Gig review: Queensryche at Islington Assembly Hall, London

June 30, 2026

Live review: Queensryche at Islington Assembly Hall in London on Tuesday, June 23 2026

QUEENSRYCHE’S not sold out tonight – not even close. The hardcore fans would have bought their tickets long ago and for everyone else, England’s playing in the World Cup about the same time they’re on stage and it’s 35 degrees, making this almost 100-year-old venue a giant sauna.

If you weren’t going, you’re probably not going now.

For this punter, Queensryche are a heritage act that hasn’t yet alienated me – rather than a must-see that I would travel to consume. If our paths cross, yes. If it’s inconvenient, no.

Luckily I’m not much into soccer and being Australian, pride precludes me from changing my plans because it’s “too hot”.

Without labouring the set-up of this review, I’ll also record the fact that my expectations tonight are not particularly high. The first time I saw Queensryche was also here in London, 30 years ago at the old Astoria. Geoff Tate and Chris DeGarmo were in their pomp and it was a near-religious experience.

The most recent time i saw them was in a club in Birmingham 18 months ago. Tate and DeGarmo were long-gone. It was OK, a fun night. Not much more. I’m not a huge fan of the musical direction of Queensryche since Todd La Torre joined in 2012.

Rivers of Nihil open. They’re interesting but not really in my wheelhouse. – death metal with sax, a clean singer and a growler. I feel like you’d want someone more familiar with them to be reviewing them and that’s not me so I left them out of the article title completely.

The first flash of retro-futuristic effects over the PA sounds like something by Steel Panther but from the moment your reviewer recognised this as the intro to “Queen Of The Reich”, there were no negatives tonight aside from the beads of sweat everywhere and one of the two bars on the floor being closed.

“Operation: Mindcrime”, “Walk In The Shadows”, “Speak” and one of my favourite songs of all time, “I Don’t Believe In Love”. Suddenly, not all the moisture emanating from my face is sweat.

LaTorre’s voice is effortlessly brilliant, hitting the notes like Tate did all those years ago in Soho. Here’s the thing: is is a setlist of old songs and that’s why for me this is the best I’ve seen Queensryche with LaTorre. Tate’s songs and LaTorre’s voice is the perfect combination for a Queensryche fan in 2026, even if “Jet City Woman” was written about Tate’s second wife, a flight attendant.

To remind you who is in Queensryche now: it’s mainstays Michael Wilton on guitar and Eddie Jackson on bass are joined by LaTorre and guitarist Mike Stone and drummer Casey Grillo.

Sometimes you forget how much a band’s repertoire means to you. When you remember, you’ll keep going back as long as that band doesn’t alienate you – as Motley Crue and the Quireboys have for me in recent years with, respectively, insincerity and being shambolic.

The name of thiw band came from a rather corny concept – the one that put me in mind of Steel Panther at the beginning of tonight’s show – but the material now comes off as cerebral compared to what else was around at the time. Unlike a lot of prog, though, it retains its emotional heft while still being “smart”.

Queensryche are about as Prog as my tastes go. They’re the end of a personal spectrum.

So, there’s just one song from the LaTorre era in the set, “Behind The Walls” from 2022’s Digital Noise Alliance which is good enough to encourage me to revisit that album. The encore concludes with another of my favourite songs of all time, “Eyes Of A Stranger”. It’s still way short of curfew and an I hope and chat and stamp my feet for more … in vain.

Queensryche have come to terms with the fact they’re a legacy act – and what a legacy it is.

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