lounge songs, but to Queensryche? I just don't know. “We held auditions to have them interpret the peice of music we wanted them to perform to, and we chose from there,” Tate says of the selection process.
You can get Geoff Tate to sign a bottle of his wine, if you're lucky. Tate developed the wine brand Insania, a successful Bordeaux blend he developed with Washinton winery 3 Rivers Winery. “It's all sold out,” he said. “It's pretty successful–even more than the music industry!” he said.