Queensrÿche Sells Out w/ John 5, and Eve to Adam

February 11, 2020

Kansas City is still reeling after the Chiefs took home the Lombardi Trophy last week, and the celebrating still continues. Temperatures were below freezing, but fans were lined up outside of Knuckleheads Garage to catch some heavy metal. With Eve to Adam, John 5, and Queensrÿche on the bill, a good time was assured by all. If you didn’t get tickets in advance, you’d be out of luck, as the show was completely sold out.

Up first, were Eve to Adam. They came in hitting fast, and hard. With soaring vocals, and heavy guitars, the band truly earned their meal. Taki Sassaris, lead vocalist, noted what an honor it was to be on tour with their heroes in Queensrÿche. While the band put on an impressive display, and there were a few enthusiastic fans bouncing around, I don’t feel that they ever truly won the crowd over, which was still filing in as they were wrapping things up. I would love to see them live again, maybe at Rockfest. I think they would do really well there.

Up next was John 5. Wow, what can I say? When you’re enlisted to play for the likes of David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie, you definitely have, not only the chops, but the personality to boot. LCD panels across the stage played a montage of clips from various horror, and slasher flicks, while going through a playlist that consisted of blues, to bluegrass. Rock, to classical, and some covers thrown in.

“Why is this here? I don’t sing!” was one of the few things John said into the microphone that night, apart from the obligatory “How about those Chiefs!” A sentiment echoed by all bands that night. With nothing more than his guitar, John 5 whipped the crowd into a frenzy, with plenty of moshing in the pit below, and others looking on in amusement from their seats. The atmosphere was electric. John brought a film crew out with him to capture the action. If you haven’t seen him live, I would urge you to do so.

And of course, the headliners of the evening… the heavy metal heroes, Queensrÿche. If there was any doubt about Todd La Torre’s ability to fill in for Geoff Tate, it quickly went away. With a voice that falls somewhere between Bruce Dickinson, and Rob Halford, Todd made the classics his own, and could easily have slipped the new tunes in as deep cuts.

Though down by the rail yards, the boys in ‘srÿche drowned out the rhythm of the passing trains, with good ol’ fashioned metal. As Steel Panther says, “Heavy metal’s back!” and Queensrÿche is still leading the charge.