Watch: GEOFF TATE Kicks Off U.S. Leg Of 'Operation: Mindcrime - The Final Chapter' Tour In Tucson

Ex-QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate kicked off the U.S. leg of the "Operation: Mindcrime - The Final Chapter" tour this past Tuesday night (March 18) at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson, Arizona. The trek sees the 66-year-old vocalist performing the band's classic "Operation: Mindcrime" album in its entirety for the last time.

Fan-filmed video of the Tucson concert can be seen below (courtesy of Live Rock Music Concerts).

Tate's setlist was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. Anarchy-X
02. Revolution Calling
03. Operation: Mindcrime
04. Spreading The Disease
05. The Mission
06. Suite Sister Mary
07. The Needle Lies
08. Electric Requiem
09. Breaking The Silence
10. I Don't Believe In Love
11. Waiting For 22
12. My Empty Room
13. Eyes Of A Stranger
14. I'm American
15. The Chase
16. Jet City Woman
17. Murderer?
18. If I Could Change It All
19. Empire
20. A Junkie's Blues
21. Silent Lucidity

Encore:

22. Take Hold Of The Flame

In a recent interview with Marko Syrjala of Metal-Rules.com, Tate spoke about his upcoming third and final chapter in QUEENSRŸCHE's classic "Operation: Mindcrime" album series. Regarding how the idea for the LP came together, Geoff said: "Well, I don't know. I just started writing, and it sort of happened. [Laughs] Really, there wasn't anything more to it than that. But over the last couple of years, while preparing for this upcoming ['Operation: Mindcrime - The Final Chapter'] tour, we've written quite a few songs for the album. We have enough material for a full album, and it's all ready to go. We're planning to release it in segments — like two songs here, then another two songs, then three songs — and kind of release it in parts. The plan is to start putting songs out in March when the U.S. tour begins and then do a physical release toward the end of the year."

As for the musical direction of the material that will appear on "Operation: Mindcrime III", Geoff said: "It definitely has a strong early QUEENSRŸCHE vibe, with some tracks being super heavy and technical. The album is also deeply emotional, marking the final chapter in the 'Mindcrime' saga. It continues the story of Dr. X, Nikki and Sister Mary, focusing on a specific point in their journey. I'm thrilled with how it's turning out and can't wait for people to hear it."

Geoff went on to say that he wrote the songs for "Operation: Mindcrime III" mostly with his guitarists Kieran Robertson from Scotland and Alex Hart from Boston. "I think that's it — the three of us primarily wrote the whole thing," he said.

Tate also addressed the risks of creating sequels to classic albums like the original "Operation: Mindcrime", saying: "Am I worried about people's expectations? No, I've never been worried about that. [Laughs] Never. I didn't worry about it with the first or second one. Why would I start worrying about the third? … Honestly, I don't care. [Laughs] I don't write records to make people happy or to impress them. I make them simply to make records. Whether people like them or not doesn't matter to me. You can't try to please everyone's musical tastes because we're all affected by music differently. And if it's a matter of sales, well, that's a whole different can of worms, as they say. That depends entirely on the company's expertise in trying to sell it and who they've hired for promotion — it's all up in the air, you know? I mean, Jesus, look at GUNS N' ROSES. They built a massive 30-year career out of just three albums. [Laughs] It's crazy. They must've had a great promo team, I guess."

Originally released in May 1988, QUEENSRŸCHE's third studio album, "Operation: Mindcrime" took the quintet to an entirely new level. The concept, revealed through the songs, revolves around the character of Nikki, a recovering drug addict disillusioned with a corrupt society. Drawn into a cult-like revolutionary group headed by Dr. X (voiced by the late and beloved British actor Anthony Valentine),Nikki is manipulated to assassinate political leaders until his friendship with nun Sister Mary finally opens his eyes to the truth. Regarded as one of the greatest concept metal albums of all time, "Operation: Mindcrime" was certified platinum in 1991 in the U.S. and was ranked in the "Top 100 Metal Albums Of All Time" by both Kerrang! and Billboard magazines. Rolling Stone included it on a similar list, noting that "nearly 30 years after its initial release, 'Mindcrime' feels eerily relevant."

The original "Operation: Mindcrime" album weaved themes of religion, drug abuse and underground, radical politics. By contrast, 2006's "Operation: Mindcrime II" was regarded as an unnecessary sequel that many felt cheapened the original album, despite being a decent record in its own right.

In January, Geoff told 96.1 KLPX afternoon jock Larry Mac about the upcoming third and final chapter in the classic "Operation: Mindcrime" album series: "Well, I wouldn't call it a sequel. I'd call it a continuation of the story. We're doing it in kind of an interesting way. We're not gonna release an album, so to speak, right off the bat. We're going to release the album once all the songs are released, if that makes sense. We're gonna release a song a month or every quarter, and then when it's all finished, we're gonna do a special presentation with all the songs included."

Regarding how he comes up with the musical and lyrical ideas for his albums, Geoff said: "It's all different, really. Sometimes it's a musical figure that you're fiddling around with in the studio that leads to a complete song or a few songs. And sometimes it's the lyrical idea. Sometimes it's a sentence that just sparks your imagination and gets you rolling on something. With the 'Operation: Mindcrime' albums, it was a story that came about really quickly, actually — I wrote it very quickly — and then expanded on it over the years to explain a little bit more in depth as to what was happening within the story. 'Cause the first album is a little bit vague in what it's talking about in it. The second album explains even more as to what the characters are going through. And the third album, again, will be even more explanation, but taken from a number of different viewpoints, which kind of is interesting, I think."

Tate previously discussed his plans for "Operation: Mindcrime III" in a November 2024 interview with "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern". Speaking about the musical direction of his new solo material, Geoff said: "I would say it has more of an early QUEENSRŸCHE feel. [The new songs are] super heavy, and some of 'em are incredibly technical. They're like algebra. [Laughs] You need a calculator when you're listening to the song. [Laughs] And, of course, some of them are very emotional. It's the last chapter in the 'Mindcrime' series. So it's following the exploits of Dr. X and Nikki and Sister Mary, and picks up at a particular point in their story and kind of does the microscope of what is happening at that particular time with them. And I am just in love with it. I am so happy with everything so far, and I can't wait for people to hear it."

Asked if there will once again be "some of those political interplays" within the lyrical themes on "Operation: Mindcrime III", Tate said: "Oh, I think so. Yeah, I think that people will be able to detect little bits of what's happening around them. And it's an interesting time right now — very interesting. Especially next week [after the 2024 U.S. presidential election], it's gonna be really interesting [laughs] what happens. So, we'll see."

Pressed about whether "a familiar voice" will play Dr. X on "Operation: Mindcrime III", Geoff said: "I can't tell you, actually. But thanks for asking. [Laughs]"

In a 2016 interview with East Valley Tribune, Tate said that he looked back fondly on "Operation: Mindcrime II". "I haven't listened to that album since I recorded it," he admitted. "However, it was a new story. Overall, it went down well live with the audience. I have no complaints or regrets about it."

During QUEENSRŸCHE's 2012 legal battle with Tate over the rights to the band's name, guitarist Michael Wilton submitted a sworn declaration in which he said the idea to make "Operation: Mindcrime II" was first brought to the table by Geoff's wife and QUEENSRŸCHE's then-manager Susan Tate. "The band was hesitant and did not want to lessen the original," the guitarist claimed. "But Susan Tate and Geoff Tate hired a budget producer and took control without really any other input. Scott Rockenfield [drums], Eddie Jackson [bass] and I were squeezed out of having any input in the musical direction or business decisions, thus the project suffered. During the initial writing phase, I would show up to bring my input to the creative process only to find that the producer, the new guitar player (who were both staying with the Tates at the time),along with Geoff Tate had been up late the night before or up early that morning and had written the songs without me. I was then told my ideas were not needed as the songs were now done. I could, however, 'bring my own style' in during the recording after learning to play what they wrote for me. In frustration, I gave up on the writing process knowing that I would at least get to make changes in the studio to bring back the QUEENSRŸCHE sound into these songs that we were known for. The final straw was when they refused to let me to be a part of the final recordings and mixes. I was shut out and they had the nerve to replace some of my parts on my songs. They denied me flying to San Francisco to be a part of my band, telling me that everything was ready to go and I was not needed. Had the communication been better, and had I been aware that parts needed to be recorded or rewritten, I would have been there. It was not until years later that I even became aware of the issues during the final recording and mixing of 'Operation: Mindcrime II'. It was all under the control of Geoff and Susan Tate. Call it delusions of grandeur, but they were convinced that this was going to sell three times more than the original, and to date (six years later) this album has sold fewer than 150,000 copies. The original album sold over 500,000 copies within a year."

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. Wilton, Rockenfield and 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 "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

Tate's replacement, Todd La Torre, has released four albums thus far with QUEENSRŸCHE: 2013's "Queensrÿche", 2015's "Condition Hüman", 2019's "The Verdict" and 2022's "Digital Noise Alliance".