Twelve Minutes With….John Corabi

Twelve Minutes With………..
John Corabi
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Concert Review: Queensryche at the House of Blues in Boston, MA

Queensryche
House of Blues
Boston, MA
October 26, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed By: Roger Scales

It’s hard to believe Queensryche has been recording and touring for 30 years, seems just like just yesterday I was seeing them open for KISS at the Worcester Centrum in November 1984.  Having seen Queensryche in Hit Paradrer and Circus Magazine I had never even heard one song or watched one video but I recall being amazed at the range of lead singer Geoff Tate.  The energy of the band also impressed me and I went out the next day and bought The Warning on cassette and have been a fan ever since.  Well 30 years later Geoff doesn’t have quite the range he did back then but makes up for it in his stage presence, charisma and basically being the ringleader on stage for Queensryche in 2011. 

What Boston fans were hoping for was a trip down memory lane and a set loaded with “vintage Ryche” and they did get that..sort of.  Trying to touch all the bases in their history the band tried to please everyone by offering at least one selection from each of their 12 studio albums.  For me personally I wanted the bulk of the set to consist of heavy doses of Rage For Order, Operation: Mindcrime and Empire..arguably their three most popular releases.  I got that but the set had no flow to it because it jumped around too much and hearing individual Mindcrime cuts (for example) out of order does not do the album any justice. This is not a “hit single” sort of act..”Silent Lucidity” notwithstanding. Maybe that’s my problem with a “greatest hits” type set list.  My list is so drastically different from what was performed at the House of Blues I left feeling underwhelmed. 

I bought Dedicated to Chaos, this year’s new album out of loyalty to the Ryche tradition.  Although not a bad album I never had a moment where I truly rocked out or got excited over any one track.  So having the set open with “Get Started” from that album didn’t surprise me at all it also didn’t get me all fired up either.  In fact much of the first half of the set consisted mainly of tracks from my least favorite Ryche albums.  Not until 9 songs into the night did my attention get grabbed when they performed “Real World” from the Last Action Hero movie soundtrack from 1993.  Performed brilliantly it was probably Geoff’s best vocal of the night. Geoff has a gift of making the fans feel like one big happy family by frequently acknowledging the crowd and interacting between tracks so that the songs may have a little background or short story to them prior to being performed.   

The second half of the set was more vintage Ryche and included such classics as “NM 156”, “The Lady Wore Black”, “Take Hold of The Flame”, ‘Walk in the Shadows” and “Eyes of a Stranger”.  All some of my favorites and all had an old school metal feel to them something the newer material sorely lacks.  I would like to say that guitarist Parker Lundgren has come a long way in 2 years and seems to be filling in for Chris Degramo better than I thought he would, given his inexperience and young age.  Yet in making that statement NO ONE can really replace Chris in terms of what he brought to the bands song writing, guitar work overall appeal.  The band has never been the same since his departure although one could argue that they have survived in spite of this not because of it.

I’m a huge Queensryche fan and always will be.  I think the best thing for the band to do is play entire albums in their entity and let the fans decide which ones and see what happens.  I read that played Rage for Order in its entirety in NY a few nights after Boston.  This is what the band should strive for in terms of road survival.  Besides Degarmo returning to the lineup seeing Queensryche is like watching a regular season Bruins game.  Yeah it’s hockey and it’s great but there is nothing like the playoffs.  Bringing back Degarmo, playing Rage from beginning to end along with a few other vintage Ryche tracks would be like watching the Bruins win another Stanley Cup.  I’ll drink to that..

Set List
1. Get Started
2. Damaged
3. I Don’t Believe In Love
4. Hit the Black
5. I’m American
6. My Empty Room
7. A Dead Man’s Words
8. Desert Dance
9. Real World
10. NM 156
11. Screaming In Digital
12. The Lady Wore Black
13. Walk In The Shadows
14. The Right Side Of My Mind
15. Around the World
16. Silent Lucidity
17. Take Hold Of The Flame
Encore:
18. Eyes Of A StrangerPlay Video

 

Three Minutes With…Whitney Rosati

ThreeMinutes With………..
Whitney Rosati

You may know her by her stage name, White Rose, especially if you’ve been in Las Vegas or western New York in the last several months. If you don’t know her yet, you will. Whitney is a 15 year old guitar phenom and proves that anything boys can do, girls can do too – if not better!

With only about three years of playing under her belt, she can take on most who’ve been playing five times longer than she has and blow them out of the water! Whitney gave me three minutes early in the Summer when she was here in Las Vegas sitting in with our mutual friends, the Sin City Sinners. Check it out!

 

So, your question is, what are three albums you think everyone should own and why?
One of them is definitely Appetite for Destruction, because the songs are so original. You never hear it anywhere else. Also, the Sin City Sinners’ album. I’m obsessed with it!

Which Sinners’ album?
The Exile on Fremont Street one. I’m trying to think of the third one…. I love the Joan Jett album. I’m not really sure which one it is, I think it’s her Greatest Hits album. It’s my favorite. I listen to it all the time. I love all the 80′s rock bands. So, they would be Guns n’ Roses, Sinners, and Joan Jett. And, AC/DC of course…. I love the song “Back in Black”!

Want to draw another question?
 SURE!!

If you became President of the United States for a day, what would your first order of business be?
I would probably take away Fridays for school days. I would have a three-day weekend. I think that would be amazing!

 And environmentally correct!
YEAH! You know, running buses and stuff. Save gas. Electricity.

That works for me! Now you can promote anything you want….
Facebook, you can find me there. I have a White Rose page. You can find anything I’m doing there, I will post YouTube videos there, recent ones. Updates, stuff like gigs mostly. I have some opportunities coming up, so stay tuned to the page for details!

Check out her YouTube channel as well

Super BIG Thank You to “Momma Rose”!!

Are you or do you know a musician coming through Las Vegas that wants to give the shortest interview ever with probably the shortest interviewer ever? Forward me contact info or put them in touch with me. Do you have a query for the Sack O’ Questions? Email me at ThreeMinWith@yahoo.com. (Sorry, I can not guarantee any question to be asked to anyone specific, because it’s literally the luck of the draw, but if your question gets drawn, you’ll get props – make sure you note how you want to be thanked!) You can also Follow ME on Twitter: @MouthySmurf.

Concert Review: Ace Frehley at The Junkyard in Nashua, NH

Ace Frehley
The Junkyard
Nashua, NH
October 23, 2011

Rating:  

Reviewed by:  Roger Scales
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Catching Up With Derek Sherinian

If you’re a fan of rock, you’ve undoubtedly heard of premiere rock keyboardist Derek Sherinian. He’s performed with everyone from Dream Theater to Alice Cooper to Buddy Miles and is a current member of supergroup Black Country Communion.

In late September Sherinian released his new album Oceana. We caught up with him to get the scoop.

Interviewed by: Roger Scales
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Three Minutes With…Scotty Griffin

Three Minutes With………..
Scotty Griffin Read more

Three Minutes With…Troy Patrick Farrell

Three Minutes With………..
Troy Patrick Farrell Read more

CD Review: House of Lords / Big Money

House of Lords
Big Money
Frontiers Records
Release Date:  September 27, 2011

Rating:  

 Reviewed by:  Roger Scales
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Three Minutes With…Athena Lee

Three Minutes With………..
Athena Lee Read more

Catching Up With Maika Maile of There For Tomorrow

There For Tomorrow have the world at their fingertips.  Their new album, The Verge, came out last month and the band spent all summer on Warped Tour showing off the new material.  We tracked down front man Maika Maile to catch up on what the band has been up to.

Interviewed by:  Mandi Loranger
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