The first 3 years
1984 13 Oct Stockholm Johanneshov (1) Supporting Dio
1986 23 Nov Burton Central Park (cancelled) Planned to be first European headlining show
1986 24 Nov London Hammersmith Odeon (2) Supporting Bon Jovi
1986 25 Nov London Hammersmith Odeon (3) Supporting Bon Jovi
1986 29 Nov Luzern Festhalle (4) Supporting Bon Jovi
1986 6 Dec Stockholm Johanneshov (5) Supporting Bon Jovi
1987 24 Jun Seattle,WA Scott´s basement (rehearsal)
1988 4 Feb Hilversum Studio (mixing)
1988 13 Oct Köpenhamn KB Hallen (6) Supporting Metallica
1988 17 Oct Stockholm Solnahallen (7) Supporting Metallica
1988 18 Oct Oslo (8) Supporting Metallica
1988 19 Oct Göteborg Frölundaborg (9) Supporting Metallica
1988 30 Oct Bryssel Forest National (10) Supporting Metallica
1988 31 Oct Paris Le Zenith (11) Supporting Metallica
1988 1 Nov Frankfurt (12) Supporting Metallica
1988 2 Nov Stuttgart (13) Supporting Metallica
1988 3 Nov Regensburg (14) Supporting Metallica
1988 5 Nov Leiden Groenoordhal (15) Supporting Metallica
1988 7 Nov Stoke/Hanley Victoria Hall (16) Chrome Molly supporting
1988 8 Nov Nottingham Rock City (17) Slammer supporting
1988 9 Nov London Town&Country Club (18) Underneath What? supporting
1989 27 Apr London Hammersmith Odeon (19)
1989 29 Apr Arnhem Rijnhal (20) Headlining Aardschok Dag Festival
1989 12 May Los Angeles,CA Irvine Meadows (21) Warrant supporting
1995 10 Mar London HMV Marble Arch (22)
1995 10 Mar London Royal Albert Hall (23)
1997 15 Mar Stockholm Hemingway (release)
2006 9 Jun Norje Sweden Rock Festival (24)
2011 11 Jun Norje Sweden Rock Festival (25)
News 1999
News 2002
Homepages
Some of the first photos of Queensryche or rather The Mob as they were called in 1981 when these were taken.
The first official publicity photo of Queensryche 
In 1983 I saw an article in Kerrang about a band that had made a demotape sounding like a mix between
Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, my two favorite bands at the time. I ordered the tape and since I was the
first person from Europe writing to them I got personally written letters back from the band.
This was even before they got the record contract with EMI.
The Warning Tour
1984 13 Oct Stockholm Johanneshov
The first time I met Queensryche, after having corresponded by letters for almost a year.
From this point on and up until 1990 I ran the Queensryche swedish fan-club.
Here I presented them with the first Queensryche Swedish Fan Club t-shirt.
Tracklist:
Nightrider
The Prophecy
Deliverance
NM 156
En Force
Before The Storm
Blinded
Warning
Take Hold Of The Flame
Queen Of The Reich
During 1985 Queensryche played a lot of shows in the US both supporting and headlining.
Geoff Tate was also approached by Ronnie James Dio to sing on the Hear n' Aid project, Stars.
Geoff was of course one of the two best singers on the project together with Paul Shortino.
Also on the project was Ted Nugent and Spinal Tap.
The Rage For Order Tour
1986 23 Nov Burton-On-Trent,Bargates Central Park
This show in Burton was meant to be Queensryche's first headlining show in Europe.
But because of problems with their first management, the show was sadly cancelled.
They still went on a European tour as special guest to Bon Jovi.
1986 24 Nov London Hammersmith Odeon
1986 25 Nov London Hammersmith Odeon
While talking to Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora two of their friends came by, Klaus Meine and
Rudolph Schenker from Scorpions. But they weren´t the only people that came to this show.
Afterwards in the bar I met two of my all-time favorite guitarists Brian May from Queen and
Scott Gorham from Thin Lizzy, then it wasn´t strange that I didn´t get that much time to talk
to Gary Moore that also was there. Scott Gorham had just started a new band, Jump The God,
who sadly never got off the ground, at least I never heard anything from them.
Scott asked me what song was my favorite Thin Lizzy song and when I said "Ballad Of A Hard Man"
he was sincerely happy. That was the only Thin Lizzy song that was written just by Scott.
Soundcheck:
Neue Regel
The Whisper
Tracklist:
Intro/Neue Regel
Surgical Strike
Warning
The Whisper
London
Chemical Youth
Walk In The Shadows
Queen Of The Reich
Take Hold Of The Flame
1986 29 Nov Luzern Festhalle
Going to this show was determined in the last minute. The show was on a saturday and I sat talking with a friend of
mine on friday afternoon about playing some snooker that weekend. After the phone call I realized that Queensryche
were playing in Switzerland and I hadn't seen them in 3 days (!!) and called him back and cancelled the snooker game.
Instead I flew to Zurich and took the train to Lausanne !!! I misread the mix between german, french and italian signs,
got confused and asked if there was a Festhalle in Lausanne and there were and went on to the wrong city.
When I got to Festhalle in Lausanne there was no concert, realized the mistake and took the train to Luzern and got
there just a few minutes before the show. Went straight for a back door that was looked but that second the tourmanager
came out for a smoke so he let me in. Since no one knew I was coming it was too late for a ticket, so I had to watch
the show from the side of the stage. You should have seen the surprised looks on especially Chris and Geoff's faces.
1986 6 Dec Stockholm Johanneshov
Scotts drumkit surrounded by tubes, looked cool
Tracklist:
Intro/Neue Regel
Surgical Strike
Warning
The Whisper
London
Chemical Youth
Walk In The Shadows
solo DeGarmo/Wilton
Rage For Order
Queen Of The Reich
1987 24 Jun Seattle,WA Scott´s basement
Wendy, Michael, Mark and Martha Wilton
In the summer of 1987 I went to the US for the first time. First of all to meet a penpal of mine from Brooklyn that I
had known for two years. Then to meet a Queensryche fan in Rockford outside of Chicago that I had met in London in 1986
and last but certainly not least, to meet Queensryche for one week at home in Seattle, or rather the suburb of Bellevue.
I stayed at Michael Wilton's family's house. Queensryche wasn't touring or recording at the time, they were just
writing and rehearsing some new songs in Scott's basement, none of which ended up on Operation.
Chris' GTO with Enforce plate
1988 4 Feb Hilversum Wisseloord Studios
The first mix done 
The new "Dagger" guitar arrived for Chris
When Queensryche was in Holland with Peter Collins to mix the tracks for Operation I went down to visit.
Actually when I got there, the first mix was just done, Anarchy X/Revolution Calling.
The fun thing was that Chris had taken with him the Queensryche swedish fan-club t-shirt I gave him in 1984.
It was still one of his favorite t-shirts and it ended up on the pictures in a Metal Hammer article as well.
Pinball Wizard 
Chris with fan club t-shirt
The Metal Hammer photo
I also showed Chris some photos from when I went to London with my friend
Donna from Brooklyn, New York. As there were an english telephone booth
at the studio he suggested that we should capture this on photo.
The Operation: Mindcrime Tour
1988 13 Oct Köpenhamn KB Hallen
Tracklist:
Queen Of The Reich
Anarchy X
Revolution Calling
Operation: Mindcrime
Speak
Spreading The Disease
Walk In The Shadows
The Needle Lies
Breaking The Silence
Eyes Of A Stranger
Anarchy X
1988 17 Oct Stockholm Solnahallen
Photo by Håkan Wikström, my father, when we were about to go backstage, with my two young
cousins, Madelene and Lena. Another friend of mine, Marie Gustavsson, is in the background.
Tracklist:
Same as above
1988 18 Oct Oslo
Soundcheck:
I Don´t Believe In Love
Tracklist:
Same as above, except
Take Hold Of The Flame instead of Walk In The Shadows
I Don´t Believe In Love between Take Hold Of The Flame and The Needle Lies
and taking out Breaking The Silence
Chris was actually against playing them in the wrong order, but it worked
1988 19 Oct Göteborg Frölundaborg
Tracklist:
Same as above
1988 30 Oct Bryssel Forest National
Tracklist:
Same as above, except
The Needle Lies was taken out and instead they played both
I Don´t Believe In Love and Breaking The Silence
1988 31 Oct Paris Le Zenith
Scott in the Eiffel tower, the whole band and I had a day off in Paris.
Photo by Patrik Wikström
Eddie practising in Paris, while Lars Ulrich was soundchecking.
Photo by Patrik Wikström
Tracklist:
Same as above
1988 1 Nov Frankfurt
Tracklist:
Same as above
1988 2 Nov Stuttgart
Tracklist:
Same as above
1988 3 Nov Regensburg
Tracklist:
Same as above, except
The Mission was added
My favorite song of ALL TIME, played LIVE for the first time, as a warm-up for the headlining dates in England.
1988 5 Nov Leiden Groenoordhal
Michael was wearing the other edition of the Queensryche Swedish Fan Club T-shirt.
Scotts drumkit was added with chains on this tour, not tubes as on the Rage Tour.
Tracklist:
Same as above, except
Walk In The Shadows was added as an encore
1988 7 Nov Stoke/Hanley Victoria Hall
First headlining show in Europe
Soundcheck:
No Sanctuary, twice
Tracklist:
Queen Of The Reich
Surgical Strike
The Whisper
Walk In The Shadows
Chemical Youth
No Sanctuary
Operation: Mindcrime (excl. The Needle Lies but incl. Electric Requiem)
Encore:
London
The Lady Wore Black
Nightrider
Blinded
Take Hold Of The Flame
1988 8 Nov Nottingham Rock City
Photo by Patrik Wikström,
on timer as I am the one with the Queensryche Swedish Fan Club t-shirt behind Geoff.
Also on the photo are Karen Lloyd, Marguerite Merola and Robin Edmondson.
Tracklist:
Same as above, except
London was taken out
1988 9 Nov London Town & Country Club
Visiting this show was Steve Harris and Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden and Phil Collen from
Def Leppard, all huge Queensryche fans. When I met Harris in Stockholm a few months earlier,
and gave him a Queensryche swedish fan-club t-shirt, I mentioned this show and he was very
thankful because he hadn´t heard of it and he thanked me again when he saw me at this show.
Tracklist:
Same as above
1989 27 Apr London Hammersmith Odeon
Tracklist:
NM 156
Screaming In Digital
Surgical Strike
The Whisper
Walk In The Shadows
Chemical Youth
London
No Sanctuary
Operation: Mindcrime (incl. The Needle Lies)
Encore:
Queen Of The Reich
The Lady Wore Black
Nightrider
Blinded
Prophecy
Take Hold Of The Flame
1989 29 Apr Arnhem Rijnhal Aardschok Dag Festival
When walking up towards Queensryche´s dressingroom I noticed House of Lords dressingroom
and started thinking that inside there was one of my old idols, Gregg Giuffria, from Angel.
(Also check out Brian Balich's Bad Publicity Angel Fanzine)
While standing there, the door opened and Gregg himself asked me to come in, he was just
on his way to get some beer, they had just finished their set and they had been great.
Ken Mary 
Alice Cooper at Virgin in London
I knew Gregg was going to be great, and also the drummer Ken Mary, whom I had both seen
and met 3 years earlier in London when he was playing with Alice Cooper. It was the singer
James Christian that surprised me with being crystal clear and "almost" as good as Geoff.
I sat in House of Lords dressingroom and forgot about Queensryche until I heard NM 156.
Lanny Cordola, House of Lords
The back of the guitar had "Red Rum" painted.
Photo by Patrik Wikström
This show was also visited by Rick Allen from Def Leppard and even though this was just after
his comeback he still drove like a maniac, while crossing the parking lot to the arena.
Tracklist:
Same as above, except
The encore was shortened to just two songs
Queen Of The Reich and Take Hold Of The Flame
1989 12 May Los Angeles,CA Irvine Meadows
The Promised Land Tour
1995 10 Mar London Virgin Marble Arch
Della Brown
Silent Lucidity
1995 10 Mar London Royal Albert Hall
"For the first time in this beautiful place"
"We´ve got Scott caged in for this tour. He´s so loud"
Tracklist:
9:28 pm
I Am I
Damaged
Bridge
NM 156
My Global Mind
Neue Regel
I Remember Now
Anarchy X
Revolution Calling
Operation: Mindcrime
Spreading The Disease
The Mission
I Don´t Believe In Love
My Empty Room
Waiting For 22
Real World
Eyes Of A Stranger
Promised Land
Disconnected
Lady Jane
Empire
Jet City Woman
Lady Wore Black
Encore:
Out Of Mind
One More Time
Silent Lucidity
Take Hold Of The Flame
Someone Else
1997 15 Mar Stockholm Hemingway
At this release party none of the members were attending.
It was still fun to meet a lot of old Queenryche fans and friends.
News June 22 1999
Queensryche Ready For 'Q2K' With New Guitarist And Label
In spite of rumors that they had disbanded, progressive
metal pioneers Queensryche are back. The band finished recording a new
album on Feb. 23 with its new member, guitarist and producer Kelly Gray, who
replaces Chris DeGarmo. The group has also signed a multiple-album deal with
Atlantic Records, which will release the band's latest effort, Q2K, on Sept. 14.
"This one's going back to our roots a little bit more," explains drummer Scott
Rockenfield. "It's a hard record. It's more like Empire. It's not a conceptual
record, it's not even a thematic record like Promised Land was, it's just a
collection of 11 really cool songs. The last album had a certain vibe because
Chris was doing a lot of what he wanted to do, and we let that happen...It was
just time for him to go do his own thing really." Rockenfield adds that the band's
parting with guitarist/ co-songwriter DeGarmo was amicable.
Queensryche is tentatively planning to begin its next tour of the States in early
October. The quintet plan to play 3,000- to 6,000-seat venues. In other recent
changes, the band has a new manager, Ray Danniels, who also handles Rush
and Van Halen. Danniels directed the band towards Atlantic when it was
shopping around Q2K.
As far as its new musical member, Gray is known for his producing and
engineering skills, and he was also one of Rockenfield's high school buddies. "He
used to be in a band with [singer] Geoff [Tate] and a couple of the other guys in
the band prior to Queensryche forming," the drummer says. The band, called
Myth, was active circa 1980 and 1981. "We actually took Geoff out of Myth to
join us," Rockenfield recalls."[Now] 20 years later, Kelly's back in the band. It's
funny how the world revolves. The relationship has been really exciting. He fits
right into place with what we've been as a band but also has a lot to offer us [in
terms of] a new perspective."
In other Queensryche-related news, the second release by Rockenfield's
side-project with Paul Speer, titled Hell's Canyon, should be released soon.
Rockenfield describes the project as "progressive metal ambient rock."
Rockenfield and Speer's first collaboration, Televoid (both a CD and full-length
computer-animated video released through Miramar last year), was nominated
for a Grammy Award for best long-form music video.
-- Bryan Reesman, New York
News 2002
Guitarist Kelly Gray has left the Seattle-based progressive metal act Queensryche.
The artist joined the band in 1998, replacing co-founder
Chris DeGarmo. He appeared on the band's 1999 Atlantic album
"Q2K" and last year's "Live Evolution"
collection. In the early '80s, Gray played in the band Myth with
Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate.
According to Tate, Gray came into the band with the understanding
that he was not a permanent member, and that he actually departed
last November. "Working with Kelly was really fun at the
time," Tate tells Billboard.com. "I think we sort of came
to a place where having him stay in the band would kind of limit him
and limit us, so we decided to part ways and do different
things."
Queensryche has not hired a steady replacement and most likely will
not do so, opting instead to collaborate with different songwriters
when the need arises instead. "We've decided to work with
outside writers and different people that we admire," he says,
noting that remaining Queensryche guitarist Michael Wilton will play
all the guitar parts and will be joined by other "guest
players."
It has been strongly rumored that DeGarmo is recording with
Queensryche for its next studio album. Tate says this is not true,
but when asked if there were plans for DeGarmo to work with his old
bandmates in the future, he replies, "I don't want to say 'yes'
and I don't want to say 'no,' because [Chris] might call up one day
and say, 'Hey, I've got some songs and I'm really interested in
recording with you guys. You wanna do it?' and then I'd have to eat
my words. So I'll say there are no plans at the moment, but the door
is open."
Tate reveals that about half of Queensryche's next studio album has
been written; he hopes those duties will be completed before he goes
on the road this summer to support his self-titled Sanctuary solo
debut .
Wilton is working on material with his side band Soulbender, and
drummer Scott Rockenfeld recently released an album with the group
Slave To The System, whose lineup includes Gray.
-- Christa Titus, N.Y.
2011 11 Jun Sweden Rock Festival, Norje
Rating: 3+
Highlight: The Lady Wore Black
After the show I met the band for the first time since 1995 at Virgin Marble Arch in London.
Even Scott came up and gave me a hug.
Geoff's sister has gotten remarried so she is not called Wikstrom anymore.
I congratulated Eddie since he turned 50 earlier this year.
I told Michael to say hello to his sister for me, she has two daughters now.
© 2011 Patrik Wikström
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The Official Web Page
Screaming in Digital
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