Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche Talks “Big Rock Hits” Show Coming to Red Bank Sept. 14, touring with Bon Jovi and how Nicole Kidman Gave ‘Silent Lucidity’ a Second Life

Grammy Award nominated singer/songwriter Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche is launching his “Big Rock Hits” tour September 1st in Edwardsville, Illinois, and is bringing the party to the Garden Stage twice with a show Sept. 7 at the Newton Theater in Newton and the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank on Sept. 14.

Tate rose to fame with the band Queensrÿche, who achieved their greatest commercial success with the 1988 album “Operation: Mindcrime” and 1990’s “Empire”, featuring the hit song “Silent Lucidity”.  The band got nominated for a Grammy four times and has had their music featured in three feature films. Geoff parted ways with Queensryche in 2012 and after his farewell tour, renamed his band ‘Operation: Mindcrime’, after the Queensrÿche album of the same name.

Since then, the song “Silent Lucidity” was used in the show, “Nine Perfect Strangers,” starring Nicole Kidman.

Tate checked in with Michele Amabile on 1071 The Boss to talk about the tour, his health, the anniversary of “Operation: Mindcrime” and his memories opening for Bon Jovi in the ’80s. (listen in link above).

“We opened up for them on the ‘Slippery When Wet’ Tour. They were just really starting to hit big at that time and it was exciting to watch their success and how they handled it,” he said. “It was such a wonderful band of guys at that time. They were very happy to be there. They were excited and the treated everybody with respect. They were one of the few bands that said to their opening act–which was us–have the stage. Do with it as you please..It was very admirable. A lot of bands would see a band like us and feel competitive and maybe not so confident in their own abilities. But they did. They were a very good band. Very confident.”

For more information, look online at Geofftate.com