Queensryche

Called the Mob when it first started out in Seattle in 1981, Queensrÿche quickly developed what would later be called a “progressive metal” aesthetic — which really just meant that these guys played with great precision and experimented freely with the structures inside each song. In that same era, outfits like Fates Warning and Voivod made the imaginative use of prog ideas acceptable. By the time the band’s 1988 landmark political concept album, Operation: Mindcrime, was released, Queensrÿche had established itself as a metal act that could appeal to a wide spectrum of fans of the genre, as well as those who respected thought-provoking lyrics. 1990’s Empire broke the band to the world at large with the single “Silent Lucidity.” This is Queensrÿche’s thirtieth-anniversary tour, so expect its customary rock theater to get bumped up a notch.