I saw Queensrÿche at the Sports Arena in the early ’90s, when Operation: Mindcrime came out. I wasn’t even in radio back then. There were two things I noticed about the crowd: a lot of military and…how many people were drunk and just doing lots of illegal stuff. I think security was a lot more lax back then.
Singer Geoff Tate has this amazing voice. His aunt was an opera singer, and he has a lot of range himself. I was near the front, and this one guy was so drunk, he just passed out and fell right on the floor. Security had to drag him away. The singer just looked down at him briefly and kept on talking. Even his speaking voice almost sounded operatic as he said something like, “Our tour has been a great success. And we want to thank the people of San Diego.”
There was something a bit odd about a singer with that voice, thanking the people of San Diego, as I see one of those people passed out right next to me and being dragged away.
DJ: Clint August
Station: Rock 105.3 FM
Shift: Weekdays, 3:00–7:00 p.m. (with sidekick B.C.)
I saw Queensrÿche at the Sports Arena in the early ’90s, when Operation: Mindcrime came out. I wasn’t even in radio back then. There were two things I noticed about the crowd: a lot of military and…how many people were drunk and just doing lots of illegal stuff. I think security was a lot more lax back then.
Singer Geoff Tate has this amazing voice. His aunt was an opera singer, and he has a lot of range himself. I was near the front, and this one guy was so drunk, he just passed out and fell right on the floor. Security had to drag him away. The singer just looked down at him briefly and kept on talking. Even his speaking voice almost sounded operatic as he said something like, “Our tour has been a great success. And we want to thank the people of San Diego.”
There was something a bit odd about a singer with that voice, thanking the people of San Diego, as I see one of those people passed out right next to me and being dragged away.
DJ: Clint August
Station: Rock 105.3 FM
Shift: Weekdays, 3:00–7:00 p.m. (with sidekick B.C.)
Comments
I played phone tag with Clint numerous times, before he gave me this Queensryche story. When we finally got to talking, I hadn't mentioned the name of the band in a while, and he had it in his head I wanted him to tell me a Queens of the Stone Age story. This is what he told me on the phone:
Well, it was several years ago at the Casbah. I had just gotten into radio and I carried around a DAT recorder with me everywhere. I saw the band on the bus, and I remember I saw Josh and told him I wanted to interview him for my show. I was at another station then. He said, “Yeah, you can come on the bus.” And it was exactly like what you thought a tour bus would be like. There were women there. I don’t know if it was wives, girlfriends, groupies, or what. I was so nervous, but they were great. And they did a bunch of station liners that they used for years. And most of the interview I couldn’t even use. Queens of the Stone Age…oh wait, you wanted a Queensryche story. I was thinking it was Queens of the Stone Age....
(it could've become like an Abbott & Costello "Who's on First" bit...with us then going into a story about Freddie Mercury and Queen)