QUEENSRŸCHE – Mindcrime At The Moore (DVD)

2006 saw the much anticipated Operation: Mindcrime II hitting the streets, and although not having such a revolutionary impact for Queensrÿche from a commercial aspect, the release was still a very good album, and was clearly crafted by Geoff Tate and the rest of the band with the eventual stage show production in mind. Queensrÿche had performed concerts in the past of Operation: Mindcrime from start to finish, but clearly performing both the original and the sequel back-to-back was a “must see” for each and every Queensrÿche fan in 2006.

With 3 consecutive sold out dates in Queensrÿche’s proverbial backyard (Seattle, Washington, USA), the logical place to record a DVD of this spectacular “Rock Opera,” Queensrÿche set out to memorialize this nearly 3-hour show at The Moore Theater, a somewhat quaint and intimate venue where the band originally conducted rehearsals for what would be this monumental tour.

Special guests for this show included the Seattle Seahawks (American Football) drum section, Blue Thunder, who marched out on stage to create a nice majestic opening for “I Remember Now” and “Anarchy X” (and appear later again in the show for added effect). From this point forward, you probably either already have the story line of both Mindcrime albums memorized, or if you don’t then you should simply pick up both albums (NOW) or utilize the availability of this 2-DVD set to acquaint yourself with one of the best concept Metal productions of all time. Anyway, the purpose of this review isn’t to hash through the story line … rather, to let fans know whether or not this 2-DVD set is worth the fairly salty price it’s being offered at to the public.

The quick answer is “yes!” The color and lighting of the live set was captured very well, and the sound is very good. There “could” be several occasions where perhaps recorded musical sections (presumably recorded on a night different from the video shots used) were inserted over the naturally occurring live shots, giving a few instances where lip/mouth movements by Tate didn’t seem to perfectly match up, but it’s a subtle error at worst. The video screen utilized in back of the stage was integrated into the recording well, and overall the band’s musical performance was excellent, showing the band to be the true professionals that they are. Panoramic cameras were used to great effect for this recording, allowing the viewer to see the stage production from all angles … another nice effect. Being in their “hometown,” the fans were certainly up for the event as well, which creates a high level of excitement while watching.

As with any quality DVD these days, there’s just got to be bonus features! Certainly, a Mindcrime I and Mindcrime II show in and of itself can carry its own weight, but Queensrÿche decided to go ahead and include a small handful of other bonus features as well. First is something called a “Tour Documentary.” This title is a bit misleading. What it boils down to is basically somewhat random footage of their initial rehearsals, stage set-ups, brief fan interviews outside of the The Moore Theater, a few impromptu talks with band members, and some footage of “thank you” discussions in the dressing rooms with Ronnie James Dio from the show earlier that year in California when Dio made a special guest appearance as Dr. X. The “Tour Documentary” is entertaining, but it doesn’t really get in-depth, nor is it a true start-to-finish account of what it took to launch this Mindcrime tour. Other bonus features include a video of that Dio performance in California (pretty cool), footage from Queensrÿche’s Rock & Ride event in New York, and a still picture gallery. The still picture gallery is somewhat of a yawn, but the Rock & Ride event is a nice added touch, especially knowing that the charitable cause of this event is to help fund music programs in the public school systems; programs that are more and more falling by the waist-side due to state budget cuts.

All in all, Mindcrime At The Moore is a great souvenir for all who were fortunate enough to witness this tour. And, if you didn’t, the quality of the video and the recording methods used will certainly allow you to get a good feel for what you missed. From a pure concert and historical perspective, this 2-DVD set is indeed a must have. However, buy it for those reasons alone (which should be more than good enough), because the bonus features are not the focus of the package this time around.