GEOFF TATE WEST COAST ACOUSTIC SHOWS

QUEENSRYCHE FRONT MAN GEOFF TATE "AND FRIENDS" TO PERFORM SELECT, ALL-ACOUSTIC DATES ON THE WEST COAST BEGINNING IN JANUARY

After touring extensively in 2011 with his band, Queensryche, lead singer Geoff Tate has announced that he will be doing a handful of acoustic solo dates billed as "Geoff Tate and Friends" beginning on Friday, January 27 at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California.

What can fans expect on the brief run of dates?

According to Tate, he'll be "playing acoustic renditions of songs from my solo album as well as some of my favorite Queensryche songs." And that certainly gives him a lot to choose from...

Not one to remain idle, Tate is anxious to hit the road again next year despite an incredibly busy 2011 that found the band performing over 75 dates along their 30th Anniversary tour primarily in support of their 12th studio album, Dedicated to Chaos (Roadrunner Records/Loud & Proud), that was released in the summer.

Towards the end of the tour, Geoff and the band pulled out "all the stops" by performing Rage for Order in its entirety for the first time ever (New York City on Halloween) and Operation: Mindcrime from beginning to end on this year's ShipRocked Cruise (with In This Moment's Maria Brink handling vocal chores as "Sister Mary") for the first time in three years. Both shows were a pure treat for fans!

"Mindcrime" (1988) is universally respected as a classic concept release about rock, revenge and redemption and, ultimately, regarded as one of the most important and essential hard rock records in the genre's expansive canon. 1990's follow-up, Empire, yielded a number one single, the Grammy-nominated ballad "Silent Lucidity," which Queensryche performed at the 1992 Grammy Awards accompanied by a supporting orchestra.

In 2006, the band released Operation: Mindcrime II, a scorching sequel to their original. The band then hit the road performing both albums Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II back-to-back in their entirety in an incredible theatrical presentation throughout the year. The final performance was recorded at The Moore Theatre in Seattle that October and the Mindcrime at the Moore double CD/DVD release debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Music DVD Chart and eventually reached gold status.

It's hard to believe it's been 30 years and more than 20 million albums sold worldwide later...

For 2012, Queensryche has plenty up its sleeve...

Geoff's acoustic performances are just the beginning of what promises to be another exciting year.

For more information, please view the official Queensryche website at www.queensryche.com.

Happy Holidays.

Jan-26 Thu San Diego, CA        Anthology

Jan-27 Fri Agoura Hills         Canyon

Jan-29 Sun San Juan Cap         Coach House

Jan-31 Tue Grass Valley, CA     Center for the Arts

Feb-01 Wed Chico, CA            El Rey

Feb-02 Thu Napa, CA             Uptown

Feb-04 Sat Snqoualmie, WA       Finapalooza