It’s been almost ten years since I last went to a Queensrÿche show. During that time I’ve changed jobs, become a father, moved to Hawai’i (where for some reason, Queensrÿche, like all other decent bands, never seem to tour), changed jobs again, moved to a different island, changed jobs again, and spent a fair chunk of the last three years traveling all over the world (mainly to places where, again, there were no Queensrÿche concerts happening).

But this week, my daughter and I happened to stop in New Jersey on our way home from Europe to Hawaii, and tonight, the Mikes happened to do a guitar clinic in New Jersey. I think Michael Wilton barely recognized me 10 years and 30 pounds later, with an 8-year-old hiding behind me when I tried to introduce her.

And of course I must say hi to #queensryche IRC channel regulars Royal_Pain and dellabrown, who were both in attendance.

Here’s a photo (one of plenty I took) of the Mikes jamming on An International Confrontation at the start of the clinic.

Fifteen years ago, as a 20-year-old college drop-out, I was introduced to Queensrÿche.  Next month, it’ll be fifteen years since Screaming in Digital was started.  Things tapered off somewhat after the first several years, due to my career, parenting, moving around, and all manner of other factors.  The last couple years have been especially slow, and I know that’s my fault - after all, the band has been active!

For several years, I’ve wanted to turn ol’ “SiD” into something that wasn’t just “mine.”  Something that was a bit more community-driven, and importantly, something that could reward people other than me.  And, well, better late than never.

So here it is.  A new incarnation of Screaming in Digital where all of us can post, comment, discuss, and so on.  If you want to do more than read, yes, you have to register (to minimize, if not eliminate, the time I spend cleaning out spam comments)… but there are other benefits and surprises in store for those who do register.

More on those later.

‘Ryche on!

No, I’m not dead yet. Yes, I’ve been kind of busy. Yes, there have been certain things that have taken precedence over my Queensryche fandom, or interfered with my ability to deal with Queensryche-related matters, for the last few years. However, those things are now being dealt with and put in the past.
Read the rest of this entry »

Depending on how you look at it, this is either wonderful news, or horribly wrong in so many ways: according to Billboard, Queensryche will release Operation: mindcrime II next year. And they’ll lead up to it with a tour starting in October, where they’ll play all of the original, and some material from the new one.
Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Notes

Hi again.

I’ve just gone through and deleted a bunch of comment spam. I’m sure you all know how I feel about spam, and unwanted ads for porn, penis enlargements and piercings don’t have anything to do with Screaming in Digital. So they’re gone, and I’m going to regretfully disable the “comments” option on most things, until I can migrate to software that lets me approve comments. In the meanwhile, if you’ve got anything to say, emailing it to edit@nospam.sidzine.com might still work… I think.
Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Notes

Aloha again! (Yes, it’s Hawaiian, I know. Live on a rock in the middle of the ocean for a few years, and by golly, you start using the local lingo.) It’s been a very busy week for me - and, I suppose, for all those of us who live in the United States, what with Thursday having been tax day. Not that there are weeks that aren’t busy, of course.

This was officially the worst tax season we’ve ever had. After a long string of years with modest refunds or tiny payments due, this year we got hit bigtime, due to self-employed work and insufficient withholdings from “W-2″ jobs. So we’re back “in the hole” for the first time in years (ordinarily we don’t carry any debt except the mortgage) and I get to start looking for “W-2″ work in a few weeks, to start digging us back out.

So I figured it was about time for me to put up a page listing the ways folks can support Screaming in Digital. They don’t all involve throwing money at me, so please give that page a look and do what you can.

In this issue: a bit more in the way of news, some pointers to interviews you should read elsewhere, and my belated explanation of that whole “Don Juan” business.
Read the rest of this entry »

In Issue 283, I mentioned a rumor circulating that Chris DeGarmo was doing pre-production work with a band from California called Dredg, on their upcoming new album. This was first reported on ThePRP.com, with the report also saying that final production would be done by Terry Date, who’s worked with the Deftones and Soundgarden. Mention of the rumor on a web board for Chris’s fans drew at least one “too good to be true” comment from someone who’s a fan of both Chris and Dredg.
Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Notes

Having long since used all the possible witty, clever or funny things I could say to open the first issue of a ‘zine after a lengthy hiatus, I suppose I won’t use any of them again, right now. I don’t think I’ll even apologize for the delay. I will, however point out that hey, it’s Monday!

As I noted recently, I did transition the site from “PostNuke” software to “Movable Type.” This made it easier to put in the back issues, so in only about a 24-hour period I was able to set the site up, get the look and feel, menus, and all that, and put everything back to 1991 in place. It also made navigating the archives easier, and should lead to slightly more relevant ads from Google.

Sticking in all those back issues was quite an interesting walk down memory lane for me, and I suspect reading them might be one for some of you.

I’m probably going to stick a PayPal button somewhere - bandwidth and electricity cost money, after all. But it’d be a matter of “please give a little bit if you find this useful” - this site isn’t going to require signups or logins or paid subscriptions or anything like that.

Anyway, this issue is mostly just reporting and recapping current news and events… like Queensryche kicking off yet another tour leg with no dates within 2,300 miles of me, as usual. I hope a few of you will see this and send something in for inclusion in the next one! (Gosh, I’ll have to set up a way for you to do that, now, won’t I? Until I do, just e-mail things to the old edit@nospam.sidzine.com address and I’ll sort them out.)
Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s see if he notices.
Read the rest of this entry »

As if it weren’t enough for Queensryche to be going through guitarists as if they were Spinal Tap drummers, “Rustvold” over on rec.music.artists.queensryche pointed out that Geoff Tate Band guitarist Scott Moughton has been getting quite a bit of publicity this week.

Not, unfortunately, the good kind of publicity.

Read the rest of this entry »