QUEENSRŸCHE's MICHAEL WILTON: Coming Up With A Setlist Is 'Like Pulling Teeth'

In a new interview with Joe Rock of the WBAB 102.3 radio station, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton was asked how hard it is for him and his bandmates to come up with a setlist considering that they have sixteen studio albums' worth of material to choose from. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):"It's extremely difficult. It's like pulling teeth — trying to figure out what the band wants to play and what the fans wanna hear. It's a balance of all of it. And we listen to the fans a lot. They're kind of our guidance into some of the things. But you've gotta make it interesting for the musicians. But you've gotta put a hit in there and something new as well. So that's kind of our philosophy — let's promote the album in a way that we can still kind of have some kind of a balanced setlist that everybody can enjoy. So it's not easy."

QUEENSRŸCHE kicked off its 2023 U.S. tour on March 3 at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida. Support on the trek is coming from former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman, with TRAUMA.

QUEENSRŸCHE's 18-song set includes no less than five songs from the band's sixteenth studio album, "Digital Noise Alliance", which came out last October via Century Media. The record was once again helmed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who previously worked with QUEENSRŸCHE on 2015's "Condition Hüman" and 2019's "The Verdict" LPs.

Last December, QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre told Canada's The Metal Voice about the band's setlist for the current tour: "We're gonna play a nice handful of songs from ['Digital Noise Alliance'] and the last three records. And then I think we're talking about doing some pretty deep cuts that have never been done since the beginning of the band and maybe something that hasn't been done for sure at least maybe since I joined the band. And then you'll have a few staple songs, but I'm pretty sure that this setlist is gonna be really for the diehards that follow everything we do, because you're gonna have a huge chunk of my era with the band being played. If you [think] you're just gonna get a lot of the old stuff that we kind of usually play, a lot of that stuff is not gonna happen on this tour. So I'm looking forward to it."

Wilton previously discussed QUEENSRŸCHE's 2023 tour in an interview with Rock Show Critique. He said: "It's a full 'Digital Noise Alliance' headline tour. We're really excited to get out there and get touring again. We're rebuilding and establishing again, because for us it's a bit of the Wild West. There's a lot of congestion out there, there's a lot of bands touring, and to put a tour together like this, we're really happy that we can get out there and do a full tour."

"We appreciate the fans, their input," he continued. "For us, I think we're gonna make this different than previous tours 'cause we're really gonna mix up the setlist. So, for people saying, 'Oh, they're just gonna play the same stuff again,' they'll be surprised.

"You've gotta keep a balance, 'cause you've got the hardcore fans that wanna hear the deep cuts and they wanna hear the new stuff," Wilton explained. "And then you've got the casual fans that just wanna hear the hits, the staples from the legacy albums. But it's a headline set, so we have 90 minutes. There's a lot of wiggle room in there for some different stuff."

Guitarist Mike Stone, who rejoined QUEENSRŸCHE in 2021, contributed guitar solos to the band's new studio album.

Since late May 2021, Stone has been handling second-guitar duties in QUEENSRŸCHE, which announced in July 2021 that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on "other business ventures."

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album "Tribe" and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past six years, drummer Casey Grillo has been filling in for original QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against Wilton and bassist Eddie 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.