Geoff Tate Operation : Mindcrime / Mark Daly - Mandela Hall, Belfast 28th October 2023

The door time was moved back by half an hour so I didn’t manage to get there until Tomas McCarthy’s set was almost done. The venue was still quite empty at this stage, possibly because of the early opening. I didn’t hear enough to form much of an opinion but what I did hear was pretty good, just one man and his guitar holding the attention of those who did make it in on time. 

Up next, after a pretty quick changeover, was Mark Daly, a singer / songwriter from Cork. He hit the stage with an abundance of energy and commanded every inch of it. His set was quite a whirlwind of dirty, gritty and heavy rock with big hooks that just drew everyone in. The venue was quickly filling up while Mark was onstage and I could feel the energy building up, not just from him, but from the crowd also. I’m sure there were quite a few in attendance who made a mental note to check Mark out when they went home, I know I did. His set was quite short and he definitely left me wanting more.  

The venue was starting to fill by the time Mark left the stage - there was probably about 850, the capacity is 1000.  

No-one got a chance to come down because, after another quick changeover, Geoff Tate hit the stage in all his glory. It’s crazy to think that Operation : Mindcrime is 35 years old. It really doesn’t seem that long since I was listening to it on my little tape player as a 12 year old. Geoff and his band didn’t waste a single second as they launched straight into ‘I Remember Now’. They commanded the stage from the opening note and kept the attention of everyone in attendance. This was my first time seeing Geoff and it was quite a surreal experience seeing one of my favourite albums from my childhood being performed by him right there in front of me.  

The energy conveyed by Geoff was quite a thing to behold, considering he’s now in his 60s. His fitness level is . . well . . .much better than mine. As I mentioned, the stage is quite large, and he used every bit of us as he walked up and down continuously. And his voice! It was absolutely on point. The lighting and sound in the venue coupled with the spectacle onstage created quite the event to behold. 

Not a moment was wasted as every song led straight on from the last one. As soon as ‘The Mission” ended, Geoff was joined onstage by is daughter, Angel, for “Suite Sister Mary”. Their voices complimented each other perfectly and again, it was quite the sight (and sound) to behold.  

As we continued through the revisiting of Operation : Mindcrime, the crowd were fully engaged and sang their hearts out. All too soon we were all singing along to “Eyes Of A Stranger” and the sound of the applause at the end was almost deafening.  

And that was that. Or was it? No, no it wasn’t! Without any let up, we were greeted with “Empire”, followed by a few more songs, before finishing the night with the fantastic “Queen Of The Reich”. 

Throughout the entire set, Geoff was absolutely on point with every song, every note and his showmanship was fantastic. I’m ashamed to say it was the first time seeing him – but it definitely won’t be the last. Everyone in the crowd left with huge smiles on their faces, as did I. I’ve seen many gigs in my time, Geoff Tate ranks very highly.