The Las Vegas summer concert season has started, and making their annual pilgrimage to Sin City was QUEENSRYCHE & SKID ROW. These two bands are perennial favorites in the Vegas area and always draw huge crowds, and The Club at the Cannery Casino was at near capacity on a lovely Vegas evening, with the rear doors of The Club open and half the crowd sitting outside under the stars.
At 9pm sharp SKID ROW took to the stage, and kicked off the show with "Slave To the Grind" which got the crowd on their feet, and they surged forward towards the stage. The band was all over the stage running back and forth, and followed up with "Sweet Little Sister" and "Piece Of Me". As has become a custom at Skid Row shows, bassist Rachel Bolan took to the mic and launched into a Ramones cover of "Psycho Therapy", then the band announced a special guest was coming onstage and playing the next song with them. Jason Hook of Five Finger Death Punch came out and the band launched into "Monkey Business" which really set off the crowd. The classic sing along "I Remember You" slowed things down for a little breather, and the audience waved their arms side to side and sang as singer ZP Theart held out the mic over the crowd. Skid Row wrapped up their set with the anthem "Youth Gone Wild", and a great start to the evening.
Now it was time for heavy metalers QUEENSRYCHE to perform... the lights dimmed and red, green, blue and white spots were swirling all over as the band took to the stage and launched into "Surgical Strike". Lead singer Todd La Torre performed with a cast on his right hand, and after the song told the crowd he had broken it (slipped and fractured the 5th metacarpal head. Sounds like it hurts!) The band played "Damaged", followed by "Walk In the Shadows", and the crowd seemed to really enjoy that the band played mostly older stuff, and even went way back to the beginning with songs such as "Queen of the Reich". In the middle of the set after "I Don’t Believe in Love", the band slowed things down and played the Queensryche classic "Silent Lucidity", and then Queensryche finished off their set with "Jet City Woman" and "Take Hold of the Flame" and exited the stage.
Lights started flashing and the crowd roared louder and louder, andthe band returned a few minutes later and kicked off the encore with "Best I Ever Can", during which La Torre seemed to kick things up a bit and his singing went to another level. "Dreaming In Digital" was where I actually got chills watching La Torre show us that he is one of the best singers in music today. Queensryche closed out their set with "Eyes Of A Stranger", and an exhausted crowd slowly exited the venue with smiles and talk everywhere about what they just witnessed. The Club at the Cannery is one of my favorite venues, and by the amount of people who showed up I think they agree also.
A big thanks to Marty and his staff at The Cannery , as always another memorable evening in one of the the best summer venues in Vegas. Some upcoming shows include Lita Ford & Vixen, Vince Neil, and Great White & Slaughter. For more info on shows and events at the Cannery click HERE.
Queensryche Setlist
Surgical Strike
Damaged
Walk in the Shadows
The Whisper
Breaking the Silence
I Don't Believe in Love
Silent Lucidity
Guardian
The Lady Wore Black
Empire
Queen of the Reich
Jet City Woman
Take Hold of the Flame
Encore:
Best I Can
Screaming in Digital
Eyes of a Stranger
Queensryche photos from Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
Skid Row Setlist
Slave to the Grind
Sweet Little Sister
Piece of Me
Livin' on a Chain Gang
Big Guns
18 & Life
Makin' a Mess
Rattlesnake Shake
Psycho Therapy (Ramones cover)
Quicksand Jesus
Monkey Business (with Jason Hook)
I Remember You
Youth Gone Wild
Queensryche photos from Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos