[youtube]http://youtu.be/fCISgoZ6m6c[/youtube]
There’s been a lot of talk about Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate these past few days, specifically about a show he played on May 17 at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles IL. During “Operation Mindcrime,” a fan in the front row was filming the performance, and Tate snatched their phone and threw it over his shoulder into the crowd. While we’d said yesterday that we weren’t sure whether taping was permitted at the show because we weren’t there, we’ve heard from a fan that was at the show the following night. Greg wrote to us saying that he and his wife were at the show at Turtle Lake Casino in Wisconsin, and “it was made very clear upon entering no video recording was permitted at all.” While that doesn’t necessarily make up for what he did, at least we know that most likely there wasn’t supposed to be anyone filming at the show.
Meanwhile, in an awkward, antagonistic interview with Music Enthusiast Magazine, interviewer William Clark asked Tate about the phone-throwing incident. Tate replies “Well, I think, William, what you’re referring to is thirty years of being a performer. And because I happen to be in a lawsuit right now, some actions that I have become very normal with as a performer are getting scrutinized and manipulated to paint a picture of me. And so I that’s what I think we are seeing now. Simple as that.” When asked if he thought the footage was trying to make him out to be the bad guy, Tate said “I don’t think it shows me being a bad guy, it’s rock and roll. It’s what I do, you know?” When pressed further, Tate ended the interview.
Again, if taping wasn’t permitted, the fan could have been respectful to Tate and the venue’s wishes. But that doesn’t mean that they deserved to have their phone snatched and thrown into the crowd, though. And if “rock and roll” is destroying the property of someone that paid money to see you, it doesn’t mean that Tate is going to be getting any humanitarian of the year awards anytime soon.
