The year was 1984. The Olympics took place in Los Angeles; Culture Club were singing Karma Chamelon and Prince was singing When Doves Cry; Beverly Hills Cop and Police Academy were on at the movies and the A-Team and Dallas were still on TV; Amadeus won the Oscar for best picture and Tina Turner won the Record of The Year Grammy for "What's Love Got To Do With It?"...

In the world of real important music, Ronnie James Dio (he of Rainbow and Black Sabbath) was taking his solo band on tour to support his “Last in Line” album.

As was the case in those days, Newcastle City Hall was the venue.

Supporting the diminutive Dio were a new band from Seattle called Queensryche.

Here they are, and which mother wouldn’t be proud?

At that time no-one had heard much about them. In fact their only release at the time was an EP with four songs.

Here’s the original advert from Kerrang:

So 25 years later and with four of the original five members still together, Queensryche were back on the road this time headlining to promote their new album “American Soldier”.

No Newcastle City Hall this time; instead we were at Houston’s House of Blues a great venue which was not unlike Newcastle City Hall except:

    a.You can drink beer at your seat (and in fact can order beer from your seat)

    b.There was an attendant in the toilet to offer you towels and aftershave (more likely to be beaten to death in Newcastle for offering this)

Geoff Tate and the boys put on a great show for over 2 hours with songs from “Rage for Order” (their second album), “American Soldier” and “Empire” (but sadly no “Silent Lucidity”). Special guests included former US military sea rescue specialist and current rapper/rocker AJ Fratto (dressed in full fatigues) and Geoff Tate’s 10 year old daughter Emily both of whom sing on the new album.

A great show and I’m already making plans to see them again in another 25 years...