QUEENSRŸCHE
Support: Marty Friedman – Trauma
House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
Sunday, March 19th, 2023
Review & Pictures: Joe Schaeffer
Queensrÿche officially embarked on the headline tour in support their latest CD “Digital Noise Alliance” in Orlando on March 3rd. The tour so far, contains 33 dates which will take them up to April 17th in St. Petersburg, FL.
Joining the band on the current leg of the tour are Bay Area thrash metal band Trauma and guitar hero Marty Friedman, who has brought his entire band of some of Japan’s finest musicians. Both bands performed well received, six songs sets, by the Anaheim crowd.
Trauma
Originally formed in 1981 in San Francisco, Trauma was part of the same scene that gave the world such thrash notables as Exodus, Metallica, and Testament. 1984 saw the release of the group’s debut album, ‘Scratch and Scream,’ before the band parted in 1985. But in 2013, Trauma reunited, and have been back in business ever since.
Marty Friedman
Marty Friedman is no stranger either. He was a member of Megadeth from 1990-2000 and performed on “Rust in Peace”, “Countdown to Extinction” and “Youthanasia”. Now living in Japan, he has attained a massive catalog of over a dozen solo albums. The fans in Anaheim were very enthusiastic during his whole set.
Highlights include his performance of the Japanese standard “Amagi Goe“. In 2008 Seattle Mariners superstar Ichiro Suzuki used Marty’s new version of Sayuri Ishikawa‘s classic track as his new walk-up theme song.
Queensrÿche
After the two great openers it was Queensrÿche time. Drummer Casey Grillo, bassist Eddie Jackson, and guitarists Michael “Whip” Wilton, Michael “Stoney” Stone and Singer Todd La Torre took the stage and dove right into “Behind the Walls” from the latest CD. They followed that up with “Don’t Look Back’, a track from the first CD featuring LaTorre. It’s hard to believe that album, simply titled “Queensryche” is already ten years old.
Next up in the set was “In the Light” from the aforementioned, 2013 self-titled album. The main fourteen song set consisted of tunes from three of the four LaTorre fronted albums. Wrapping up the night was the trio of “Empire”, “My Empty Room” and “Eyes of a Stranger”.
Upon returning, Todd had the house lights come alive to address the capacity crowd and wish them their best and thanks for all their support throughout the years. Kudos for the band as well for coming up with a diverse set list with the fans in mind.
Finishing off the night with a two-song encore of couple deeper cuts from their 1984 debut album “The Warning” with “Deliverance” and the night ender “Roads to Madness”.
Queensrÿche delivered it’s set Saturday night with high-caliber precision and obvious passion. It was great to see this band back in spirited form and once again enjoying what they do. No guitar or drum solos, just straight forward Hard Rock music. It was clearly one the best show I have witnessed from the band. If they hit your town, you will not be disappointed.
