Geoff Tate, former QUEENSRŸCHE singer, discussed his upcoming “Operation: Mindcrime – The Final Chapter” tour in a recent interview with 96.1 KLPX DJ Larry Mac.
The U.S. tour begins March 18, 2025 in Tucson, and will feature Tate performing the band’s classic album Operation: Mindcrime in its entirety for the last time.
When asked why he’s decided this will be the last time he performs the album from start to finish, Tate responded (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Well, I wanted to play the album Operation: Mindcrime one more time before I retire it, basically. And I’m kind of getting up there in age. And I thought, well, I have a new collection of songs that I’m gonna be releasing that are kind of in line with the story Operation: Mindcrime and it kind of all fits together. It seems like the right time to do it, and it all kind of makes sense in the big picture of things.
“When I tour something like this, it typically takes me a couple of years to get everywhere I need to get. It just takes that long to get everywhere you wanna go. So I’ll be doing this for a couple of years starting in March, and people will probably get tired of seeing the advertisements for it, but that’s the way it works. It takes forever to get everywhere. ‘Cause I’m not one of those artists that does a 20-date tour and calls it quits. Last year I did 242 dates. I go, I go and I go. And I wanna go everywhere I can. I like to take the show to the smaller venues, the smaller cities rather than concentrating on the big cities. I think that’s important to bring the show to where people live.”
Regarding the forthcoming third and final installment in the Operation: Mindcrime album series, Tate commented: “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.”
Released in 1988, QUEENSRŸCHE’s Operation: Mindcrime catapulted the band to new heights. This groundbreaking concept album follows the harrowing journey of Nikki, a drug addict ensnared by a sinister cult led by Dr. X. With its powerful narrative and groundbreaking music, Operation: Mindcrime is considered a masterpiece of progressive metal and remains relevant today.
In contrast, the 2006 follow-up, Operation: Mindcrime II, was met with mixed reviews. While it offered a decent musical experience, many fans and critics felt it was an unnecessary addition to the original masterpiece, detracting from its impact.
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