The ‘Operation: Mindcrime – The Final Chapter’ Tour Makes An Encore Performance At The House Of Blues On February 8th

All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

The ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ album was released way back in 1988 and quickly became a smash hit for QUEENSRYCHE, establishing themselves as one of the top bands of their genre, spawning hits like “I Don’t Believe In Love”, “Breaking The Silence” and live staple “Eyes Of A Stranger”. This album in my opinion stands alone as the greatest concept album ever produced.

In late 2024, Tate announced his ‘Operation: Mindcrime – The Final Chapter’ Tour which kicked off in mid-March of 2025, his intention being to perform the album in its entirety for the final time ever, and on March 28th of that year, the tour made a stop in Houston, TX at the House of Blues. The U.S. tour ran through late April and then picked up again in September through October. Due to overwhelming demand more dates keep getting added and in January of this year another string of U.S. dates was announced, with over half of these dates being encore performances in cities he hit last year. Among those dates was Houston once again and on February 8th we got to experience this masterpiece in full once again and KNAC.COM was there in force to capture the event.

As with the tour last year, Irish artist Tomas McCarthy was the chosen opener, but this time around James Keegan, a singer/songwriter in his own right and also the third member of Tomas’ band, was given his own stage time as the direct opener. The Irishman has garnered quite the following in his homeland and the UK since 2023 and even had 3 of his 4 singles charting at No.1 in the Irish iTunes Charts. Taking the stage solo with just a simple acoustic guitar, he warmed the crowd up with a 6 song set of soulful, folk-like tunes, a stark contrast to the hard rock that would be unleashed later in the evening.

As mentioned, the direct support for Tate on this run was once again Tomas McCarthy, also from Ireland. Tate appears to have an affinity for the Irish as he not only has had them as openers on his tours of late but the majority of his solo band members also hail from that island. McCarthy was joined by Keegan and Tomas’ beautiful wife Clodagh who plays saxophone and also returns later in the evening as the voice of Sister Mary during the ‘Mindcrime’ performance. Still armed with only acoustic guitars and the saxophone, Tomas and his band delivered a very spirited set and it was easy to see exactly how much he pours his heart and soul into his music. His wife’s beauty was not lost on him as he joked when he introduced her, ‘She’s my wife, don’t fucking touch her’. Again, the music of McCarthy was worlds apart from Tate’s but the crowd appreciated it immensely nonetheless.

Finally, at 9:40pm the lights dimmed and the band sans Tate gathered at the back of the stage, their backs to the crowd. As the first notes of “Anarchy-X” filled the venue the crowd erupted, fully primed and ready for ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ once again. As they launched into “Revolution Calling” Tate took the stage and proceeded to remind the crowd why he remains one of metal’s greatest voices and the mastermind behind that album. He and the rest of the band, guitarists James Brown, Dario Parente and Kieran Robertson, bassist Jack Ross, new addition on keyboards, Bruno Sa of Brazil, and drummer Robert Baker along with the aforementioned backup vocalist Clodagh McCarthy, were all smiles as they rolled through the album with “Speak”, “Operation: Mindcrime”, “Spreading The Disease” and “The Needle Lies” with deft and precision. Also added for this leg of the tour was a 2-peice string ensemble though I myself didn’t really notice the added layer to the musical output. The chemistry between Clodagh and Geoff during “Suite Sister Mary” was unmistakable, reminiscent of the days when Pamela Moore played the part of Mary. The interaction between them added yet another piece of intensity to the rendition.

Following the conclusion of ‘Mindrcime’ with “Eyes Of A Stranger”, Tate launched into a mini set of other QUEENSRYCHE hits beginning with “Empire” and then “Screaming In Digital”. Several setlists have listed the song “Blood” from the ‘Tribe’ album as being a part of the show but we did not get that song and I couldn’t tell from the setlist on the stage whether or not it was even listed. Tate and company finished out the main portion of the show with one of my all-time favorite QR tracks, “Take Hold of The Flame”, and even though he cant quite hit every high note like he used to (not many can at that age anyway), he did do a phenomenal job when it mattered, sounding better than he had in years. The band then returned for two encores, “Silent Lucidity” and the song that started it all for QUEENSRYCHE, “Queen of The Reich” with Tate pulling out all the stops for the high points.

The current leg of the U.S. tour concludes on 2/21 in Denver before the band heads overseas for a European run kicking off on March 28th in Germany and running mid-April. The U.S. tour picks up once again on April 28th in South Dakota and goes through May 23rd for a hometown show in Seattle. It’s across the pond from there for a UK jaunt and then Europe again for a few dates before going back to the UK and Ireland. So as you can see Tate is going to keep the tour going as long as people want to see and hear it, and as the only one who had the right to perform the album in full you can’t afford to miss this tour if it comes near you because, barring an unthinkable QUEENSRYCHE reunion, this will be the very last time to witness the spectacle that is ‘Operation: Mindcrime’.

Setlist:

“I Remember Now” (tape)
“Anarchy-X”
“Revolution Calling”
“Operation: Mindcrime”
“Speak”
“Spreading the Disease”
“The Mission”
“Suite Sister Mary”
“The Needle Lies”
“Electric Requiem”
“Breaking the Silence”
“I Don’t Believe in Love”
“Waiting for 22”
“My Empty Room”
“Eyes of a Stranger”
“Empire”
“Screaming in Digital”
“Jet City Woman”
“Take Hold of the Flame”

Encore:

“Silent Lucidity”
“Queen of the Reich”

Operation: Mindcrime – The Final Chapter Tour Dates

February
14 – Phoenix, AZ – Celebrity Theater *
15 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre *
18 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater *
19 – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theater
21 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre

• Encore performance from 2025

March
28 – Metal Mountain Festival III at Jurhalle – Gosheim, Germany
31 – Downtown Live – Strovolos, Cyprus

April
1 – Gagarin 205 – Athens, Greece
2 – Circus Entertainment Hub – Larissa, Greece
3 – Principal Club Theater – Thessaloniki, Greece
4 – Joy Station – Sofia, Bulgaria
5 – Quantic Club – Bucharest, Romania
8 – Hall Besiktas – Istanbul, Turkey
9 – Soldout PSM – Izmir, Turkey
18 – Colos Saal – Aschaffenburg, Germany
28 – The District – Sioux Falls, SD
29 – Varsity Theater – Minneapolis, MN
30 – Epic Event Center – Ashwaubenon, WI

May
1 – Pabst – Milwaukee, WI
2 – Atwood Music Hall – Madison, WI
3 – First Avenue Club – Iowa City, IA
5 – The Bourbon Theatre – Lincoln, NE
6 – Knuckleheads – Kansas City, MO
7 – The Pageant – St Louis, MO
8 – Arcada Theatre – St Charles, IL
9 – St Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
12 – Elevation – Grand Rapids, MI
13 – Hi-Fi Annex – Indianapolis, IN
14 – Clyde Theatre – Fort Wayne, IN
15 – Taft Theatre – Cincinnati, OH
16 – Rose Music Center – Huber Heights, OH
17 – Mercury Ballroom – Louisville, KY
30 – KK’s Steel Mill – Wolverhampton, UK
31 – The Brook – Southampton, UK

June
1 – Venue23 – Wakefield, UK
4 – The Tivoli – Buckley, UK
5 – Y Muni Pontypridd – Pontypridd, UK
20 – Midsummer Festival at Muziekgieterij – Maastricht, Netherlands

July
4 – Time to Rock Festival – Knislinge, Sweden

August
8 – The Liquid Room – Edinburgh, UK

September
5 – Islington Assembly Hall – London, UK

October
27 – Cultuurpodium Boerderij at Cultuurpodium Boerderij – Zoetermeer, Netherlands
28 – 013 Poppodium – Tilburg, Netherlands
29 – Poppodium Iduna – Drachten, Netherlands

JAMES KEEGAN

TOMAS MCCARTHY

GEOFF TATE