Let's Talk About All This Queensrÿche Nonsense, Shall We?

I think these guys might need to have a little chit-chat.

I was slightly out of the loop last week mainly due to E3 2012 consuming all of my attention. As a result, I haven't been following the whole Queensrÿche debacle that has been going on as closly as I probably should have. Now that E3 is over, I've had time to catch up on everything that has been going on with the band and thought I'd give a quick recap of the current situation.

All of the hullabaloo started (as far as we know) back in April following a gig in Brazil. Rumors spread that singer Geoff Tate assaulted guitarist Michael Wilton and drew a knife drummer Scott Rockenfield after overhearing them discuss possibly firing him. It was announced shortly afterwards that the members of Queensrÿche sans Tate were forming a new group called Rising West, while the singer reported that he would spend the summer touring with an acoustic solo band. A later announcement stated that Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre would be fronting Rising West and that they would make their live debut on June 8, where they will play material from the first 5 Queensrÿche albums.

It certainly seems strange that the remaining bandmates would decide to play Queensrÿche classics while Tate plays solo dates. While I can understand the other guys wanting to stay active while their singer is away, it's still odd that they would decide to essentially replace him in a new project

Then, about two weeks ago the band performed at the 2012 Rocklahoma Festival in, you guessed it, Oklahoma. During the set, Geoff Tate said to the audeince "You guy suck!" when he felt the crowd wasn't having it and became instantly lame when he quoted "YOLO". You can see him throw a hissy fit around the 3:50 mark in the video below.

Fast forward to a few days later, when it was reported that the members of Rising West were denied access to the Queensrÿche website and Facebook page. I'm sure that was just a glitch in the system! Right? Seriously though, this just seems like adding fuel to the fire that could result in the implosion of the group. Although the band members claim that the 'Rÿche will continue, we'll have to wait and see if everything gets sorted out. 

I honestly hope the band can keep it together since it would be a  huge shame for such a great band to lose their iconic singer, and even though I wasn't a huge fan of last year's Dedicated to Chaos, that doesn't mean they still aren't capable of making quality music. I'll be sure to have more info as it becomes available.