Ex-QUEENSRŸCHE Singer GEOFF TATE Announces 'Operation: Mindcrime - The Final Chapter' 2025 Tour
October 1, 2024Ex-QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate has announced the U.S. dates for the "Operation: Mindcrime - The Final Chapter" tour. The trek, which will kick off on March 18, 2025 in Tucson, will see the 65-year-old vocalist perform the band's classic "Operation: Mindcrime" album in its entirety for the last time.
Select venues will do a presale this Wednesday, October 2 at 10:00 a.m. local time. All tickets will go on sale this Friday, October 4 at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Tour dates:
March 18 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
March 20 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
March 21 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
March 22 - Wichita, KS - TempleLive Wichita
March 23 - Kansas City, MO - Knuckleheads
March 25 - Lincoln, NE - Bourbon Theatre
March 26 - Fort Smith, AR - TempleLive Fort Smith
March 27 - Dallas, TX - Echo Music Halt
March 28 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
March 29 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theater
March 30 - Austin, TX - Empire Garage
April 01 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
April 02 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage
April 03 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theater
April 04 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
April 05 - Orlando, FL - House of Blues
April 06 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Parker Playhouse
April 08 - Louisville, KY - Mercury Ballroom
April 09 - Detroit, MI - St Andrews Hall
April 10 - Grand Rapids, MI - Elevation
April 11 - St Charles, IL - Arcada Theatre
April 12 - Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theatre
April 13 - Fort Wayne, IN - Clyde Theatre
April 15 - Cleveland, OH - TempleLive
April 16 - Columbus, OH - TempleLive
April 17 - Plainfield, IN - Hendrick's Live
April 18 - St Louis, MO - Delmar Hall
April 19 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
April 21 - Green Bay, WI - Epic Event Center
April 22 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
April 23 - Fargo, ND - Sanctuary
April 25 - Boise, ID - Revolution Center
September 25 - Greenville, SC - Radio Room
September 26 - Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
September 27 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
September 28 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
October 01 - Hopewell, VA - Beacon Theatre
October 02 - Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
October 03 - Greensburg, PA - Palace Theatre
October 05 - Harrisburg, PA - XL Live
October 08 - Hartford, CT - Infinity Hall
October 09 - Newton, NJ - Newton Theatre
October 10 - Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theater
October 11 - Tarrytown, NY - Music Hall
October 12 - Fairfield, CT - Sacred Heart Theatre
October 16 - Patchogue, NY - Patchogue Theatre
October 17 - Homer, NY - Center for the Arts
October 18 - North Tonawanda, NY - Riviera Theatre
In a recent interview with Cassius Morris, Tate was asked if he has any desire to ever create with his former bandmates, including guitarist Chris DeGarmo, again. He responded: "Well, I think that we had 30 good years, which is phenomenal. Most bands make a couple of records. How many records did GUNS N' ROSES make? Three? [Laughs] We had 30 years of making music, and we gave it a really good run. We had a lot of success. I think we created some really memorable albums, some really memorable songs that will outlive us. And I don't really have a need to go back and try to recapture that with Chris or any of the other guys as well. I feel like it's time to do other things, and to just explore. And we gave that a great run. It was successful. We did great things. It's time to do other things now."
Asked if he keeps in touch with any of his former bandmates at all, Geoff said: "Um, not regularly, not regularly. But sometimes situations arise where we have to sort of deal with each other, and it's not unpleasant now. Enough time has gone by [and] the bridges have mended, I guess."
Regarding whether it is tough for him to keep having to talk about his split with QUEENSRŸCHE more than a decade later, Geoff said: "At first, it was very challenging because we had kind of a bitter breakup, and I guess I was very angry over how it was handled. But then I started looking at the personalities involved and realized, well, it really didn't have any other realistic outcome. It was gonna be what it was. But that was 12 years ago when the band split up. And so a lot of water is under the bridge now and I can be a lot more forgiving of people in their situations. But I've had to talk about it. I keep getting asked questions about it, that kind of thing, 'You ever gonna get the band back together?' that question all the time. And so I've tried to think about how to talk about it in a way that is honest and real for me, but yet not so volatile. 'Cause I could get very volatile about it and point fingers and express blame and I can be very cruel, but it doesn't really serve me to even entertain that idea. I really appreciate what we had and what we did. And I'm happy with that. Very happy."
Back in March 2023, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton shot down Tate's claim that the original lineup of the group was offered an "obscene" amount of money for one reunion tour but that "a couple of people in the band turned it down." Michael told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk": "I don't know. I didn't hear about it. I never saw any offers. I know our management never saw any offers. So I have no idea about that."
In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Fellow original QUEENSRŸCHE members Wilton, drummer Scott Rockenfield and bassist Eddie Jackson responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform the albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.
During a January 2022 appearance on "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Tate was asked if he is hopeful that a QUEENSRŸCHE reunion will happen someday. He responded: "I'm honestly not really expecting that to happen, basically because we've been offered just obscene amounts of money to get back together and do one tour — one tour and we'd never have to tour again. And a couple of people in the band turned it down; they're not interested in doing it. So that would really be, I think, the only motivation that would get everybody together was an obscene amount of money. But that didn't work, so [laughs] there's really no hope for it after that, I think… Money is not the motivator, and getting together for an artistic dream isn't a motivator either, so what do you have? You have nothing. Obviously, both camps are happy in the position they're at. I know for myself, I love my life — I love what I'm doing and I love traveling and playing music for people. And so far, I'm still kicking it, still happy and healthy."
Geoff went on to say that he is fine with the prospect of never returning to QUEENSRŸCHE and continuing to pursue his solo career and other projects for the rest of his time as a performing artist.
"We did hold it together for years and years and years," he said. "It was a really, really tightly run ship and it was very lucrative and we had a lot of great records and did a lot of world touring and made a lot of friends and played a lot of music together. And we had our time, and I'll aways be grateful for that time that we had. That was a time, and it doesn't mean that that time has to go on forever. There's new times to be had and there's more music to be made, there's more songs to be sung and more audiences to play music for."
Tate has gone back and forth on the subject of a reunion with QUEENSRŸCHE, telling The Rock Vault in November 2019 about the possibility of rejoining his former bandmates: "I think that would be something that makes sense, and I think it would be an interesting thing to do, if everybody could get in the same room and actually talk to each other." However, just eight months earlier, he dismissed the chances of a QUEENSRŸCHE reunion, telling Greece's "TV War" that he had "no interest in that. No. Not at all. [I have] absolutely no reason to," he said. "I don't need the money. That'd be the only reason to do it. Maybe if they paid me, like, 10 million dollars or something like that. [Laughs]"
He continued: "It was a good thing for a long time, and then it went really bad. And I just don't want that kind of negativity in my life. My life is so good, and I have such great friends and family. I travel the world and sing songs for a living. I mean, it's lovely. I have wonderful, positive people in my life, and to go back and be in that negative land again… aargh, I just couldn't do it. It's not worth it."
Tate previously described his time in QUEENSRŸCHE as "a strange, strange sort of relationship." He told The Metal Gods Meltdown: "We weren't really friends, you know — we were business associates. We had a wonderful entity that we shared called QUEENSRŸCHE, but it wasn't an equal sort of partnership as far as involvement goes. You know, so there wasn't a real camaraderie amongst everybody in the band… From my perspective and my involvement, it wasn't an emotional sort of brotherhood kind of thing that some people might think existed. That wasn't my reality with them."
In 2021, current QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre told "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" about the chances of Tate's return to QUEENSRŸCHE: "It's funny. I always hear, 'There'll definitely be an all-original lineup reunion. Every band does it.' And I'm thinking, if you knew what I know, I don't think that's gonna happen. And other than the optics of it, why? What's the point? We saw for 15 years what it sounded like."
In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against guitarist Wilton and Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. A few months later, Wilton and Jackson filed a countersuit against Rockenfield, accusing him of abandoning his position as a member of the band and misappropriating the group's assets to his own personal benefit. That dispute has since been settled out of court.
QUEENSRŸCHE has used former KAMELOT drummer Casey Grillo for touring and recording purposes since April 2017.
We are announcing the following 2025 USA Tour dates to the Operation Mindcrime, The Final Chapter Tour! Select venues...
Posted by Geoff Tate on Tuesday, October 1, 2024
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