Original Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate welcomed 2026 with a night that mixed live music, spectacle, and celebration during his second annual New Year’s Eve event in San Antonio, Texas.
The gathering took place on December 31, 2025 at the Deco Ballroom & Event Center, where the evening kicked off with a red-carpet entrance before Tate stepped onstage around 8:00 p.m. He opened the night with an intimate acoustic performance, revisiting several of the songs that helped define his decades-long career. Known for his distinctive voice and influential role in rock and metal, Tate delivered a stripped-down set that set the tone for the festivities.
As the night progressed, a special guest joined the lineup. Disturbed bassist John Moyer took over bass duties for part of the show, adding another notable name to the celebration.
Beyond the music, attendees leaned into the event’s festive spirit with a “Best Dressed Costume Contest,” followed by the traditional countdown to midnight, a champagne toast, and dancing that continued into the early hours of the new year.
Fan-recorded footage from the celebration is available online, shared via the Matthew Mumme YouTube channel. You can watch it down below.
John Moyer also confirmed earlier that he is currently in the final stages of producing Operation: Mindcrime III, the third installment in the legendary concept series led by former Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate.
In a new interview with Mark Strigl, Moyer revealed that the album is roughly “85% to 90%” complete, with recording sessions taking place across Europe during breaks in Disturbed‘s touring schedule.
“I recorded these songs during the summer between tours,” Moyer explained. “Now I’m in the final stages of mixing and putting everything together.”
Where the 1988 classic centered on Nikki — a recovering dr*g addict manipulated into life as an assassin — Moyer revealed a major shift in the storyline planned for the upcoming album.
“So a lot of it is continuing the story of Dr. X And Operation: Mindcrime III basically is Operation: Mindcrime but from Dr. X‘s point of view,” Moyer said. “I just got chills saying that, but that’s exactly it. So it’s a darker, heavier, kind of a more evil-sounding record, but with all of the themes from Operation: Mindcrime… Geoff really gets into character, and you can hear this menacing tone and sort of this ‘do as I say, I know what’s right’ attitude that happens throughout the record.”
Moyer explained that Tate has deliberately kept this batch of songs under wraps for close to five years, even while continuing to release other material. The tracks were originally written with former guitar collaborators, including Amaury Altmayer, who later worked with Moyer to completely reconstruct the demos so they would live up to the weight and expectations of the legacy attached to them.
“He’s just been holding on to these songs ’cause he knew that these were the songs for a future Operation: Mindcrime III,” Moyer said. “Even though he’s had other releases and has put out other material, these are the songs he’s been saving for this record.”
Moyer also touched on the legal and creative rights surrounding the project, reminding fans that Tate retained full ownership of the Mindcrime story following his split from Queensrÿche. “That’s his baby,” Moyer emphasized.
The album will feature ten tracks in total. Moyer is producing nine of them, having handed off the final song to guitarist Kieran Robertson due to creative differences regarding the track’s direction.
“Song number 10 is a song that the way it’s put together and his vision for it and my vision for it are a little different,” Moyer admitted with a laugh. “It’s not a song; it’s like a dramatic movement. It’s like a operatic storyline… So I’ll end up doing nine songs on the record, production-wise.”
“Honestly, I feel like we’re 85% there, if not 90% there, done with this record.”
To capture the “older-school sound” required for the project, the team has enlisted West Coast mixing veteran Juan Urteaga (Testament, Machine Head) to handle the mix.
“The first single is so fr*cking good, I can’t get over it,” Moyer said. “Everyone I play for just goes, ‘Wow. Geoff Tate is back and he’s killing it.’ And it’s so Operation: Mindcrime, bro. It’s with all the vocals and everything over it, the sound effects.”
