Former Queensrÿche vocalist Geoff Tate recently reflected on the band’s experience opening for Metallica in 1988, recalling a chaotic moment when guitarist Michael Wilton finished a solo on a different guitar after a Metallica fan shattered all his strings with a bottle of vodka.
Despite being formed just a year apart, Queensrÿche and Metallica had little in common musically before touring together. That year, Queensrÿche released its groundbreaking concept album Operation: Mindcrime, which featured the hit single Eyes of a Stranger, reaching No. 35 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. Meanwhile, Metallica was solidifying its status with …And Justice for All and adjusting to Jason Newsted as their bassist following Cliff Burton’s tragic passing.
Though Operation: Mindcrime is now considered a heavy metal classic, Queensrÿche didn’t receive the warmest welcome from Metallica’s fanbase in Helsinki during an October 1988 show. In a recent interview with Southeast Wreck Metal (transcription via Blabbermouth), Tate recounted the intense moment:
“Oh, yeah. I think I have a scar here [on my face] from that. [Queensrÿche guitarist Michael Wilton] did a really interesting thing [at that show]. I applaud him for his courage, really. But it was a giant bottle of vodka that came flying up on stage, and it hit the neck of his guitar as he was playing it and it shattered all the strings. So the guitar just made this horrible sound.”
Despite the chaos, Wilton quickly adapted to the situation:
“He was kind of standing there for a second, and he just grabbed another guitar and he finished the solo that he was playing. [Laughs] That was amazing. He missed like — I don’t know — five or six notes, but he got back on it and played the whole solo through. And because he did that, the audience just went, ‘YES!’ It was pretty amazing that he did that.”
Tate acknowledged the challenge of playing to Metallica’s devoted Finnish fanbase:
“Metallica had a huge presence in Finland at that time. And, yeah, we were the opening act. So a lot of people were just waiting for us to get off the stage. But we made them listen.”
Looking back on the tour, Tate also shared how it shaped his perception of Metallica:
“I had never heard of Metallica until we got on that tour. And then that’s all I heard. After that, they got huge. And it was a wonderful tour to be part of. We did all of Europe with Metallica. And then we went to America and did two tours with them. So it was a wonderful experience, really. And we got to kind of know the band, and I got to know their music intimately from being with them every day. So, it was a nice period of my life. I have good, fond memories of it all… It was a fun time to be a young man on the road, touring, playing music. There was nothing like it. It was very unique.”
Despite the rough reception at times, the tour became a formative experience for Queensrÿche, exposing them to Metallica’s growing dominance and cementing their own place in metal history.
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