Product: Queensrche: Mindcrime at the Moore (2007)
Rating: 4.0
Mindcrime at the Moore: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
As a longtime QR fan who had high expectations for OM:II and was a little disappointed I purchased this DVD with a bit less fervor. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised to find a similar (if not more solid) effort than the Livecrime release of 16 years ago. It absolutely made sense for the band to put together a tour that covered the Mindcrime saga in its entirety; however the prospect of combining what was essentially two separate concerts (along with the visuals) given the fact that these guys are well into their 40's seemed a little far fetched. As mentioned in a previous review, this was indeed a massive undertaking. With that in mind, my assessment of the whole DVD experience was going to be much more forgiving than it was after my first listen to the latest studio release.My findings-good, bad and ugly.The good: As I alluded to before the coverage of the original Mindcrime release was the most tight I've heard since 1991. Throw in the theatrics and you have a dynamic that was simply absent on "Live Evolution" and "Art of Live". From the drum corps backing up Scott Rockenfield in Anarchy X to Geoff Tate belting out "Eyes of a Stranger" while bound in a straight jacket Disc 1 is worth the price of admission alone. The band nails every song and sprinkles in some creative improvisation ("Electric Requiem" and "My Empty Room") for good measure. Pamela Moore providing backup/harmony effectively augmented Tate's vox-even though he sounded better than he has in years. Additionally, a more animated Tate and company managed to successfully capture their audience rather than just play for them..a testament to this being more than a rushed swan song. Believe me, once the title track kicks in you'll be held captive as well. The best aspects of "Mindcrime at the Moore" are borne out in Disc 1, which leads to..The bad- Actually we'll just say not-so-good. Disc 2 covers the latest release and it can be safely said that Mindcrime II is best experienced live. The passion that was so prevalent in part I does indeed carry over into this segment, however it became quite apparent a few songs into the set that this was headed towards anticlimax. After energizing the crowd for 90 minutes the show seemed to lose some steam-an unfortunate eventuality given an abrupt end to the frenetic pace after "A Murderer?". Even with a sound that was as true to (or better than) the studio release, the second installment of the Mindcrime saga live just didn't have the substance to close the deal. Fortunately QR remedied the crowd's hunger with "Walk in the Shadows" and "Jet City Woman" as encores.And, the ugly: As much as I appreciate the many faces of Mike Stone I just couldn't digest his look for this show. His Plasmatics-era mohawk and recurrent virtuoso-esqe solo fills seemed quite out of place. Fortunately he holds his own along with Michael Wilton...which didn't happen on "Live Evolution". Another forgettable moment was the live rendition of "The Chase", sans Ronnie James Dio. Actually, neither Tate nor Dio were present on stage-just a very amateurish and almost laughable video that accompanied the band throughout the number. Understandably, RJD was only able to perform live at the LA show (which is included as a bonus feature on Disc 2) but the video could've been approached very differently (i.e. have a more impassioned Dio on screen with Tate singing live in the foreground).In sum, given a few shortcomings it can't be overstated that this is without a doubt their finest live release. Considering how this aging band covered material not only conceived almost 20 years ago but comprising the finest metal concept album in history this performance is a must to watch and own.4 Stars for sure.