Geoff Tate: The Whole Story Tour

Geoff Tate
Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle, WA
03.14.17

Vocal talent like Geoff Tate’s doesn’t come around often, and the opportunity to see the former Queesryche singer take on an intimate acoustic set is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Seattle stop of his “The Whole Story” acoustic tour at Dimitrou’s Jazz Alley felt like a bit like MTV Unplugged, for the older generation.

Small tables throughout the venue were lit with dim lamps, in direct contrast to the bright stage, and bearded, denim and t-shirt wearing 40-60-year-olds filled the room. Accompanied by two acoustic guitar players, a percussionist, and a violinist, Tate noted early on, “thirty-five years worth of music two hours, bouncing through the decades, try to keep up.” He then proceeded to deliver plenty of hits, all expertly rearranged for the acoustic occasion, showing off his trademark high notes, and occasionally playing the tambourine.

Familiar songs sounded very different without the wailing electric guitars, but it was a pleasure to hear them taken down a notch. Tate told a story about recording an album in Nashville in 1997, seeing Johnny Cash in a place called Pancake Palace. The band then played a quick country-style jam as a joke. His unique personality and experiences offered plenty of fodder for conversation and connection to the crowd.

Stopping to chat about recording the album Promised Land, and how he went to the San Juan Islands to bond and record the album, he talked about writing “Out Of Mind,” one of his all-time favorite songs, before performing the melodic version. Even “Silent Lucidity,” which contains acoustic elements in the album version, was masterfully rearranged to fit this acoustic performance and earned a big round of applause.

Before “Blood,” Tate noted traveling the world, including a refugee camp in Hamburg, Germany. And later he joked about not understanding why people sing his songs into a hairbrush. He took the time to talk about song origins like that of “The Lady Wore Black,” which came about while recording the first Queensryche album in the 80s. If he had not walked home the way he did, after recording all night, the words might not have come to him.

Some favorite Operation Mindcrime tracks played their part near the end, and he finished the set with “Eyes of a Stranger” to a standing ovation. After he introduced the band, there was, of course, an encore. He closed with “Around The world,” and the lyric, “all you need is love,” to which Tate said, “take that home folks.” And thus, with a final round of applause, this unique and personal show was perfectly topped off.

Geoff Tate Set List
Walk in the Shadows
Another Rainy Night
Some People Fly
Jet City Woman
Chasing Blue Sky
Bridge
Until There Was You
Out of Mind
Silent Lucidity
The Fight
Blood
Take Hold of the Flame
The Lady Wore Black
Hundred Mile Stare
I Don’t Believe in Love
Eyes of a Stranger
I’m Shipping Up to Boston
Around the World